On this day in 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a congressional act that made The Star-Spangled Banner the US's national anthem.

It All Began in Baltimore. Ft. McHenry guarded the entrance to Baltimore Harbor via the Patapsco River. During War of 1812, Fort McHenry was a sure bet for being attacked by the British. Commanding officer Major George Armistead wanted a big flag that would not only identify his position, but would be visible to the enemy from far away.

Where Do You Get a Really Big Flag? Mary Young Pickersgill, a Baltimore widow experienced in making ship flags, agreed to make a US flag 30 feet by 42 feet. She spent weeks measuring, cutting, and sewing the 15 stars and stripes. The flag was so big that her house was not large enough to assemble it. She was forced to put the flag together on the floor of a brewery during the evenings. She and the women helping her assembled the flag by candlelight. That became the massive flag that was flown at Ft. McHenry.

Here Comes the Rockets' Red Glare... On the morning of September 13, 1814, British ships began launching shells at Fort McHenry from positions beyond the range of the fort's guns. The shelling continued all that rainy night.

Lyrics by... On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key composed the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner." He was a Washington D.C. lawyer, in Baltimore during the shelling. Key was supposed to escort a Maryland doctor who had been abducted by the British after they left Washington. But he could not escort the doctor home until the attack ended.

Inspiration. Key watched the siege while he was held on a British ship. At dawn, the bombing lessened. Had Ft. McHenry been captured? Key peered out through a telescope. On the fort's flagpole, fluttering in the morning breeze, was the flag. Key took a letter from his pocket, and began to write lyrics on the back.

Read All About It! Key's lyrics were printed in a Baltimore newspaper later that month, and the words were later set to the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven," a popular English song.