1775: On this day 242 years ago, the Marine Corps is born. The Continental Congress decrees that two battalions of Marines be raised in Philadelphia, consisting of “good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve by sea when required; that they be enlisted and commissioned to serve for and during the present war with Great Britain and the Colonies.” Capt. Samuel Nicholas – commissioned just days before as the first Marine officer – sets up his recruiting headquarters at Tun Tavern.
1944: While anchored at Papua New Guinea, 3,800 tons of ammunition aboard the cargo ship USS Mount Hood explodes, obliterating the 350-man crew and destroying or damaging dozens of ships nearby. The destruction was so complete that apart from a 16-foot chunk of the hull found in a trench, no recognizable pieces of the 459-foot ship remained.
1949: The Sikorsky H-19 “Chickasaw” helicopter makes its first flight. The Army and Air Force will order dozens of the helicopters and use them for medical evacuation and rescue operations during the Korean War.
1959: USS Triton (SSRN-586), the largest, most powerful, and most expensive submarine of its age (thanks to two nuclear power plants) is commissioned. On her shakedown cruise “The Big T” becomes the first submarine to circumnavigate the globe without surfacing. Shortly after entering service as a radar picket vessel, the advent of early warning aircraft makes Triton’s role obsolete and in 1969 Triton will be the first nuclear submarine to be decommissioned.
2001: U.S.-led coalition forces defeat Taliban forces in Mazar-e-Sharif, scoring the first major victory of the war in Afghanistan.
