On this day in history, in 1814, Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the Star-Spangled Banner ~
 

 
Francis Scott Key was born in Frederick County (now Carroll County), Maryland on August 1, 1779. He became a successful lawyer in Maryland and Washington, D.C., and was later appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
 
In September 1814, during the War of 1812, a British fleet had sailed into Chesapeake Bay aiming to fight their way past Fort McHenry and capture Baltimore. Key had a view of the battle from behind enemy lines, on a ship where the British had temporarily detained him. As the night of September 13th wore on, he paced the deck nervously, hoping the fort could hold out.
 
When dawn broke on September 14, thrilled to see the Stars and Stripes still flying high over the fort and overcome with emotion, Key penned a few lines; “O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light… ”
 
Originally titled “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” the finalized poem was printed and distributed in Baltimore shortly after he wrote it. Soon thereafter people began singing it, to the melody of a contemporary tune, and it quickly became a hit.
 
In 1931, Congress designated Key’s Star-Spangled Banner as our national anthem.
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 Today, the flag that flew over Fort McHenry in 1914 is housed at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.