French History Timeline - Important Dates & Events

Events in French History

• 1250-04-13 The Seventh Crusade is defeated in Egypt, Louis IX of France captured

Templars Arrested

1307-10-13 French King Philip IV has Grand Master Jacques de Molay and Knights Templar arrested and charged with idolatry and corruption

Battle of Crécy

1346-08-26 Battle of Crécy, south of Calais in northern France; Edward III's English longbows defeat Philip VI's army, cannons used for first time in battle

Battle of Poitiers

1356-09-19 English forces under Edward the Black Prince defeat French at the Battle of Poitiers and capture the French King John II during the Hundred Years' War

Battle of Agincourt

1415-10-25 Battle of Agincourt: Henry V's forces defeat larger French army, and the longbow defeats the armored knight (Azincourt, France)

• 1431-01-09 Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government
• 1431-05-30 Hundred Years' War: 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal in Rouen, France

• 1492-11-07 Ensisheim Meteorite strikes a wheat field near the village of Ensisheim in Alsace, France. Oldest meteorite with a known date of impact.

Battle of Ravenna

1512-04-11 Battle of Ravenna: French forces under Gaston de Foix defeat the Holy League in a major battle of the Italian Wars

Battle of Pavia

1525-02-24 Battle of Pavia: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's troops defeat the French killing or wounded 5,000 and capturing French King Francis I

Cartier Erects a Cross at Gaspé

1534-07-24 French explorer Jacques Cartier claims for France the lands around Gaspé by erecting a 30-foot cross at Pointe-Penouille [1]

• 1562-04-30 Jean Ribault and colonists arrive in Florida, the first French colonists in North America

Second War of Religion

1567-09-29 War of Religion breaks out in France - Huguenots try to kidnap King Charles IX

• 1572-08-24 St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of Protestants by Roman Catholics begins in Paris and later spreads to the French provinces

• 1598-04-13 Edict of Nantes grants political rights to French Huguenots

Champlain Shoots Iroquois Chiefs

1609-07-29 Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs at Ticonderoga, New York, setting the stage for French-Iroquois conflicts for the next 150 years

• 1637-05-13 Cardinal Richelieu of France reputedly creates the table knife

Sale of Dunkirk

1662-10-17 Charles II of Great Britain sells Dunkirk to France for 2.5 million livres (320,000 English pounds)

• 1685-02-18 Fort St. Louis is established by a Frenchman at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
• 1685-10-18 French King Louis XIV revokes Edict of Nantes cancelling rights of French Protestants

Last Catholic Monarch Flees

1688-12-23 King James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch flees to France from William of Orange

• 1714-09-07 Treaty of Baden signed by the Holy Roman Empire and France, ending the War of the Spanish Succession; French retain Alsace and Landau, Austria gets east bank of Rhine
• 1715-09-01 King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years—the longest of any major European monarch.
• 1716-06-06 French transport the first African slaves to Louisiana
• 1718-08-25 Hundreds of French colonists arrive in Louisiana and found New Orleans
• 1722-10-19 French C. Hopffer patents the automatic fire extinguisher in England
• 1750-04-11 Jack Slack retains Champion of England boxing title, beats Frenchman Jean Petit in 7 rounds in Harlston, England; acknowledged as first international prize fight
• 1751-07-29 1st international world title prize fight: Jack Stack of England, beats challenger M. Petit of France in 29 mins in England

Messier Catalogue

1758-09-12 French astronomer Charles Messier mistakenly identifies the Crab Nebula, and begins his Messier Catalogue

• 1763-02-10 Treaty of Paris ends French-Indian War, France surrenders Canada to Great Britain
• 1763-02-15 Austria, Prussia and Saxony sign the Treaty of Hubertusburg, marking the end of the French and Indian War and of the Seven Years' War

France to Supply US Revolution

1777-07-23 King Louis XVI of France and his Foreign Minister clandestinely agree to supply the United States with munitions during the American Revolution

• 1778-02-06 Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance signed in Paris, between the United States and France, the first negotiated by the United States. The first established formal diplomatic and commercial relations and the second formed a defensive alliance.

Great Siege of Gibraltar

1779-06-16 Spain declares war on Great Britain in support of France and the USA, starting the Great Siege of Gibraltar which goes on to last 3 years, 7 months and 2 weeks

Battle That Gave Birth To The USA

1781-09-05 American Revolutionary War: French fleet of 24 ships under Comte de Grasse defeat British forces under Admiral Thomas Graves and Samuel Hood at the Battle of the Chesapeake [Battle of the Virginia Capes] and trap General Lord Charles Cornwallis

Grand Assault on Gibraltar

1782-09-13 The Grand Assault on Gibraltar by the allied French and Spanish fleets including ten floating batteries and land forces is heavily defeated by the British garrison with all of the floating batteries destroyed and allied casualties of 1,473 compared to only 83 for the British

• 1785-06-15 Two French balloonists die in world's 1st fatal aviation accident
• 1789-06-17 French Revolution: During the meeting of the Estates-General, the Third Estate proclaims itself the 'National Assembly'

Bastille Day

1789-07-14 Bastille Day - the French Revolution begins with the storming of the Bastille Prison in Paris. Now celebrated as France's national day.

