FRANCIS SCOTT KEY BRIDGE STRUCK BY CARGO SHIP

Another tragic event, the cargo ship crashing into the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore.  Terrorist attack is the first thought to come to mind since 9-11.  As I understand, six innocent construction workers are presumed dead.

• Francis Scott Key grew up on the family plantation, Terra Rubra, which means "red earth" in Latin.  It refers to the distinctive soil in northwest Carroll County, Maryland.
• The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore was named after Francis Scott Key, the American lawyer and poet who wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner. 
• The Key Bridge is a 4-lane, 1.6 mile span that crosses the Patapsco River, a key waterway that, along with the Port of Baltimore, serves as a hub for East Coast shipping. 
•  The site of the bridge is believed to be within 100 yards of where Key watched the bombing of Fort McHenry on September 12, 1814.  From his vantage point on the Patapsco River, Key was able to see that the American flag stayed up through the hours of darkness and was still at the top of the fort when morning came.  "And the rocket's red glare, the bomb bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there."  
•  Pronounced "puh TAP skoh," the river's name is derived from the language of the Algonquian tribe of Native Americans and translates to "backwater" or "tide covered with froth."   
• The bridge was a normal commuting route for over 30,000 every day, and an artery for commerce. According to Maryland government officials, the bridge carried more than 12.4 million passengers and commercial vehicles in 2023. 
• The Singapore-flagged ship Dali (that struck the bridge) had been in port for two days and was going to spend the next month at sea before reaching Colombo, Sri Lanka....9,000 miles from Baltimore. 

I personally have not visited the State of Maryland, so am not familiar with this bridge.  Sad, isn't it, that it takes tragedy to make us aware of our country's vital functioning parts.