Q 01/05

What was the day job of the amateur poet who wrote the words of The Star-Spangled Banner?

A) Minister

B) Printer

C) Lawyer

D) Soldier

Answer · why

C) Lawyer

A lawyer for four decades, he argued many cases before the Supreme Court and as a young man had nearly become an Episcopal priest instead.

Q 02/05

Which Red Sox pitcher threw a shutout in the 1918 World Series opener, when a band struck up The Star-Spangled Banner?

A) Babe Ruth

B) Cy Young

C) Smoky Joe Wood

D) Walter Johnson

Answer · why

A) Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth won Game 1 on the mound, and the band played the song during the seventh-inning stretch because the country was at war.

Q 03/05

The flag that inspired The Star-Spangled Banner was so large that its makers spread it out on the floor of what?

A) A church

B) A brewery

C) A shipyard

D) A courthouse

Answer · why

B) A brewery

A brewery lent its malt house once the day's work was done, and the women often stitched there on the floor until midnight.

Q 04/05

Which amateur poet wrote the words of The Star-Spangled Banner after watching a British bombardment from a ship?

A) Edgar Allan Poe

B) Julia Ward Howe

C) Ralph Waldo Emerson

D) Francis Scott Key

Answer · why

D) Francis Scott Key

Francis Scott Key had sailed out to negotiate a prisoner's release, and the British kept him offshore until the attack was over.

Q 05/05

Which singer's rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner at the 1991 Super Bowl, during the Gulf War, became a hit single?

A) Whitney Houston

B) Barbra Streisand

C) Mariah Carey

D) Gloria Estefan

Answer · why

A) Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston's version charted twice, climbing into the top ten when it was reissued after the September 11 attacks.