In the late 1960’s, nothing seemed like it was going right; from assassinations to race riots to the Vietnam War, tension was everywhere. It seemed as if the world was falling apart.

In light of this, songwriter George David Weiss and record producer Bob Thiele decided to pen a positive, beautiful song that would provide a welcome respite from these challenging times. The song was called What a Wonderful World, and after Tony Bennett turned down the initial recording offer, Louis Armstrong signed on to record it. Initially released in 1967 as a single, the song didn’t fare so well. But after Armstrong released the song on his What A Wonderful World album in 1968, it gradually gained in popularity.