In 1776, Ralph Tomlinson wrote a song called "To Anacreon in Heaven" dedicated to his London gentleman's club, The Anacreontic Society, titled after the Greek composer of playful drinking hymns and odes to dionysis.
John Stafford Smith, a well known London composer to write the melody, was tasked with composing the melody and soon, as trend for that time period, the melody was used with over a hundred other songs and parodies.
This melody had become quite the popular tune and by 1805, an American named Francis Scott Key wrote a parody name "the warrior returns", a patriotic ode.
He would later pen another song called "the defense of fort McHenry", which would later be renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner".
It would then take over a century to become the United States' National anthem in 1931.
Ironic. A drinking song became America's National anthem during the age of prohibition, a time when all alcohol was banned.
