Meeting at Tun Tavern, the Second Continental Congress ordered the raising of two battalions of Marines to serve with the fledgling Continental Navy. Samuel Nicholas took command as the Corps' first officer. The date is still celebrated annually as the Marine Corps birthday, marked by cake-cutting ceremonies and the traditional toast to fallen comrades.
Tun Tavern, a Philadelphia waterfront haunt known for its ale and oysters, was an unlikely birthplace for one of history's most storied military institutions. On November 10, 1775, the Continental Congress resolved that two battalions of Marines be raised for service aboard American warships, capable of fighting at sea and ashore. Recruiting officers reportedly used the tavern itself as a recruiting station, plying prospective enlistees with drink before asking for their mark.
Samuel Nicholas, a Philadelphia merchant with no prior military experience, was commissioned as the first Marine officer. The Corps he helped found would fight in the Revolution, be disbanded after the war, then reconstituted in 1798 as tensions with France grew. Its motto, Semper Fidelis, and its amphibious warfare doctrine would later prove decisive on beaches from Tarawa to Iwo Jima.
Every November 10, Marines worldwide observe the birthday with a formal ball, a cake ceremony in which the oldest and youngest Marines present share the first pieces, and a reading of a 1921 birthday message from General John Lejeune that has become a sacred Corps tradition.