On this day in 1848, the Communist Manifesto, co-authored by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, was published in London by a group of German revolutionaries known as the Communist League.

The famous political pamphlet actually fell into obscurity on its initial publication, only becoming influential decades later as Marx became more well-known, due to his support for the Paris Commune and leadership in the First International.

In the Manifesto, Marx and Engels succinctly state the materialist and class-centric conception of history central to Marxist thought and call for a forcible overthrow of the existing capitalist order.

"Working men of all countries, unite!"