True, it did not mention 1812, but it was the only time the White House has been burned down. Kind of a major event in US history.
I guess 1812–1814 (1815, actually) is now a largely forgotten war* unless you’re into that sort of thing.
*Not in Canada, though.
I knew the opening song lyrics immediately, but didn’t know it was titled “The Marine Hymn” – I knew it was related to Marines. I too would have written down “From the Halls of Montezuma”
Brian
In the clip I posted, note that the USMC emblem features the Western Hemisphere. The arms of the UK’s Royal Marines have the Eastern Hemisphere:
I too knew the song, but did not know that it was officially called the Marines’ Hymn. I’ve always thought of it as “the Marine Corps Anthem.” Would be interesting to know if that would have been ruled correct.
My answer was also “that song has a name?” (I knew what it was, just not what it was called. I would have written “from the halls of Montezuma.” Also, I thought that the Marines hymn was “Eternal Father Strong to Save” - which it turns out is the Navy hymn, and I guess they don’t share. It’s also weird that the hymn is pretty much worshipping the Marines themselves rather than some external force - which is kind of weird for something called a “hymn”)
It would seem “hymn” and “anthem” are more or less interchangeable (in English, anyway). You can toggle both on this link:
In Russian, the national anthem of the Soviet Union was Gosudarstvennyi gimn [hymn] SSSR (the Russian Federation still uses the melody):
I always thought the official anthem of the US Navy was “Anchors Aweigh,” but apparently it isn’t (at least not yet):
I was the only third-grader at Irving Elementary who knew all four US service anthems by heart. (I hadn’t learned yet that the Coast Guard was a separate branch of the military.) My teachers loved it, but my classmates just thought I was weird.
The official anthem of the Royal Navy (or Navies) is "Heart of Oak,’ which refers to the rare wood of which the ships were made. The melody was hijacked for “The Liberty Song” during the American Revolution.
Picard’s doppelganger sings “Heart of Oak” in the ST: TNG episode “Allegiance.” Which is kind of strange, since he’s supposed to be French.
I’m guessing “this wonderful year” was 1759, the “Year of Victories” in the Seven Years War.
I must admit I’m surprised at the number of people I’ve seen (not just here, but on other forums) saying either that they weren’t familiar with the Marine’s Hymn, or that they didn’t know what it was called. When I was in elementary school, it was one of the first songs that we learned in music class. I’ve known both the song and its title almost as long as I can remember.
I guess schools don’t do that anymore?
I get them mixed up: I thought that “halls of Montezuma” song was Battle Hymn of the Republic. BHotR is “mine eyes have seen the glory…” I had to look it up. OTOH, I gave myself a pat on the back by at least being in the right continent in FJ.
We learned “The Bear Went Over the Mountain”. I prefer that - I’d rather not indoctrinate 6 year olds into worshiping the military. 
Still I got the FJ, IF they’d have accepted “Marine Anthem”.
Back to the Santiago FJ - I answered Lima with 99% confidence. I visualized Sydney, knew it was very far south, and knew that that long, skinny country (Peru, right?), took up the majority of the western coast of South America. So, Lima.
Went from smug right-ness to feeling like a dumbass in an instant, mixing up two countries that I am geographically familiar with.
mmm
Your answer was less dumb than mine, and two of the actual contestants’.
I had immediately thought of Lima as well, but I realized it was too close to the Equator. Thus Santiago - even though I wasn’t sure of its latitude, it had to be close(r) to that of Sydney.
I thought of Chile but could not remember the name of its capital so I was almost there.
I knew the line of the song, but I could never have come up with the name of the song. Probably would have answered “The Marine Song” or “The Marine Corps Anthem.”
I didn’t know the name of the song either, but the lyric “from the halls of Montezuma” was rattling around in my brain. I might have written that down in a moment of panic.
I yelled out Valparaiso - right country, wrong city.
Did I hear this incorrectly, or did one of tonight’s contestants refer to the day his wife “dropped”? As in, gave birth?
Not sure if this should go in the Neologisms thread…
I think “dropped” refers to when the orientation of the baby changes inside the womb prior to giving birth. The next step is probably the mother’s water breaking.
At least, that’s how I remember it.