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

1846 - Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau (French statesman)

1859 - Georges Seurat (French painter)


Deaths

1615 - Louis des Balbes de Berton de Crillon (French general)

1665 - Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet (French socialite)

1694 - Pierre Paul Puget (French artist)

1719 - Pasquier Quesnel (French Jansenist theologian)

1723 - Philip II, Duke of Orléans (regent of France)

1814 - Marquis de Sade (French writer)

1918 - Edmond Rostand (French poet and dramatist)

1931 - Vincent d'Indy (French composer)

1974 - Max Weber (Swiss Federal Councilor)

1980 - Romain Gary (Lithuanian-born French writer)

1983 - Fifi d'Orsay (Canadian actress)

1987 - Luis Federico Leloir (French-born chemist)

2005 - Malik Joyeux (Tahitian-born surfer)


Holidays/Celebrations

Laos - Independence Day


Milestones/Events

1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France, the first French Emperor in a thousand years

1805 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Austerlitz

1851 - Newly-elected French President Charles Louis Bonaparte overthrew the Second Republic

1852 - Napoleon III became Emperor of the French


Errors and Omissions

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