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"The Stars And Stripes Forever"
From:
US Code : Title 36, Section 188:
Sec. 188. National march
The composition by John Philip Sousa entitled
''The Stars and Stripes Forever''
is hereby designated as the national march
of the United States of America.
Late in the year 1896, Sousa and his wife, Jennie, took a much-deserved vacation to Europe. While there, Sousa received word that the manager of the Sousa Band, David Blakely, had died suddenly. The band was scheduled to begin another cross-country tour soon, and Sousa knew he must return to America at once to take over the band's business affairs. Sousa tells the rest of the story in his autobiography "Marching Along":
"Here came one of the most vivid incidents of my career. As the vessel (the Teutonic) steamed out of the harbor I was pacing on the deck, absorbed in thoughts of my manager's death and the many duties and decisions which awaited me in New York. Suddenly, I began to sense a rhythmic beat of a band playing within my brain. Throughout the whole tense voyage, that imaginary band continued to unfold the same themes, echoing and re-echoing the most distinct melody. I did not transfer a note of that music to paper while I was on the steamer, but when we reached shore, I set down the measures that my brain-band had been playing for me, and not a note of it has ever changed."
The march was an immediate success, and Sousa's Band played it at almost every concert until his death over 25 years later. Sousa even set words to it!