Pledge history from CNN.com

[LuckyTheDog]

1892
The pledge, written by socialist editor and clergyman Francis Bellamy, debuts September 8 in the juvenile periodical The Youth's Companion. He wants the words to reflect the views of his cousin, Edward Bellamy, author of "Looking Backward" and other socialist utopian novels. It reads: "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible, with liberty and Justice for all."

Source: The Associated Press and Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.


1924
The words "the flag of the United States of America" are substituted for "my Flag." Fittingly, the change takes place on Flag Day.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.

1942
The government officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.


1954
Worried that orations used by "godless communists" sound similar to the Pledge of Allegiance, religious leaders lobby lawmakers to insert the words "under God" into the pledge. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, fearing an atomic war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, joins the chorus to put God into the pledge. Congress does what he asks, and the revised pledge reads: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Source: The Associated Press and Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.

2002
June 26 The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is an unconstitutional "endorsement of religion" because of the words added in 1954. The decision affects schoolchildren in eight states: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana and Hawaii.

August 9 The Justice Department files an appeal of the circuit court's ruling.

2003
The U.S. Supreme Court says it will decide whether the current form of the Pledge of Allegiance is an unconstitutional blending of church and state.

2004
The Supreme Court dismisses a father's challenge to the use of the words "one nation, under God" in the Pledge. In so doing, the high court avoids addressing the question of separation of church and state. The court said the father, who was in a custody battle for his daughter, could not sue to ban the pledge from the girl's school because he did not have sufficient custody to speak as her legal representative.

[jsamuel]

1. notice that they not only put in "under God", but took out "with equality"

hehe, sneaky