Good News in History, December 24

At the time, the broadcast was the most watched TV program ever. READ more about the picture… (1968) Earthrise, taken by Apollo 8 – credit, public domain Nature photographer Galen Rowell described Earthrise as “the most influential environmental photograph ever taken.” In the audio tape from the capsule, Anders can be heard saying “Oh my God!

Look at that picture over there! There’s the Earth coming up. You got a color film, Jim? Hand me that roll of color quick, would you…” Lovell opines “Oh man, that’s great!” The first photo was taken in black and white with the Earth appearing along the horizon of the Moon just as a full moon might rise above the horizon.

In the second photo, with the barren terrain of the Moon visible in the foreground, three-quarters of the Earth, gleaming blue and green, sits suspended in the void, a shadow covering the bottom quarter. Just before that, Anders read out a message for the viewers and listeners back home. “We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you.” In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

MORE Good News on this Date: First broadcast of a music program on radio, from Massachusetts (1906) Albania became a republic (1924); Libya (1951) and Laos (1954) gained independence Happy 64th Birthday to filmmaker Lee Daniels, who directed The Butler and his film Precious, which received 6 Academy Award nominations including Best Director, and also created the TV series Empire and Star (1959) A rare Christmas Eve snowstorm fell on the southern US (2004) 86 years ago today, beginning in the year of his election, Pope Pious XII gave a Christmas Eve radio broadcast with a passionate plea for peace on Earth, while denouncing the ideologies that had led to the outbreak of the Second World War. While mentioning none in particular, the targets of his statements were clear.

He continued to use his position of high influence over faith and morals to renew calls for peace and reconciliation every Christmas Eve until the end of the war, not least among Italian Catholics in a country that was aligning itself with Germany. Members of the Canadian Royal 22e Regiment, in audience with Pope Pius XII, following the 1944 Liberation of Rome With great power comes great responsibility.

While the Vatican’s official policy was neutrality, and while Pious XII’s actions and decisions during Europe’s darkest years are hotly debated, there were nevertheless tens perhaps hundreds of thousands of people whose lives were helped or saved altogether because Pious XII tried to take a humanitarian approach when he could. (1939) 154 years ago today, Verdi’s opera Aida premiered. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Aida was commissioned to celebrate the opening of the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo—and the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi got paid 150,000 francs for the masterwork.

In the story, the Egyptians have captured and enslaved Aida, an Ethiopian princess. An Egyptian military commander, Radamès, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the King of Egypt. To complicate the story further, the King’s daughter Amneris is also in love with Radamès, who does not return her feelings. Met with great acclaim, the opera was soon mounted at major opera houses throughout Italy.

(1871) And, on this date every year, the Declaration of Christmas Peace is read aloud at noon in the Old Great Square in Finland’s oldest city, Turku, a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages. With fanfare and warning, the declaration calls for quiet and peaceful conduct during the Christmas period, including no animal hunting. It is broadcast throughout the country every year on December 24. And, on this day 207 years ago, the Christmas carol Silent Night (Stille Nacht) was composed in a few hours and performed in this little church in Austria.

St Nicholas church in Oberndorf, Austria, where the song was first sung, by Gakuro, CC license The parish priest Joseph Mohr, himself a violinist and singer, wrote the lyrics some two years earlier. He wanted to use it for Midnight Mass, so he walked nearly two miles (3 km) from his home in Oberndorf bei Salzburg to visit his friend Franz Xaver Gruber.

In only a few hours, Gruber, a school teacher who also served as the church’s choirmaster and organist, set his poem to music. The simple song was sung that evening in a simple arrangement for guitar and choir. Within a few years, arrangements of the carol spread to churches in the Salzburg Archdiocese by folk singers from the Ziller Valley who took the composition on tours around Europe—performing for audiences that included Franz I of Austria and Alexander I of Russia.

Mohr’s name was almost lost. Over the years, because the original manuscript had been lost, Mohr’s name was forgotten and although Gruber was known to be the composer, many people assumed the melody was composed by a famous composer—and it was variously attributed to Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven.

However, a manuscript was discovered in 1995 in Mohr’s handwriting proving that he authored the poem in 1818. Recorded by a large number of singers from every music genre, the version sung by Bing Crosby became the third best-selling single of all time. During his life, Mohr also created a fund to allow children from poor families to attend school and set up a system for the care of the elderly. (1818) And, on this day in 1914, the Christmas truce of World War I began when German troops fighting in Belgium began decorating their trenches and singing Christmas carols.

The British troops on the other side soon joined in the singing and soon these soldiers greeted each other on the plains between them, putting the war on hold while exchanging gifts of whiskey and cigars. Watch a wonderful depiction below… SHARE the Milestones, Memories, and Music…