title: Where does 'Hello world' come from?
body: <p>'<code>hello, world</code>' is usually the first example for any programming language. I've always wondered where this sentence came from and where was it first used.</p>
  
  <p>I've once been told that it was the first sentence ever to be displayed on a computer screen, but I've not been able to find any reference to this.</p>
  
  <p>So my question is:<br>
  Where does the practice to use '<code>hello, world</code>' as the first example for computer languages originate from?<br>
  Where was it first used?</p>
  
  <p><strong>Update</strong><br>
  Although the answers are quite interesting, I should have noted that I had read the Wikipedia article. It does answer the question about the first use in literature, but does not answer when '<code>hello world</code>' was first <em>used</em>.<br>
  So I think that it is safe to conclude that it was not the first sentence ever to be displayed on a computer screen and that there is no record about when it was first used?</p>