Star Spangled Banner becomes the National Anthem (1931)

• September 14, 1814 – written by Francis Scott Key as he witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812
• January 11, 1843 – Francis Scott Key died (of pleurisy)
• 1916 – President Woodrow Wilson announced that Star Spangled Banner should be played at all official events
• 1930 – Veterans of Foreign Wars petitioned for the US to officially recognize “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem
• March 4, 1931 – President Herbert Hoover signed the bill