Popular Christmas Carols Quiz

A Canadian inventor named Reginald Fessenden created the first audio broadcast in 1906. He read passages from the Bible and played "O Holy Night" on the violin.

It is taken from Psalms 98. It first appeared in publication in 1719.

Bing Crosby's version of "Silent Night" is one of the best-selling songs ever. The song has been translated into at least 140 languages.

It was written by a young priest in 1816 and then performed at a church in the Austrian Empire on Christmas Eve in 1818.

"The Little Drummer Boy" was called "Carol of the Drums," and by carol standards it is brand new — it wasn't written until 1941.

The poem was written by William Chatterton Dix in 1865 and used for "What Child Is This?" a haunting song written as Dix was recovering from a life-threatening illness.

The song was published in 1857 by James Lord Pierpont, and it was written for Thanksgiving. Since then, it's become universally associated with Christmas.

It's an English Christmas carol, and it was first published in 1823. In its early forms it was sometimes written as "The First Nowell."

A Tannenbaum is a fir. The song's original version has nothing to do with Christmas. Instead, it praises the fir's evergreen traits as a sort of faithfulness that people aspire to.

It was published along with 16 other songs in 1700, but "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" is the only one still commonly sung today.

"Greensleeves" is an English folk song, and its melody is used for "What Child is This?" It was written in 1865 and is one of the most popular carols in America.

While they were in space in 1965, the crew of Gemini 6 played a version of "Jingle Bells" as a prank. They also implied that they saw Santa Claus.

Although the astronauts were clearly breaking protocol, Mission Control couldn't do much, so they replied with a resigned "you're too much, six" (in reference to the Gemini 6 mission).

The Ramones may not have covered the song, but just about every other band has done some version of this popular tune.

It was published in a collection called "Hymns and Sacred Poems," written by Charles Wesley in 1739. The original version was less anthemic and more solemn.

The song is all about Luke 2, in which angels announce the birth of Jesus to shepherds.

It was originally a poem written by a minister named Edmund Sears, who lived in Massachusetts. His world-weary poem may have been a response to the Mexican-American War.

Presented with the words (written by Haven Gillespie), Coots came up with the foundations for the music in about 10 minutes.

More than 100,000 people called, clamoring for copies of the song's sheet music. It was an instant hit, and eventually 4 million copies were sold.

As Christmas songs go, this one is relatively new. It was written in 1962 in response to the Cuban missile crisis.

"The Quest of the Magi" is better known as "We Three Kings," a carol written for a Christmas pageant in 1857.

The simple and sparse tune "St. Louis" is the melody played with the lyrics, which were composed by an Episcopal priest in 1868.

The English version, written in the 1840s, is easy to trace; but as for the original, no one really knows who wrote it. It may date all the way back to the 1600s.

Martin Luther has often been associated with this song, but there's no evidence at all that he wrote it.

"Joy to the World" is the most-published Christmas song. Other often-published songs are "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "When Shepherds Watched Their Flocks."

The familiar Welsh melody is from the 16th century, but the English lyrics are relatively recent, from the 1860s.

At least 200 recorded versions have been released. As the story goes, the song was written by a man named Dick Smith as he was recuperating from a bout of tuberculosis.

In the 1944 movie "Meet Me in St. Louis," Judy Garland sings the song to her little sister. The bittersweet song's original lyrics are even more depressing than the wistful incarnation used in the film.

Three Dog Night's version, called "Joy to the World (Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog)," was intended as a silly kid's song and wound up atop the Billboard charts.

"God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" is one of the oldest Christmas carols in existence. It may date all the way back to the 1500s.