Pledge of Allegiance

Aug. 1892: The Pledge of Allegiance is written by Francis Bellamy, a Christian Socialist and cousin of writer Edward Bellamy. The pledge contains no mention of God.

Sept. 8, 1892: The Pledge is published in The Youth's Companion, a prominent family magazine.

1923 and 1924: The National Flag Conference changes the Pledge's words, "I pledge allegiance to my flag," to "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America", despite the protests of Francis Bellamy.

June 22, 1942: The 77th Congress passes an eight-section act officially recognizing the Pledge. Section 7 codifies the pledge and the proper way it is to be recited: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

April 1951: the Knights of Columbus adopt a resolution to amend the Pledge to include the words, "under God."

April 1953: Rep. Louis Rabaut, D-Mich. introduces a bill to Congress proposing the alteration of the Pledge to include the words "one nation under God".

February 1954: Rev. George M. Docherty, pastor of the Presbyterian church in Washington, gives a sermon while President Eisenhower is in attendance. He argues that the phrase "under God" should be added to the Pledge so that the pledge might be differentiated from the one recited by the communist heathens in Moscow.

June 14, 1954, Flag Day: After signing the bill to include "under God" in the pledge, Eisenhower declares: "millions of our schoolchildren will daily proclaim in every city and town ... the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty."

June 27, 2002: A federal appeals court rules that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional and is an "endorsement of religion" because of the 1954 addition of the phrase "under God".