Good morning and welcome to The Most Interesting Thing. Explore the past to understand the present, one day at a time.

Read Time ~5 min

• The Origins of the Marine Corps (1775)

• Wars Across Centuries

• Big Moments for the U.S.

• Just For Fun

• Birthdays & Deaths

Event

Setting The Scene

Today, we are turning back the clock 248 years to 1775, one year before the founding of the United States of America. There are no modern amenities that we are used to like electricity, plumbing, or cars. Europe is ruled by monarchs and Asian countries are ruled by emperors. Agriculture is the backbone of the economy, and the American colonists were actively trading raw materials and agricultural products for European manufactured goods. 

Now let’s focus in on the American Colonies. There is a clear distinction in social structure ranging from wealthy landowners to merchants, artisans, laborers, and all the way down to slaves. The American Revolution is underway, and the Colonies are fighting Great Britain on the eastern seaboard to gain their independence from the monarchy. Battles are being conducted on both land and sea so they need a versatile military unit to safeguard naval vessels and protect trade. 

What Happened?

So to help win the war, the Continental Congress establish the Marine Corps under Captain Samuel Nichols. This new elite group is crucial in amphibious warfare and has a significant psychological impact, bolstering morale among American troops and instilling fear in the British.

Impact

The Marine Corps helped the Colonies win the war just one year after their founding. In 1776, America announces its Declaration of Independence. 

The Marine Corps have been engaged in every major war since. For example, they have helped the United States defeat Japanese forces in WWII and more recently liberated Kuwait in 1991.

What else happened?

War Across Centuries

• The Siege of Zara marks the first major battle of the Fourth Crusade.(1202)

• Cry of Independence by Rufina Alfaro sets into motion a revolt that leads to Panama’s independence from Spain. (1821)

• During WWII, Germany invades Vichy France (1942)

Big Moments for the U.S.

• Major Henry Wirz, the superintendent of a civil war prison camp is hanged for war crimes. He is one of only three American Civil War soldiers executed. (1865)

• Wilmington Insurrection is the only instance of a municipal government being overthrown in United States history. (1898)

• Customer-dialed long-distance telephone service began as Mayor M. Leslie Denning of Englewood, New Jersey, called Alameda, California, Mayor Frank Osborne without operator assistance. (1951)

Just For Fun

• The children’s program “Sesame Street” makes its debut on National Educational Television. (1969)

• Luna 17: uncrewed space mission launched by the Soviet Union. (1970)

Birthdays

• Martin Luther (1483)

• George Jennings (1810)

• Mike McCarthy (1963)

Deaths

•  Pope Leo I (461)

• General Zhao Yanshou (948)

• Fyodor Apraksin (1728)