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
1741 - Jean-Antoine Houdon (French sculptor)
1811 - Napoleon II of France
1920 - Andrée Chedid (Egypt-born Lebanese-French writer and poet)
1964 - Natacha Atlas (Belgian singer)
Deaths
1730 - Adrienne Lecouvreur (French actress)
1746 - Nicolas de Largillière (French painter)
1835 - Louis Léopold Robert (Swiss painter)
1929 - Ferdinand Foch (French commander of allied forces in World War I)
Holidays/Celebrations
Tunisia - Independence Day
International Day of Francophonie
Milestones/Events
1815 - Napoleon I returned to Paris after escaping from Elba, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule
1883 - Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property signed
1956 - Tunisia gained independence from France
1965 - France Gall won the tenth Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg singing Poupée de cire, poupée de son (Wax doll, rag doll)
1986 - Jacques Chirac became Prime Minister of France
2006 - Chad: More than 150 soldiers killed by members of the rebel UFDC during a coup attempting to overthrow president Idriss Deby
Errors and Omissions
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