FRANCIS SCOTT KEY PENS THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER
Baltimore, Maryland (JFK+50) The words of "The Star Spangled Banner" were penned by Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814 during the British attack on Fort McHenry.
Key was detained on a British truce ship far out in the harbor when he was inspired to write "In Defense of Ft. McHenry" on the back of a letter. The lyrics were published in Baltimore on September 20 and later set to the tune "To Anacreon in Heaven".
President Woodrow Wilson signed an Executive Order in 1916 which directed the song be played at military and naval occasions. The Star Spangled Banner did not become Our National Anthem until President Herbert Hoover signed the law making it so in 1931.
SOURCES
"Eighty-five years of Mangling the 'Star-Spangled Banner as Our National Anthem," by Calvin Lawrence, Jr., ABC News, March 3, 2016, www.abcnewws.go.com/
"Facts About the U.S. 'National Anthem'", US Department of Education, www2.ed.gov/
Baltimore, Maryland (JFK+50) The words of "The Star Spangled Banner" were penned by Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814 during the British attack on Fort McHenry.
Key was detained on a British truce ship far out in the harbor when he was inspired to write "In Defense of Ft. McHenry" on the back of a letter. The lyrics were published in Baltimore on September 20 and later set to the tune "To Anacreon in Heaven".
President Woodrow Wilson signed an Executive Order in 1916 which directed the song be played at military and naval occasions. The Star Spangled Banner did not become Our National Anthem until President Herbert Hoover signed the law making it so in 1931.
SOURCES
"Eighty-five years of Mangling the 'Star-Spangled Banner as Our National Anthem," by Calvin Lawrence, Jr., ABC News, March 3, 2016, www.abcnewws.go.com/
"Facts About the U.S. 'National Anthem'", US Department of Education, www2.ed.gov/
The Star Spangled Banner
Words & Sheet Music (1814)
Library of Congress Image
