Who wrote the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner” after seeing Fort McHenry under bombardment?

Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner” after seeing Fort McHenry under bombardment.

Key, a Maryland lawyer and amateur poet, watched the British attack on Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor during the War of 1812. He saw the large American flag still flying over the fort at dawn on September 14, 1814, and began writing words inspired by the sight.

His poem was first published as “Defence of Fort M'Henry.” The lyrics were later set to the melody of “Anacreon in Heaven,” a British song associated with the Anacreontic Society. The tune was not composed by Key, a frequent misconception.

Congress made the song the official U.S. national anthem in 1931. The original flag that inspired Key is preserved at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. It was unusually large, measuring about 30 by 42 feet, so defenders could see it from a considerable distance.