United States Marine Corps Timeline of Events

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United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

Timeline of Events

1775

11.10.1775

The United States Marine Corps is founded at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia by Samuel Nicholas.

1776

3.3.1776

The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine Corps begins the Battle of Nassau.

1798

7.11.1798

The United States Marine Corps is re-established; they had been disbanded after the American Revolutionary War.

1893

1.13.1893

U.S. Marines land in Honolulu from the U.S.S. Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.

1898

6.10.1898

Spanish-American War: U.S. Marines land on the island of Cuba.

1918

8.13.1918

Women enlist in the United States Marine Corps for the first time. Opha Mae Johnson is the first woman to enlist.

1919

9.11.1919

U.S. Marines invade Honduras.

1941

12.12.1941

World War II: USMC F4F "Wildcats" sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.

1942

5.22.1942

World War II: Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox enlists in the United States Marine Corps as a flight instructor.

8.7.1942

World War II: the Battle of Guadalcanal begins – United States Marines initiate the first American offensive of the war with landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.

8.17.1942

U.S. Marines raid the Japanese-held Pacific island of Makin (Butaritari).

9.12.1942

World War II: First day of the Battle of Edson's Ridge during the Guadalcanal campaign. U.S. Marines protecting Henderson Field on Guadalcanal are attacked by Imperial Japanese Army forces.

9.13.1942

World War II: Second day of the Battle of Edson's Ridge in the Guadalcanal campaign. U.S. Marines successfully defeated attacks by the Imperial Japanese Army with heavy losses for the Japanese forces.

9.23.1942

World War II: First day of the September Matanikau action on Guadalcanal as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.

9.27.1942

Last day of the September Matanikau action on Guadalcanal as United States Marine Corps troops barely escape after being surrounded by Japanese forces near the Matanikau River.

10.7.1942

World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.

10.9.1942

The last day of the October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal as United States Marine Corps forces withdraw back across the Matanikau River after destroying most of the Imperial Japanese Army's 4th Infantry Regiment.

1945

9.7.1945

Japanese forces on Wake Island, which they had held since December of 1941, surrender to U.S. Marines.

1946

5.4.1946

In San Francisco Bay, U.S. Marines from the nearby Treasure Island Navy Base stop a two-day riot at Alcatraz federal prison. Five people are killed in the riot.

1967

1.6.1967

Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch "Operation Deckhouse Five" in the Mekong River delta.

1968

8.21.1968

James Anderson, Jr. posthumously receives the first Medal of Honor to be awarded to an African American U.S. Marine.

1971

6.6.1971

A midair collision between a Hughes Airwest Douglas DC-9 jetliner and a United States Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II jet fighter near Duarte, California claims 50 lives.

1983

10.23.1983

Lebanon Civil War: The U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut is hit by a truck bomb, killing 241 U.S. Marines. A French army barracks in Lebanon is also hit that same morning, killing 58 troops.