Who Created The Happy Birthday Song? And How Did It Spread Across The Whole World?

Everything has a point of origin, and this is true about one of the most famous songs in the world (as listed by the Guinness Book of World Records) – Happy Birthday to You – as well. The lyrics and the music for the song were first provided by Patty Hill and Mildred J Hill respectively, two sisters from Louisville, Kentucky. The song was not originally Happy Birthday to You, but Good Morning to All, and Patty wrote it for the children she was teaching. The simplicity of the song caught the public's attention, and they first published it and had it copyrighted it in 1893. The publishing company was Clayton F. Summy, who also put it up at the World's Fair held in Chicago during the same year. After that, the song reached the far corners of the world. However, there is evidence suggesting further that even Patty's original 'Good morning to All' had a predecessor – Happy Greeting to All.

Over the years, the song was republished and altered, and finally in the songbook that Robert H. Coleman published the words Happy Birthday to You appeared for the first time in the opening line of the second stanza. This created a flutter. After that, over time the original lines written by Patty were replaced by the now-famous 'Happy Birthday to You' altogether. The controversy didn't end there. In fact it mounted further, with Patty and her other sister Jessica taking refuge in the judiciary to get the matter sorted out.