December 25

"Silent Night" is a traditional Christmas song. Its first performance was on the 25th in 1818 when a choir sang it during Christmas services in the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria. The song quickly became a staple of the Christmas season. During World War I, a war that probably set the standard for brutality in the modern era, on Christmas Day in 1914, the song was sung, simultaneously, in English and German, by the troops facing each other near Ypres, Belgium. When they finished singing, the soldiers from both sides exchanged gifts. After gathering, the Germans and the Allies also conducted a group reading of the 23rd psalm. Sadly, after burying their dead it was back to business as usual for both sides.