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
1786 - Louis-Joseph Papineau (Québécois politician and lawyer)
1919 - Georges Duby (French historian)
1921 - Raymond Goethals (Belgian football coach)
1928 - Raymond Lévesque (Québécois singer)
1936 - Charles Dutoit (Swiss conductor)
1955 - Yo-Yo Ma (French-born cellist)
1960 - Viktor Lazlo (French singer)
Deaths
1637 - Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy
1651 - Jacques Sirmond (French Jesuit scholar)
1969 - Léon Scieur (Belgian cyclist)
Milestones/Events
1506 - Pope Julius II and France occupied Bologna
1690 - English attacked Quebec under Louis de Buade
1828 - French expeditionary force liberated Patras, Greece
1870 - Leon Gambetta fled Paris in balloon
1907 - Henri Farman flew 30 meters (about 98 feet) in a biplane
Errors and Omissions
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