On this day

In 1805, the French political theorist and politician Alexis de Tocqueville was born in Paris, France. Tocqueville is best remembered for his two-volume work, Democracy in America, and his study of the French Revolution, The Old Regime and the Revolution.

In 1848, police put down a nationalist revolt in Ireland. Known as the Tipperary Revolt, Young Irelander Rebellion and Famine Rebellion, the Young Irish Movement led the action.

In 1883, the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was born in Predappio, Forli, Italy.

In 1890, the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh died by his own hand in Auvers-sur-Oise,

France. Van Gogh painted in the post-impressionist style.

In 1899, the First
Hague Convention was signed.

In 1901, the Socialist Party of America was founded at the Socialist Unity Convention held in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In 1916, jazz guitarist Charlie Christian was born in Bonham, Texas. Christian mostly played in the Swing style.

In 1921, Adolf Hitler became the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or Nazi Party).

In 1932, Federal troops, under the command of General Douglas MacArthur and as authorized by President Herbert Hoover, dispersed the Bonus Army encamped in a Hooverville shanty town near to Washington, DC.

In 1957, the International Atomic Energy Agency was established with the completion of the IAEA Statute. The IAEA is an agency related to the United Nations.

In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act
(Pub.L. 85-568), legislation which brought the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) into being. The act originated as a response to the launch of Sputnik I in October, 1957 by the Soviet Union.

In 1979, the German-American philosopher Herbert Marcuse died in Starnberg, West Germany. Marcuse is best remembered for his books, Eros and Civilization and One-Dimensional Man, as well as for the role he played as mentor to the New Left in the United States and Europe.

In 1983, the Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel died in Mexico City, Mexico.