It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh".
James Lord Pierpont composed the song in a tavern in 1850 for his Thanksgiving Sunday school class. The jingling bells referred to New England sleigh races, popular in the 19th century.
In a Christmas-themed prank, Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra produced a smuggled harmonica and sleigh bells and broadcast a rendition of "Jingle Bells" on December 16, 1965, after claiming to see a strange object in polar orbit.
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