The U.S National Anthem

During the war of 1812 ( on September 14 , 1814) , poet Francis Scott Key wrote a poem entitled "Defense of Fort McHenry" , being inspired by seeing the American flag still flying amidst the battle. Key never meant for it to become a song , or a national anthem , yet after showing the poem to his brother in law Judge Joseph H. Nicholson , Nicholson noticed the poem could fit the tune "The Anacreontic Song" ( also known as "To Anacreon in Heaven") , a song originally written for a gentleman's social club in London. It gained popularity outside Great Britain, including in the United States , where by this time the tune was familiar to American ears. ( The tune was once the national anthem of Luxembourg). Key may have had this tune in mind when he wrote the poem; an earlier poem of his called " When the warrior Returns" was also the same rhythm , could be set to the same tune , and is of similar subject matter - the last two lines of each stanza of that poem also ended with " Wave and Brave".
His poem spread quickly across the United States , the first printing of the poem in a Baltimore paper suggested the "Anacreon in Heaven" tune and it stuck. A Baltimore music store owner first printed the song under " The star Spangled Banner". It gained in popularity , and was made the official tune to accompany flag raising by the Secretary of the Navy in 1889. In 1916 it was ordered to be played at military and other occasions , and , due to a large relations effort , it was officially adopted by Congress as the first national anthem of the United States in 1931.