The U.S. Army was founded on 14 June 1775, when the Continental Congress authorized enlistment of expert riflemen to serve the
United Colonies for one year.

John Adams Jr. (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826)

On September 27, 1779, the Continental Congress appoints John Adams to
travel to France as minister plenipotentiary in charge of negotiating treaties
of peace and commerce with Great Britain during the Revolutionary War.

Adams had traveled to Paris in 1778 to negotiate an alliance with France,
but had been unceremoniously dismissed when Congress chose Benjamin
Franklin as sole commissioner. Soon after returning to Massachusetts in
mid-1779, Adams was elected as a delegate to the state convention to draw
up a new constitution; he was involved in these duties when he learned of
his new diplomatic commission.

On this day in 1775, the U.S. postal system is established by the Second Continental Congress, with Benjamin Franklin as its first postmaster
general. Franklin (1706-1790) put in place the foundation for many
aspects of today’s mail system.