After closing two years ago for some major renovations, Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is finally re-opening to the public. An authentic War of 1812 cannon will be fired and a procession of historic characters will surround the ribbon cutting ceremony this Friday kicking off a three-day festival in honor of one of the country's most beloved museums.

Among other activities planned for the opening, General Colin Powell will read the Gettysburg Address to those in attendance. A copy of the address has been loaned to the museum from the White House itself for the occasion. After the ribbon is cut, a number of history's most iconic characters will lead the visitors into the new building.

One of the new rooms added to the museum is the Star-Spangled Banner Gallery. The gallery, which was dedicated Wednesday by a group which included President George W. Bush, features imagery from the Battle of Baltimore, the event which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song. Guests will then have the opportunity to see the very flag that Key saw during that battle. A table in the gallery also displays different elements that went into making the flag and other historical facts about it.

The new gallery is the result of the combined effort of the museum and several architects and engineers to find the best way possible to both preserve the flag and to allow visitors the chance to view that piece of history.

The rest of the weekend will be filled with interesting activities, including a demonstration of the museum's new educational Web site called Smithsonian's History Explorer, a cooperative effort with Verizon's education portal, Thinkfinity.org.