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Today in History
History's Happenings for January 13
Flag Grows to 15 Stars and Stripes
The entry into the Union of the 14th and 15th states -- Vermont and Kentucky -- called into question the design of the original thirteen-star national flag, whose stars and stripes represented the original thirteen states. The answer? Add another star and stripe for each state, and the mercifully short-lived fifteen-star, fifteen-stripe American flag was born as President Washington approved the measure on this day in 1794. Fortunately, smarter heads prevailed and the stripes were shortly reduced back to the original thirteen. Stars alone continued to be added to represent new states. But it remained for the unusual 15-striper to be flown over Fort McHenry in 1814, and to inspire a poem that became our national anthem.
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