Just a reminder that today marks the 200th Anniversary of The Star Spangled Banner! On September 12, 1814, Francis Scott Key was held prisoner on a ship. During the rainy night, he witnessed the bombardment of Baltimore and observed that the fort’s small “storm flag” continued to fly. Once the shell and rocket fire stopped, smoke filled the air making it impossible to know how the battle had turned out. In the morning, he could see that the smaller storm flag had been lowered and a much larger flag had been raised. Although the large flag had been blasted until it was riddled with holes, it announced the American victory to the world. Key was so inspired by the sight that he wrote a poem on the back of a letter he kept in his pocket. That poem became our National Anthem.