Francis Scott Key

Francis Scott Key ( born August 1, 1779 Carroll County, Maryland, † January 11, 1843 in Baltimore, Maryland) was an American lawyer and poet situation.

Life

During the War of 1812, Key witnessed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore. He had been brought aboard a British warship in order to obtain the release of her friend who was accused of having given the British deserters shelter. The British High Command agreed to release them both, but for safety reasons they were left overnight on board while the fleet attacked the fort.

When he saw still waving over the fort at dawn the flag of the United States, it inspired the to the poem The Defense of Fort McHenry, where he celebrated the spirit of resistance and victory of his countrymen.

Later a popular piece of music was among them down (To Anacreon in Heaven by the English composer John Stafford Smith) made ​​in 1931 under the name of The Star- Spangled Banner to the American national anthem.

In honor of Francis Scott Key, the United States Navy named a nuclear -powered submarine, the USS Francis Scott Key ( SSBN -657 ).

He was a great-great uncle of the writer Francis Scott Fitzgerald.