On this date

In 1775,

the U.S. Marines were organized under authority of the Continental Congress.

In 1871,

journalist-explorer Henry M. Stanley found Scottish missionary David Livingstone, who had not been heard from for years, near Lake Tanganyika in central Africa.

In 1951,

customer-dialed longdistance telephone service began as Mayor M. Leslie Denning of Englewood, N.J., called Alameda, Calif., Mayor Frank Osborne without operator assistance.

In 1954,

the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, depicting the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima in 1945, was dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Arlington, Va.

In 1969,

the children’s educational program “Sesame Street” made its debut on National Educational Television (later PBS).

In 1975,

the U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution equating Zionism with racism (the world body repealed the resolution in December 1991).

In 1982,

the newly finished Vietnam Veterans Memorial was opened to its first visitors in Washington, D.C., three days before its dedication.

Ten years ago:

A stagehands strike shut down most Broadway shows, with curtains rising again 19 days later.

Five years ago:

Two people were killed when a powerful gas explosion rocked an Indianapolis neighborhood, damaging or destroying more than 80 homes. (Five people were later convicted of charges in connection with the blast, which prosecutors said stemmed from a plot to collect insurance money.)

One year ago:

President-elect Donald Trump took a triumphant tour of the nation’s capital, where he held a White House meeting with President Barack Obama.