It’s a song every American has heard countless times – and can probably recite by heart. But how much do you really know about our national anthem? Let’s take a line-by-line tour of the ...

Whose Word Is It Anyway? Its third verse uses the word ‘slave,’ but it may not have referred to chattel slavery in the South. By now you’ve probably heard the claim that America’s national ...

Rather than address claims against the song, it would be my pleasure to look at what makes our national anthem so great.

Secondly, look at the song itself. The Star Spangled Banner is part of a poem about a battle that was significant in the American History, the War of 1812. The words describe a battle.

As a child, Nicholas Alan Cope recalls hearing the national anthem at Orioles games in Baltimore, the song's hometown. As an adult, he rose to the challenge of photographing the icon itself.

After almost two centuries, the flag's frail state became plain. The icon's new high-tech home will protect it from exposure to bright light, humidity and ambient pollution. Smithsonian ...