On this day in history, December 22, 1808, Beethoven's triumphant Fifth Symphony debuts in Vienna

Ludwig Van Beethoven performed Symphony No. 5 for the first time in public in Vienna on this day in history, Dec. 22, 1808. It has become perhaps the world's most famous musical composition.

Among other incredible influences far beyond the world of music, those four c-minor notes by the famed German composer became a powerful symbol of the Allied drive to victory over Nazi Germany in World War II more than a century later.  "The most common story that is told is that Beethoven … was supposedly symbolizing fate knocking at the door." "The BBC adopted the four-note Symphony No. 5 timpani in the opening of its wartime broadcasts." "The French, too, adopted Beethoven's 5th Symphony as an icon of solidarity and resistance." Kerry J. Byrne is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.

"The most common story that is told is that Beethoven allegedly said that the opening of the symphony was supposedly symbolizing fate knocking at the door," Matthew Guerrieri, author of "The First Four Notes: Beethoven's Fifth and the Human Imagination," told NPR in a 2012 interview.