It starts with a question—a total cliffhanger. “O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light…” Francis Scott Key wasn't writing a poem from a quiet desk. He was a lawyer on a British ship during the War of 1812, watching a 25-hour bombardment of Fort McHenry.
The flag was his only proof that his friends were still alive. Imagine checking your phone for a text from a friend in danger, but instead, you’re squinting through smoke and cannon fire at a piece of cloth. That’s the tension.
Fun fact: the original flag had 15 stars and 15 stripes. Not 13. It was the only official U.S. flag with that many stripes, because two new states (Vermont and Kentucky) had just joined the party.
