Birth of the Marine Corps
The “birthday” of the American Marines is not very exciting to read about; just a paragraph in the Journals of the Continental Congress:
Resolved, That Two Battalions of marines be raised, consisting of one Colonel, two Lieutenant Colonels, two Majors, and other officers as usual in other regiments; and that they consist of an equal number of privates with other battalions; that particular care be taken, that no persons be appointed to office, or inlisted into said Battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve to advantage by sea when required: that they be inlisted and commissioned to serve for and during the present war between Great Britain and the colonies, unless dismissed by order of Congress: that they be distinguished by the names of the first and second battalions of American Marines, and that they be considered as part of the number which the continental Army before Boston is ordered to consist of.
But, just as with the Continental Army and Navy, those few sentences from the records of Congress were the start of something big; and those two battalions eventually turned into the United States Marine Corps, which celebrates November 10 as its birthday.
One thing that strikes me is that the Congress didn’t just want the Marines to enlist for a certain amount of time; they wanted them to enlist for the rest of the war.
Source
Journals of the Continental Congress, vol. 3, p. 348.