Star Spangled Banner Facts

Did you know facts about the Star Spangled Banner:

You probably knew that the Star Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key after he witnessed the British Royal Navy’s assault on Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor on September 13, 1814, during the War of 1812.

But did you know that he first published his poem under the title of Defence of Fort M’Henry?[1]

The poem was renamed to the Star Spangled Banner and was suggested to be sung with an already familiar English drinking song.

Did you know that English drinking song was To Anacreon in Heaven? Key had previously used that same song with another poem he wrote in 1805, When the Warrior Returns from the Battle Afar. [2]

Did you know that the Star Spangled Banner was not made the official national anthem of the United States of America until President Herbert Hoover signed Congressman John Linthicum’s (D-Maryland) bill, H.R. 14, on March 3, 1931?[3]

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[1] Norman Gelb, “Francis Scott Key, the Reluctant Patriot,” Smithsonian.com, September 2004, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/francis-scott-key-the-reluctant-patriot-180937178/?no-ist%3Fall=&page=3.

[2] “The Melody,” Smithsonian: National Museum of American History, accessed on March 19, 2015, http://amhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/the-melody.aspx.

[3] “The Designation of the ‘Star-Spangled Banner,’” United States House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives, accessed on March 19, 2015, http://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/The-designation-of-the-%E2%80%9CStar-Spangled-Banner%E2%80%9D/.