In the War 1812 - the Brits vs. the young American Nation. The Americans actually declared war on the British for capturing and pressing their seaman into service against Napoleon. In the course of this war the British burned down Washington and then later the Royal Navy bombarded the costal defense Fort McHenry near Baltimore in 1814.

A certain Francis Scott Key (age 35 at that time) watched the brutal shelling of the Fort from nearby Baltimore for almost 24 hours. When the smoke cleared the next morning and the British retreated he was so happy to see the American flag still waving over the fort that he immediately wrote the famous poem ‘star spangled banner‘. The poem contains many elements and images of the battle like rockets and bombs. The poem was swiftly printed in Baltimore and spread with the news of the brave battle all over America.

Now here comes the really funny part. The poem was later set to a popular British drinking song called ‘To Anacreon in Heaven‘ written by John Stafford Smith from London.

It was not until 1931 that this honorable song became the national anthem of the United States of America - which means that they simply didn’t have one for almost 200 years.

So next time you see misty eyed Americans singing their anthem - then also imagine a bunch of drunken snobs in London roaring the original tune and the Royal Navy blasting Fort McHenry. After all - the British inspired the whole venture in the first place …