Like so many famous songs of yore, "The Star-Spangled Banner" started as a poem, called “The Defence of Fort McHenry.” It was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 during the War of 1812.

he put his joy into a verse published first as “Defence of Fort M’Henry” and then, set to the tune of a British drinking song, immortalized as “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The flag itself ...

Sheads, historian at Baltimore's Fort McHenry National Monument and ... conservation project that cost about $7 million, the Star-Spangled Banner, as it had become known, returns to center stage ...

Re “Remove ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ as national anthem ... the British sent a downpour of shells and rockets on Fort McHenry for 25 hours in September 1814. Francis Scott Key was in ...

Francis Scott Key witnessed the bombardment from a ship in Baltimore harbor and expressed his gratitude and relief at the victory in a poem that became "The Star-Spangled Banner ... environments of ...