National Anthem

After singer Kate Smith introduced Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on her radio show on Armistice Day in 1938, some suggested that it ought to replace "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem. It was a suggestion, no doubt, that annoyed Baltimore's Ella Virginia Houck Holloway. Better known as Mrs. Reuben Ross Holloway, she had been the driving force behind the federal law that eventually made Francis Scott Key's song the national anthem. In 1918, Holloway persuaded Rep. J. Charles Linthicum, a Maryland Democrat, to introduce such a bill in Congress.

It's not often that a nationally significant historic landmark home comes up for sale. But that's just what has happened. The birthplace and childhood home of the author of our national anthem, Francis Scott Key, is on the market for $1.3 million. The home, known as Terra Rubra, is situated on 149 acres on Keysville Bruceville Road in northwestern Carroll County. It overlooks beautiful rolling hills as well as the mountains of nearby Frederick County. "It's hard to find a property or house on the market with such national significance," said Charen Rubin, the listing agent for the property.

It's the typo that gives it away. The two 13-by-9.5-inch pieces of paper that will go up for auction at Christie's on Friday spell out in big, bold, black letters, "The Star Spangled Banner. " Underneath this heading is written, much smaller, these words of explanation: "A Pariotic Song. " Thomas Carr, a 19th century music publisher who operated a store at 36 Baltimore St., intended to print "A Patriotic Song. " But he was rushing to capitalize on the popularity of the little ditty that Francis Scott Key penned while watching the bombing of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, and lacked the modern-day luxury of spell-check.

At first, it sounded irresistible: a 10-year old girl determined to sing the national anthem at every major league ballpark and set a world record.How precocious. And ingenious. See the country, catch 30 baseball games and make a little history along the way. Why wait for puberty when you've got a shot at immortality, huh?Needless to say, we were impressed.But that was before we found out that this particular singing feat isn't singular after all. Turns out Jamie Lynn Bence, a fourth-grader from Hartland, Wis., who is in town to sing the anthem before tonight's game at Camden Yards, isn't the only one trying to belt out "The Star-Spangled Banner" in every ballpark.

With Fort McHenry's huge banner waving behind him, Mayor Martin O'Malley signed an executive order yesterday that called for replacing the modern American flag at city buildings with the 15-star, 15-stripe version that inspired the national anthem in 1814. "From this day forward, the star-spangled banner will be flown from all city buildings in the greatest city in America," O'Malley said. The mayor's order is intended to call more attention to the city's military and cultural contribution to the nation in 1814.

BOSTON -- For Columbia homemaker Donna Greenwald, who aims to sing the national anthem in every Major League Baseball stadium, tension is part of the game.Audiences swell to 50,000. Microphones and acoustics are unpredictable. And there is the song itself -- a nightmare of a 13-note range that can crack the best of voices.But even trips to 15 of the 28 ballparks over the past four years didn't prepare the woman dubbed "Anthem Annie" for Friday night's trip to Boston's Fenway Park, stadium 16. Greenwald, 41, a dinner theater veteran with a golden soprano, almost didn't make it to the 7: 05 p.m. game.

Seven years after the Toronto Star dubbed her "Anthem Annie," Donna Greenwald is finally on the home stretch, three games away from having sung "The Star-Spangled Banner" in every major-league ballpark.The Columbia homemaker left this past Tuesday for Texas Stadium in a new Dodge Caravan. Her travels had put 151,000 miles on her old van; this time, she left with power windows.Baseball has been very, very good to Anthem Annie.Traveling from sea to shining sea, Greenwald has gathered a collection of autographed balls, bats and photographs from some of the sport's most famous players, including the late Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio.

Good morning -- NFL -- Next year, bring back Prince - and let him sing the national anthem.

If any questions lingered about Beyonce's ability to sing live - or her ability to make even the most crazed football fans momentarily forget about a game - then she answered them with force and grace during her Super Bowl halftime performance Sunday night. The fact that she achieved this on the world's most-watched stage is unsurprising, because she has long relished moments with the largest audiences. After controversy over her lip-syncing at President Barack Obama's second inauguration, she opened a news conference last week with an a cappella version of the national anthem - and told reporters that there'd be no lip-syncing for the Super Bowl . Her opening song, "Love on Top," quickly confirmed it. The set list that followed was varied and surprising.

1931: A new national anthem This month marks the 75th anniversary of "The Star-Spangled Banner" officially becoming the national anthem. The composer of the lyrics was Francis Scott Key, a lawyer and poet who graduated two centuries ago from St. John's College in Annapolis. As the story goes, Key was inspired to write the lyrics after witnessing the Battle of Baltimore in 1814 and seeing the battle flag still waving at Fort McHenry the next morning. After a long campaign led by Maryland congressman J. Charles Linthicum, the bill making the song the national anthem passed the Senate on March 3, 1931.