Good morning, County Line readers! Happy Thursday and Happy National Anthem Day. In honor of the occasion, and before we get to the weather and birthdays, a quick history lesson—hopefully just a refresher for everyone who has already graduated elementary school:
“The Star-Spangled Banner” in its original iteration was a poem written by Francis Scott Key, without musical accompaniment, in 1814. Key’s original work was titled “Defence of Fort M’Henry” and featured four stanzas, though only the first stanza makes up the lyrics we all know today. Key penned the verses after witnessing the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812, and the words were soon commonly paired with music from “The Anacreontic Song” – a British tune that had already been popular for decades.
In 1931, Congress recognized the pairing of the music and lyrics – by this time already known as “The Star-Spangled Banner” – as America’s official national anthem.
Moving on, even more news worth celebrating: We’re looking at our second consecutive beautiful day in County Line Country. At 7 a.m., the temperature at the County Line’s Adair branch in north Columbia is still a brisk 46 degrees, and it’s an even cooler 44 at the company’s Russell Springs headquarters, but those temps are expected to rise quickly through the morning.
Today’s projected high is 64 degrees, and expect plenty of sunshine.
We’re wishing big HAPPY BIRTHDAYs today to Taylor Morrison and Latoya Jones. Readers are encouraged to send additions to our birthday and anniversary calendars. Email us at countyline@adair-russell.com to get your special dates added to the list!