born Aug. 1, 1779, Frederick county, Md., U.S.
died Jan. 11, 1843, Baltimore, Md.
U.S. lawyer, author of "The Star Spangled Banner.
" After the burning of Washington, D.C., in the War of 1812 he was sent to secure the release of a friend from a British ship in Chesapeake Bay. He watched the British shelling of Fort McHenry during the night of Sept. 13–14, 1814; when he saw the U.S. flag still flying the next morning, he wrote the poem "Defense of Fort M'Henry." Published in the Baltimore Patriot , it was later set to the tune of an English drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven." The song was adopted as the U.S. national anthem in 1931.