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November 11, 1938: Kate Smith sings 'God Bless America'

November 11, 1938: On this date, Kate Smith recorded the American patriotic song "God Bless America" for the first time and later became closely identified with this song. The lyrics were written by Irving Berlin twenty years before Kate Smith  sung them on the radio.

Kate Smith was best known for her rendition of this song, which was written by Berlin while he was working for the US Army. Five years later, due to the popularity of this rendition, it was featured in the musical show entitled "This is the Army,"  which  featured other songs also composed by Berlin.

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