Monday, June 18, 2012

My First Twitter Battle

Meet Cory Bolt, or @corybolt, courtesy of his Twitter description:

I love sports for starters, I'm an eagle scout and I love Life. I always look on the bright side and I have the best gf in the world!

Cory contacted me on Twitter during last week's Pirates-Orioles since I mentioned the Orioles. Enjoy a hearty discussion.

















Clearly, Cory always looks on the bright side! Of course, I learned, once again, not to argue with a teenager.


In case you're wondering, here is the history of how and where Key wrote the national anthem.

The Star-Spangled Banner, was written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key. Key was sent to the British fleet in Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812 to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes on September 13, 1814. Beanes was captured by the British during their raid on Washington D.C. Beanes, a local official in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, had arrested two drunken British soldiers. When one escaped, a small force came to release the second, and arrested Beanes. Key was enlisted by the residents of Upper Marlboro to retrieve Beanes, who, as a non-combatant, had no reason for military arrest.

Key was able to retrieve Beanes, but because the British were preparing to bombard Baltimore's Fort McHenry, his ship was detained. The commander of Fort McHenry, Major George Armistead, knew his fort would be a big and welcoming target for the British warships. He had a special, oversized flag made for the fort (which at the time had fifteen stars and fifteen stripes), and it flew for over a year before the night of the bombardment that inspired Key.

Anchored eight miles from the Fort, Key waited for the British to wage and finish their attack on the Fort. The ships used long-range, high-trajectory guns to fire at the fort. Though it tried to return fire, the Fort's cannon were too small to reach the attackers. The attack proceeded through the night and the Americans waited on the detained ship to see if the fort had been captured. As dawn broke, Key watched the fort through a telescope. There he saw the large flag Armistead had had made, flying in the breeze. Key jotted some notes on the back of a letter he had in his pocket, and later in his hotel room in Baltimore, completed a poem, an ode to the sights he'd seen.


Am I wrong on this one? According to the article, Key wrote the National Anthem on a ship (though the article doesn't state specifically where) and completed at a hotel.

7 comments:

Nichole Fisher said...

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Wow, even a quick wikipedia search would have told him that, uh, no the national anthem was not written under a bridge and is not a memorial to the Baltimore Orioles. I wonder if the bridge thing is just a MD urban legend? No offense to Maryland-ites or anything. I seriously loved when he asked you to fact check. Really? Thanks for the laugh :)

Gilahi said...

Back in the 1800's, songs were written for specific people to sing. The reason "The Star-Spangled Banner" is so difficult to sing is because it was written specifically for the little-known vocalist Francis Scott. When people asked why such a difficult song was ever written, they were told that it was written in "Francis Scott's Key". Over the years the "s" was dropped so that we ended up with the erroneous name we have today.

Francis Scott was so unpopular as a singer that he died penniless under a bridge in Maryland.

Nichole Fisher said...

@Gilahi - I can't tell if you're serious or pulling my leg. Francis Scott Key was indeed a real person and he died at his daughter's home, not under a bridge. He wasn't only a poet, but also a lawyer and he didn't die penniless.

Gilahi said...

Oh for Pete's sake...

Sean said...

Nicole - At first, I thought Gilahi was being serious, but then I quickly realized that Gilahi wrote it (meaning that it's not serious).

In other news, Cory sent me a message on Twitter today stating, "You still have yet to prove me wrong when it comes to the history! which is exactly why you look like a moron." I'm not sure if I'm going to reply or not.

Sean said...

The Key Bridge in Baltimore wasn't opened until 1977. Game, set, and match!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Scott_Key_Bridge_(Baltimore)

Unknown said...

This whole exchange is hilarious. I'm not sure how I missed it, but thanks for linking to it again. I lived in Baltimore for a year, and I knew Baltimorons like this guy.