Francis Scott Key
American lawyer and poet who wrote The Star-Spangled Banner (1779-1843) · United States · Writers · Died at 63
Francis Scott Key is read about 516 times a day, in 34 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 7 October 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 90 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?Francis Scott Key was an American lawyer, author, and poet from Frederick, Maryland, best known as the author of the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry", which was set to a popular British tune and eventually became the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner".
Also in Deutsch
Photos 8
Mary Tayloe Lloyd, early 1800s
Maryland Historical Society plaque marking Key's birthplace
Fort McHenry looking towards the position of the British ships, with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the distance on the upper left
Key law office on Court Street in Frederick, Maryland
Portrait of Key by Rembrandt Peale, c. 1796
Francis Scott Key Monument in Baltimore, Maryland![Francis Scott Key Monument as it stood in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, until it was toppled in June 2020. The empty plinth is now surrounded by 350 black steel sculptures that honor the 350 Africans kidnapped from Angola into Virginia and transported across the Atlantic on slave ships.[77]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Francis_Scott_Key_Monument_San_Francisco_December_2016_panorama.jpg/1280px-Francis_Scott_Key_Monument_San_Francisco_December_2016_panorama.jpg)
Francis Scott Key Monument as it stood in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, until it was toppled in June 2020. The empty plinth is now surrounded by 350 black steel sculptures that honor the 350 Africans kidnapped from Angola into Virginia and transported across the Atlantic on slave ships.[77]Awards
Family
Parents
Francis Scott KeyPartners
Children
Is this everyone?
Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong.
Correct this familyAbout this person
Francis Scott Key was an American lawyer, author, and poet from Frederick, Maryland, best known as the author of the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry", which was set to a popular British tune and eventually became the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner". In 1814 Key observed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812. He was inspired upon seeing an American flag flying over the fort at dawn: his poem was published within a week with the suggested tune of the popular song "To Anacreon in Heaven". The song with Key's lyrics became known as "The Star-Spangled Banner" and slowly gained in popularity as an unofficial anthem, finally achieving official status as the national anthem more than a century later in 1931.
Writers from the United States 6
Fame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.