Today in Francophone History

Learn about important dates in French and francophone history: famous birthdays, holidays and celebrations, and other milestones. If the above does not match today's date or you wish to choose a specific date, please click here

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Birthdays

1805 - Jonas Furrer (first President of the Swiss Confederation)

1871 - Maurice Garin (French cyclist)

1927 - Pierre Aubert (member of the Swiss Federal Council)


Deaths

1717 - Pierre Allix (French Protestant pastor)

1744 - Jean Barbeyrac (French jurist)

1982 - Georges Perec (French writer)

1983 - Hergé (Belgian comics writer, creator of Tintin)

1990 - Gérard Blitz (Belgian waterpoloist and entrepreneur)

1993 - Carlos Marcello (Tunisian-born gangster)

1996 - Marguerite Duras (French writer)


Milestones/Events

1857 - France and the UK declared war on China

1875 - Montreal, Canada: The first organized indoor game of ice hockey

1920 - The Montreal Canadiens scored an NHL record 16 goals against the Québec Bulldogs

1953 - Canadian Pacific Airlines De Havilland Comet crashed in Karachi, Pakistan killing 11

1961 - Hassan II became King of Morocco

1974 - Paris: Turkish DC-10 crashed at Ermenonville, killing 346 people

2002 - Switzerland: Citizens narrowly voted to join the United Nations

2004 - InBev, the world's largest brewer, created by the merging of Belgian brewer Interbrew and Brazilian rival AmBev

2005 - Rochfort Bridge, Alberta: Mayerthorpe Incident


Errors and Omissions

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