- Sang her most famous song, Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", before Philadelphia Flyers games for many years, always to an appreciative audience.
- Kate has often been considered the inspiration for the saying, "It ain't over till the fat lady sings."
- Received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award in 1985.
- Made her last public appearance in a surprise cameo at the finale of the the 1982 Emmy awards. The audience gave her a standing ovation and joined host Bob Hope in singing "God Bless America" in her honor as she sat in her wheelchair beaming and singing along although her voice was not heard over the crowd.
- Kate became a singing good-luck charm for the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team with her renditions of "God Bless America" helping to inspire them to two successive Stanley Cups (1974 and 1975). In 1987, the team erected a statue of Smith outside their arena in her memory.
- In 1982, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan.
- Kate's success with "God Bless America" inspired Woody Guthrie to write his own musical response "This Land Is Your Land", which became a patriotic standard in its own right.
- Kate asked Irving Berlin himself for a patriotic song for her radio show, and he gave her "God Bless America" which was originally written by him in 1918. Berlin changed some of the lyrics from his original composition, replacing "from the green fields of Virginia / to the gold fields out in Nome" with "From the mountains to the prairies / To the oceans white with foam." After some other minor adjustments, he gave the song to Kate. She first performed it on Armistice Day, November 11, 1938.
- Co-wrote her theme song, "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain," with Harry Woods.
- She was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1999.
- In her honor, The Kate Smith USA Friends Club was formed in 1967 to the acknowledgement of Kate herself.
- In 1976 she was named Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade.
- Smith performed "God Bless America" every week on her radio show from 1938, selling nearly 400,000 pages of sheet music. On March 21, 1939, she recorded both that song and "The Star Spangled Banner" for RCA Victor, which also became an instant hit.
- Pictured on a 44¢ USA commemorative postage stamp issued 27 May 2010.
- An ABC Network Television "live presentation with an audience," - "The Hollywood Palace" (1964:2nd season.show #17, airing 23 January 1965) - a Saturday night music-variety hour television show, the Producers Nick Vanoff and Bill Harbach asked Kate Smith to host a Saturday night television show after she appeared as a guest soloist-performer. During on-camera-stage blocking rehearsals, where Kate Smith (as host) stood on the left side of the stage's portal-proscenium, Paul, the prop-master, would bring Kate an "un-opened aluminum can" of ice cold soda pop, handing the soft drink to host Kate Smith. Kate wanted "everyone" to see that the can of fizz was the pure thing, unadulterated by alcohol, to prevent any scandalous gossip implying she is alcoholic, or drunk, performing on the stage during the show's rehearsals and show-taping. The "Hollywood Palace - show host" (Kate Smith) always had the show's featured end spot to solo their talent closing out the hour-in-length program. The closing final segment featured a voluptuous Raquel Welsh dressed as a Las Vegas variety show-girl carrying a featured yellow colored printed 5" wide by 16" long printed type "bill-board" of the next week's named featured host and guest talent roster. When curvaceous Raquel Welch, dressed in her 'Vegas showgirl costume' entered from off-camera stage left, Kate remarked, "Well, aren't you a pretty young lassie" .....
- Officially retired in February 1979.
- Grammy Award Winner for Best Gospel Album, "How Great Thou Art" (RCA: 1966).
- Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 788-790. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.
- She was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6157 Hollywood Boulevard and for Radio at 6145 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
- Kate Smith brought with her a small hand-held Kodak 35mm "brownie" color still film box camera. During her on stage, and off stage activities, Kate constantly 'whipped out her little camera' and took a "Kodak Moment" photograph - of each show staff member, including orchestra musicians, stage technical electrical crew members on a ladder adjusting overhead stage lighting, Ed Holland supervising his stage-hands moving sets either on-or-off the stage, prop-men, make-up staff, costume designer and staff, producers Nick Vanoff & Bill Harbach, their staff Rita Scott, Carol Warrian, Elliott Alexander, director Grey Lockwood , technical-video-director Gene Lukowski, orchestra conductor Mitchell Ayres, lighting director Jack Denton, stage manager "Woodie" James Woodruff, production designers Jim Trittipo and Hub Braden, including staff members - involved in the show's production. Each individual crew member received Kate's personal autographed "Thank You" note, with their photograph included in the envelope sent to their home address.
- Remarkably, the only two guest hosts of "The Hollywood Palace" television show's seven year series (1964-1971), Kate Smith and Joan Crawford - were the only two host-stars who "individually" and "personally" hand wrote a "thank-you" note to each individual member of the complete show's crew and cast members' appearing on their hosting of the television "Hollywood Palace" show.
- She didn't have a passport and only left America once, to host the London Palladium TV show in the UK.
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