Sing, "Happy Birthday?"

Anyone that knows me well knows that I love trivia. I like learning little facts about things that many people don't know. I guess I get this from my father, as he loves trivia as well. My grandma Judy recently sent me a book called "Not Another Apple for the Teacher" (Hundreds of Fascinating facts from the World of Education) By Erin Barrett and Jack Mingo. I could tell you again and again how much I love this book...because of all the intriguing trivia it contains! Maybe it's because I'm a teacher, but trivia is trivia to me. I thought I would share a fact from the book that I read today:

"The descendants of two educators from Louisville, Kentucky, got very rich because they wrote the song that became "Happy Birthday to You." In 1894, teacher Mildred Hill and her sister and principal Dr. Patty Hill wrote a song called "Good Morning to All." A music publisher, apparently thinking the song was in the public domain, changed a few words and printed it in a songbook as "Happy Birthday to you." After the lawsuits settled, the two teachers ended up owning copyrights to both songs. It's believed to be the most-performed song ever, and the Hills' estates continue to collect royalties on it and will until 2010." (Not Another Apple for the teacher, by Erin Barrett and Jack Mingo).

So, if any of you get bored...go to your nearby bookstore or library and pick up this book! It just came out this year, so it's still available. I know you won't regret it!



In case anyone was wondering...here are the lyrics to the song "Good Morning to You"...it has the same melody as "Happy Birthday"

"Good Morning to You"

Good morning to you,
Good morning to you,
Good morning dear children,
Good morning to all.
(Lyrics by Dr. Patty Hill)

You never know how much you will learn from a simple trivia fact!