Aside from the indisputable fact that “The Star-Spangled Banner” is the most unsingable national anthem ever composed, what else do you know about it? Here are some interesting facts:

• The words, written by Washington lawyer Francis Scott Key, were composed to fit the prosody of a popular English drinking song of the time: “The Anacreontic Song” or “To Anacreon in Heaven.” This ditty was the theme song of London’s Anacreontic Society, a popular gentleman’s club named for the 6th century BCE Greek poet Anacreon. The Society’s stated goal was the promotion of musical opportunities for the general public. To that end, members hosted concerts and invited famous musicians to be guests at their meetings, including one Joseph Haydn in 1791.
• The Star-Spangled Banner did not officially become America’s national anthem until 1931. A Ripley’s “Believe It Or Not!” cartoon pointed out the fact that America had no national anthem, which sparked a public outcry and inspired campaigns for worthy contenders. Some top suggestions: “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “America the Beautiful,” and “Hail Columbia.” But it was John Phillip Sousa’s determined advocacy for “The Star-Spangled Banner” that prevailed; President Herbert Hoover officially made it our national anthem when he signed a bill into law on March 3, 1931.
• Key’s original poem, “The Defense of Fort McHenry,” had four verses. During the Civil War, Oliver Wendell Holmes added a fifth, in support of the Union cause.
• Despite his poem’s repeated refrain – each of the original four verses ends with the words “the land of the free and the home of the brave” – Francis Scott Key did not believe in freedom for all; he came from a slave-owning family and was himself the owner of many enslaved people. Key also assisted other slave owners in the “recovery” of their runaway “property.”
• “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played at a sporting event for the first time at the first World Series, held in Boston in 1903. 

© Elizabeth Schwartz