Major Mike | Today in History 10/28 (Royal Marines)

Members of the Royal Marines drilling on parade grounds in 1927 (© Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

(1664) A legendary fighting force forms in Britain

Chartered by King Henry VIII, England’s Honourable Artillery adds a new company to its roster, The Duke of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiment of Foot. They’ll go on to be renamed the Royal Marines almost 100 years later, and emerge as one of the world’s great fighting units.

The Corps of Royal Marines is the amphibious light infantry and one of the five fighting arms or branches of the Royal Navy. The Royal Marines were formed in 1755 as the Royal Navy’s infantry troops. However, the marines can trace their origins back to the formation of the English Army’s “Duke of York and Albany’s maritime regiment of Foot” at the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company on 28 October 1664.

Founded: Oct 28, 1664
Parent organization: Her Majesty’s Naval Service
Part of: Her Majesty’s Naval Service

Cap badge of the Royal Marines
wiki/Royal_Marines

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(1664) A legendary fighting force forms in Britain.
Also on this day,

312 CE | Milvian Bridge battle as Constantine takes on Maxentius after a heavenly vision

The River Tiber’s banks swarm with charging men, clashing metal, and rearing horses as hundreds of thousands fight for control of the Roman Empire in its capital. Some accounts claim Constantine saw a vision from the Christian god the night before, and his side emerges victorious.

1420 | Beijing is capital as construction finishes on China’s new capital city

Seventeen years of a massive building project completed, Beijing is now China’s capital city. Having restored the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Di desires a power center to match his ambitions, and he’ll get just that as Beijing’s imperial palace, the Forbidden City, opens this year as well.

1886 | Statue of Liberty opened as Lady Liberty lifts a lamp over New York Harbor

‘Liberty Enlightening the World,’ 151-feet of copper neoclassical sculpture, is accepted as a gift from France and dedicated by US President Grover Cleveland after hundreds of thousands of revelers throw the world’s first ticker-tape parade in honor of the new lady of Liberty Island.

Today in History ^10/28/17

The Statue of Liberty in New York City, 1930 (© AP)

(1886) Lady Liberty lifts a lamp over New York Harbor

'Liberty Enlightening the World,' 151-feet of copper neoclassical sculpture, is accepted as a gift from France and dedicated by US President Grover Cleveland after hundreds of thousands of revelers throw the world's first ticker-tape parade in honor of the new lady of Liberty Island.

The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

Website: www.nps.gov/stli/
Address: Liberty Island, New York, NY 10004
Phone: (212) 363-3200
Established: Oct 15, 1924
Annual visitors: 4.50 million (2016)
Height: 305 feet (93 m) (Architectural)

Statue of Liberty.