No close family anniversaries. In Baltimore, Maryland, on this date in 1814, the first documented performance took place of “Defense of Fort McHenry,” a poem by Francis Scott Key, set to a popular British-American tune. The combination, later known as “The Star-Spangled Banner,” quickly became a popular patriotic song, was recognized for official use by 1889, and finally as our national anthem in 1931. Top photo: bombardment of Fort McHenry, seen from a nearby observatory. Below: Francis Scott Key’s moment of inspiration, painted by Edward Moran (1912).
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- About the Keeper
- About the Site
- Ancestral Sites in Norway
- Ancient History I: The First Millennium
- Ancient History II: 1000-1250
- Ancient History III: 1250-1500
- Early, Early Americans
- Anne Larsdatter Skurdal (1801-1890)
- Anne Samuelsdatter Bjerke (1845-1885)
- Samuel Jorgenson, AKA Samuelson(!)
- Ole Larson (1841-1908)
- Dan and Lillian Myers
- Myers, Drayer, Colby, Sprung: Back To the Revolution!
- Isaac Larson (1884-1969)
- Lovell & Reatha Larson
- Helene Olsdatter (1854-1927)
- Marte Bø: Great-Grandma, Murderess
- Philip Myers (1759-1835)
- Wyoming Captive
- Michael Myers (1768-1815)
- Smith Larson (1877-1922), WWI Vet
- Tracing the Slettens
- Martha Bennett (m. Myers, 1763- 1851)
- William Drayer (1859-1937)