In today’s lesson you’re going to hear the story of the creator of Jingle Bells, his questionable character and we’ll go through the lyrics of the song so if you want to sing it in English, you can.
This is Part 2. In Part 1, we spoke about the common English expression Bells and Whistles.
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In December of 1965, a spacecraft called Gemini 6 was flying in outer space, looking back down at earth. The crew members on board were on call with Mission Control when they announced the following alarming message: “We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, up in a polar orbit. He’s in a very low trajectory traveling from north to south and has a very high climbing ratio. It looks like it might even be a … Very low….”
After a few more details, sleigh bells started to jingle and the familiar tune Jingle Bells passed from Gemini 6 to Mission Control. With a harmonica and sleigh bells, Wally Shirra (Walter M. Shirra Jr.) and Tom Stafford, played the first live song from space: Jingle Bells.
You heard me. The popular Christmas song, Jingle Bells was the first song ever played live from space.
And yes, the astronauts were playing a joke on Mission Control; they were in fact pretending to see Santa.
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Premium Content: This episode is part of Season 3. By purchasing Season 3 transcripts, you'll be able to access the full episodes, the full PDF transcripts for episodes 101 - 150, an Mp3 download and the premium podcast player to work on your pronunciation.
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166 - Expression: To Take It With A Grain Of Salt
165 - Chats with Shana: Culture Shock in the U.S. (Everyday Life)
164.2 - English Story: Irregular Verbs with the Titanic
164 - Expression: To Hit Rock Bottom
163 - 5-Minute English: The Post Office and Mail
162 - Discover Illinois with Jackie (from "Ask Jackie")
161 - 10 Words a Day: Handy-Dandy Reduplications
160.2 - How Cereal Became The Number One Breakfast Food in the U.S.
160 - Expression: Gimme Some Sugar!
159 - 5-Minute English: Home Renovation
158 - Moving Across the U.S. with Lucas
157.2 - New Year's Resolution Statistics for the U.S.
157 - Expression: To Get The Ball Rolling
156 - Chats with Shana: My Christmas Memories (+10 Must-Know Oxymorons)
155 - Decades: The 1980s with Alex
154.2 - The Boston Tea Party + U.S. Independence from Britain
154 - Expression: My Cup of Tea
153 - 5-Minute English: Shopping for Clothes
152 - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Halloween Special)
151.2 - Moose in the U.S. (Do we live in harmony with our moose?)
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