Real name: John Stafford Smith

John Stafford Smith (March 30, 1750 – September 21, 1836) was an English composer, church organist, and early musicologist. He is best known for writing "The Anacreontic Song", the official song of the Anacreontic Society, in the mid-1760s. Later, in 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the poem "Defence of Fort McHenry". Put to the tune of "The Anacreontic Song", modified somewhat and retitled "The Star-Spangled Banner", it would become the U.S. national anthem in 1931.