The Marine Corps Birthday is on November 10 and celebrates the establishment of the US Marine Corp in 1775. The Marine Corps Birthday is not a public holiday. The day is mainly celebrated by personnel, veterans, or other people related to the Marine Corps. Usually, it is marked with a Marine Corps Birthday Ball with a formal dinner, birthday cake, and entertainment. The first ball was held in 1925.
The US Marine Corps started as the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775. On that date, the Second Continental Congress decided that they needed 2 battalions of Marines to serve as landing forces with the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). After the war, the Continental Navy was dismantled, and consequently the Marines as well. However, after increasing conflict with revolutionary France, the Marine Corps was formally re-established.
The United States Marine Corps is the US Armed Forces’ combined-arms task force on land, at sea, and in the air. It has more than 180,000 active duty personnel as well as almost 40,000 personnel in the Marine Corps Reserve.