Star Spangled Banner celebrates 200th anniversary Published Sept. 16, 2014 By Jim O'Connell 92nd Air Refueling Wing Historian FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- On Sept. 14, 1814, following a bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in the Chesapeake Bay, U.S. soldiers at Baltimore's Fort McHenry raised a huge American flag to celebrate a crucial victory over British forces during the War of 1812. The sight of those "broad stripes and bright stars" inspired Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, to write a song that eventually became the United States national anthem. Key's words gave renewed significance to a national symbol and started a tradition of honor for generations of Americans. Soon thereafter, John Stafford Smith, an English composer, adapted the song to music using the official song of the Anacreontic Society -- an 18th century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London. On Sept. 20, both the Baltimore Patriot and The American printed the song, with the note "Tune: Anacreon in Heaven." The song quickly became popular. Seventeen newspapers throughout the 15 states printed it. Thomas Carr of the Carr Music Store in Baltimore published the words and music together under the title "The Star Spangled Banner," although it was originally called "Defense of Fort M'Henry." The song's popularity increased and its first public performance took place in October, when Baltimore actor, Ferdinand Durang, sang it at Captain McCauley's tavern. Washington Irving, then editor of The Analectic Magazine in Philadelphia, reprinted the song in November 1814. The military adopted the National Anthem in 1889 when the Secretary of the Navy ordered the song to be played with the raising of the flag. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered the song to be played at military and other appropriate occasions. The song was played during the 7th inning stretch in the 1918 World Series and thereafter during each game of the series. While evidence shows the song was performed as early as 1897 at opening day ceremonies in Philadelphia, tradition shows that use of the song before every baseball game began in WWII. Finally, on March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed the law adopting The Star Spangled Banner as the National Anthem of the United States of America.