On the 27th October 312 AD the battle of Milvian Bridge was fought near Rome. The two men contending for control of Rome and the Empire were Constantine, who controlled Gaul, England and parts of Germany and Maxentius, who controlled Italy, Spain and Africa.
It happens the two were brothers in law.
The day before the monumental and pivotal battle, Constantine saw a flaming cross in the sky, taking I as an omen, he had his men put a cross on their shields and banners.
Full of strength at what their commander had seen, Constantine’s men won the battle. Maxentius drowned crossing a bridge over the Tiber.
Rome would soon be unified under one ruler (only Licentius remained in Constantine’s way.)
Constantine would spend the ret of his reign Christianising his subjects.
He converted on his deathbed, becoming the first Christian Emperor, in 337 AD.
USMC born today, 1775.
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Today, 10th November 1775, the US Marine Corps was born. The Continental Congress authorised the creation of the Continental Marines, now the USMC.
The first to sign did so in Trenton, NJ and the first amphibious landing was an assault against the British in an island of the Bahamas. They were deactivated in 1783 at the end of the war, only to be reactivated in 1798.
They were to fight Barbary pirates, at Tripoli and in Mexico at Chapultepec. A contingent under Robert E. Lee captured John Brown at Harper’s Ferry. In 1898 260 Marines died when the USS Maine blew up in Havana starting the Spanish-American war. They also fought in WW1.
We know them best for their Island hopping in WW2. They were to suffer tens of thousands of casualties taking Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Guam, Okinawa and most famously, Iwo Jima.
The term snafu is meant to have originated in the USMC in WW2.
Their nickname :leatherneck, comes from the original standing collar worn in the 18th century.
Semper Fidelis is their motto. -
thank you for sharing ,I allways wonderd.
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