Topic: The Star-Spangled Banner

Candlelight vigil spreads messages of peace and love in Boston

Hundreds gathered on the Boston Common for a candlelight vigil tonight. They sang songs and lit candles in front of banners reading "Peace here and everywhere" and "Boston, you're our home."

Alicia Keys national anthem rendition was the longest – and bankable (+video)

Alicia Keys national anthem: The 13-Grammy winner sang one of the longest versions of the national anthem at the Super Bowl in recent history. Alicia Keys should be able to sell her Super Bowl version of the anthem.

Destiny's Child reunites during Super Bowl halftime show (+video)

Destiny's Child reunited to sing three songs at the Super Bowl halftime show Sunday. Beyonce was joined by Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, her former Destiny's Child band mates, during the halftime show.

Decoder Wire Beyoncé lip sync on national anthem: Does it matter? (+video)

The Beyoncé lip sync, like all things inaugural, is not without precedent: Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman didn't play live in 2008, either. But it gives White House critics an opening.

4 World Trade Center: Last mammoth steel beam set in 72-story tower

4 World Trade Center: BeBe Winans sang "God Bless America" and more than 100 workers signed the final steel beam.  4 World Trade Center will be the first tower rebuilt after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Chapter & Verse Why America forgets the War of 1812

Author Don Hickey discusses the reasons for the conflict and how it's remembered by our northern neighbors.

Change Agent She helps save a memory in stone of a 200-year-old forgotten US war

Betty Oderwald has led an effort to restore the Powder House, one of Connecticut's few buildings connected to the War of 1812, now celebrating its bicentennial.

Whitney Houston: a singing sensation silenced too soon

Whitney Houston, who died tragically Saturday in Los Angeles, was a child of the African-American church and a trailblazer for black female singers. Whitney Houston, some say, had a 'once-in-a-generation' voice. 

Statue of Liberty birthday celebrations include Sigourney Weaver, 'La Marseillaise,' and 125 new Americans

Top Picks: Lonely Planet apps, cookbook for apple lovers, new Daryl Hall CD and more

Lonely Planet Travel Guides now on iTunes, new cookbook perfect for apple pickers, Daryl Hall releases new solo album, and more top picks.

9/11 families to Obama: 'Thank you for doing what you promised'

Handshakes and hugs marked Obama's visit to ground zero on Thursday. His post-Bin Laden meeting with families who lost loved ones on 9/11 gave some comfort, said several attendees.

U.S. citizenship test: Why Americans can't name the original 17 colonies

U.S. citizenship test: Some 450 years after America's founding, is civic ignorance at an all-time high? A Newsweek poll of US citizens from all 57 states reveals how misinformed we really are.

Christina Aguilera national anthem: why she flubbed it

Christina Aguilera mumbled some lines and moved others around at her Super Bowl performance. Here are two possible reasons that the Christina Aguilera national anthem didn't go more smoothly.

The 10 weirdest political ads of 2010

From demon sheep to witchcraft denials, this has been one crazy election season. And nowhere has the looniness been more on display than in the candidates' carefully crafted TV spots. Here is our list of the top 10 weirdest ads of 2010.

Opinion: Glenn Beck 8/28 rally: It's a matter of honor

Dr. Alveda King – the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., – explains why she's speaking at the Glenn Beck 8/28 rally in Washington this Saturday.

The right wing's perversion of patriotism

Today's conservatives often use a jingoistic brand of patriotism to criticize rivals.

On July 4, sing the national anthem and visit ... the memorial buoy?

There are plenty of patriotic monuments to visit this July 4 weekend. One of the weirder ones is a red, white and blue buoy floating in a Baltimore river, marking the spot where Francis Scott Key composed the Star Spangled Banner in 1814.

97 Orchard

How cuisine and culture collaborated to cook up an American identity.

Flag Day: What are the rules for displaying an American flag?

Monday is Flag Day in the United States. Flag Day commemorates the day in 1777 that the Continental Congress adopted the American flag.

Arbor Day quiz: What is America's national tree?

Hint: Sequoias, dogwood, and maple were runners-up for America's national tree, according to an Arbor Day Foundation poll. But rest assured, Congress made the final decision.

Opinion: New iPhone app for Arizona immigration law!

Arizona's new immigration law spurred me to create an iPhone app that helps you detect illegal immigrants.

Opinion: When athletes praise God at the Super Bowl and other sports

The problem isn’t the faith of believers like Drew Brees. It’s the media assumption that every person of faith adheres to a highly traditional version of Christianity.

World's oldest instrument found. And boy, could those cavemen rock.

Opinion: We need music to survive

People used it to get through Nazi P.O.W. camps and 9/11. It helps heal us.