HAPPY 4th OF JULY! Does the Star Spangled Banner give you a patriotic feeling? What do you know about it? Below are a few fun facts.
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1. The song wasn’t around on the first Independence Day, in 1776. In fact, it wasn’t until the second war with Britain, decades later, that it was written.
2. The words of the song were written near the end of the War of 1812 — in September 1814, to be exact, by Frances Scott Key. The British had just burned Washington, DC, and were headed to Baltimore to bombard Ft. McHenry. Key was on a British ship seeking the release of another American and was kept on the fleet to prevent him from warning about the British plans.
3. Key wrote a poem, “Defense of Ft. McHenry,” in honor of the huge American flag that hung after the successful American defense of Ft. McHenry. The poem later was set to the music of a popular tune at the time, “The Anacreontic Song.” Ironically, that song had been written by a Brit, probably John Stafford Smith.
4. The stirring song was unofficially adopted as the national anthem and played at 4th of July celebrations throughout the 1800s. In 1889, it was officially adopted by the Navy as the song to be played when the flag is raised. (Click on the link below to hear the Navy Band play it.)
In 1897, it was played at the opening day baseball game in Philadelphia. In 1916, President Wilson ordered it played at military and other patriotic occassions. The song became even more popular when it was sung at the 1918 World Series of Baseball, in honor of the armed forces fighting in World War I.
5. On March 3, 1931, Congress proclaimed the Star Spangled Banner as the national anthem.
6. In our Storybook Quilt, Emily and Maurice the Cat hear the band playing the Star Spangled Banneras their runaway balloon soars above the park.
7. The song is very difficult to sing! In 2009, the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian held a national singing contest that anyone could enter. See the results here.
