Today in History, November 10th
On November 10, 1775, Congress created the Continental Marines. Plus the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking and Sesame Street's debut.
Published · Last updated
November 10 is best known as the birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps, created by the Continental Congress in 1775. The date also marks the loss of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior in 1975 and the first episode of Sesame Street in 1969.
The big story: Congress Creates the Continental Marines (1775)
On November 10, 1775, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia passed a resolution, drafted by John Adams, calling for two battalions of Marines. The idea was soldiers who could fight at sea, so recruits were supposed to be experienced sailors or at least comfortable around ships. Tradition says the committee worked on the plan at Tun Tavern, a Philadelphia watering hole, and that recruiting started there too. Samuel Nicholas was named the first officer and is treated as the first commandant. The new force made its first amphibious landing on New Providence in the Bahamas on March 3, 1776. After the Revolution ended in 1783, the Continental Marines were disbanded. President John Adams signed the law creating the United States Marine Corps on July 11, 1798. Even so, Marines count November 10, 1775, as the day their service was born.
More events on November 10
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1444 | The Ottoman army defeated a Hungarian-led crusading force at the Battle of Varna, near the Black Sea. King Władysław, ruler of Poland and Hungary, died in the fighting. |
| 1871 | Journalist Henry Morton Stanley found the missing explorer David Livingstone at Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika, the date most sources give for the famous meeting. |
| 1938 | Kate Smith sang Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” on her radio show for the first time, on the eve of Armistice Day. |
| 1951 | The mayor of Englewood, New Jersey, dialed the mayor of Alameda, California, in the first coast-to-coast long-distance call made without an operator. |
| 1969 | Sesame Street premiered on public television. |
| 1975 | The ore freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a storm on Lake Superior. All 29 crew members died. |
| 2001 | Meeting in Doha, Qatar, trade ministers formally approved China’s membership in the World Trade Organization. |
| 2006 | The National Museum of the Marine Corps was dedicated on the Corps’ 231st birthday, with President George W. Bush attending. |
Born on November 10
- 1483: Martin Luther, German theologian whose challenge to the church launched the Protestant Reformation.
- 1697: William Hogarth, English painter and engraver known for satirical series like A Rake’s Progress.
- 1759: Friedrich Schiller, German poet and playwright who wrote Wilhelm Tell.
- 1925: Richard Burton, Welsh stage and film actor.
Sources
- “Resolved, That two Battalions of marines be raised”, American Battlefield Trust
- Tun Tavern History, MCRD Museum Foundation
- Battle of Varna, Britannica
- Stanley Finds Livingstone, EBSCO Research Starters
- Peace, patriotism and the shifting identity of “God Bless America”, WFDD
- First Operator-Free Long-Distance Telephone Call, EBSCO Research Starters
- Today in History: Sesame Street Debuts, Teachers College, Columbia University
- The sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, CIMSS, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Doha WTO Ministerial 2001: Summary of 10 November 2001, World Trade Organization
- President Bush Attends Dedication of National Museum of the Marine Corps, The White House Archives
- Martin Luther, Britannica
- William Hogarth, Britannica
- Friedrich Schiller, Britannica
- Richard Burton, Britannica
