On this episode of Our American Stories, on Christmas Eve in 1818, in a snow-covered Austrian village, a broken organ forced a last-minute change. What came next was history. Two men—one a priest, the other a schoolteacher—scribbled out a carol for guitar and voice and performed it that night by candlelight. “Silent Night” would go on to become the most beloved Christmas hymn in the world. Here’s the History Guy with the story of the song.

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