This day in history

The Louvre, originally a royal palace, is opened as an art museum in Paris by the French revolutionary government.

The Louvre featured a vast collection of master works, including paintings assembled by Charles I of England and the comte d'Angiviller. Two major wings were added to the museum in the 19th century.

Traditionalists were outraged in the 1980s, when a giant steel-and-glass pyramid designed by I. M. Pei was constructed in the courtyard in an ambitious attempt to revamp the Louvre into the world’s largest museum.

The UN Security Council passes resolution 1441, giving Iraq a last opportunity to disarm.

In the midst of the Great Depression, American President Franklin D. Rooslevelt launches The Civil Works Administration designed to provide for temporary work as part of the New Deal.

In Munich, Germany Adolf Hitler launches the Beer Hall Putsch, a failed attempt to seize control of the Bavarian government, with hopes of going on to seize power in the whole of the country.