• 1789-08-27 French National Assembly issues the "Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen"

Women's March on Versailles

1789-10-05 French Revolution: Women of Paris march to Versailles in the March on Versailles to confront Louis XVI about his refusal to promulgate the decrees on the abolition of feudalism, demand bread, and have the King and his court moved to Paris

• 1790-07-12 French Revolution: The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is adopted, putting the Catholic Church in France under the control of the state

French Constitution Passed

1791-09-03 French Revolution: The new French Constitution, declaring France a constitutional monarchy, is passed by the National Assembly

• 1792-04-25 Guillotine first used in France, executes highwayman Nicolas Pelletier
• 1792-07-30 500 Marseillais men sing France's national anthem for the first time
• 1792-09-02 September Massacres of the French Revolution: In Paris rampaging mobs slaughter 3 Roman Catholic bishops, more than two hundred priests, and prisoners believed to be royalist sympathizers.

French Monarchy Abolished

1792-09-21 French Revolution: The National Convention passes a proclamation announcing the formal abolition of the French monarchy

• 1792-09-22 French First Republic formed by the National Convention, stripping the French king of his powers
• 1792-12-11 French King Louis XVI goes on trial, accused of high treason and crimes against the state
• 1792-12-26 Trial of French King Louis XVI, court hears the kings defense brought by Raymond Desèze
• 1793-01-16 French King Louis XVI sentenced to death by the National Convention during the French Revolution

Execution of Louis XVI

1793-01-21 Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine in Paris, following his conviction for "high treason" by the newly created French Parliament (Convention nationale), during the French Revolution

Battle of Fleurus

1794-06-26 Battle of Fleurus: Major victory by forces of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan over the Coalition Army (Great Britain, Hanover, Dutch Republic, and Habsburgs). First use of a reconnaissance balloon.

• 1795-07-14 The French National Convention decrees "La Marseillaise" by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle France's national anthem

• 1799-11-09 Napoleon Bonaparte pulls off a coup and becomes the dictator of France under the title of First Consul
• 1799-12-10 Metric system first adopted in France
• 1803-05-17 John Hawkins and Richard French patent the Reaping Machine
• 1803-12-20 French flag lowered in New Orleans to mark the formal transfer of the Louisiana Purchase from France to USA, purchased for $15M
• 1804-03-21 Napoleonic Code adopted in France, stresses clearly written and accessible law
• 1804-05-18 Napoléon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of France by the French Senate

Battle of Waterloo

1815-06-18 Battle of Waterloo; Napoleon Bonaparte and France defeated by British forces under Duke of Wellington and Prussian troops under Field Marshall von Blücher

• 1815-11-20 Second Treaty of Paris: France and her allies agree France will pay indemnities after Battle of Waterloo, ending the Napoleonic Wars

The Raft of the Medusa

1816-07-17 "L'Argus" accidentally discovers raft holding survivors from wrecked French frigate "Méduse." After 13 days at sea only 15 of 151 remain, the rest having been cannibalised, murdered, or committed suicide. This event was made famous by Théodore Géricault’s painting "The Raft of the Medusa"

• 1818-10-08 Jack Broughton designed padded gloves first used in a competitive boxing match between 2 unnamed English boxers at Aix-la-Chapelle in France
• 1822-09-27 French scholar Jean-François Champollion announces he has deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics using the Rosetta Stone
• 1828-04-20 Frenchman René Caillié is the first non-Muslim to enter Timbuktu, returns to win 10,000 franc prize from Société de Géographie
• 1830-06-12 Beginning of the French colonization of Algeria: 34,000 French soldiers land 27 kilometers west of Algiers, at Sidi Ferruch

Daguerreotype Photographic Process

1839-08-19 Louis Daguerre's daguerreotype photographic process with complete working instructions is published "free to the world" in Paris as a gift from the French government

• 1840-12-15 Napoleon Bonaparte receives a French state funeral in Paris 19 years after his death
• 1848-06-22 Beginning of the June Days uprising in Paris by French workers
• 1848-09-16 Slavery abolished in all French territories
• 1854-03-28 Great Britain and France declare war on Russia, expanding the Crimean War

Battle of the Alma

1854-09-20 Battle of the Alma: British, French and Ottoman alliance defeat the Russian Empire in the 1st major battle of the Crimean War

• 1854-10-17 French and British forces bombard Sevastopol for the first time during the Crimean War

The 1856 Treaty of Paris

1856-03-30 The Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia sign the Treaty of Paris ending the Crimean War

• 1857-03-03 Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China
• 1858-02-11 First vision of the Virgin Mary to 14-year-old Bernadette of Lourdes, France

1st Pasteurization Test

1862-04-20 First pasteurization test is completed by Frenchmen Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard

• 1868-08-18 French Astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium in solar spectrum during eclipse
• 1868-11-23 Louis Ducos du Hauron patents a process of making color photographs, in Paris, France
• 1869-07-15 Margarine is patented by Hippolye Méga-Mouriès for use by French Navy

Ems Telegram

1870-07-13 King Wilhelm I of Prussia sends the "Emser Depeche (Ems Telegram)" to Otto von Bismarck who publishes an edited version to purposely offend the French government precipitating the Franco-German War

• 1871-05-21 French Army attacks Paris beginning the Semaine Sanglante (Bloody Week), a weeklong battle that kills 10,000-15,000 and ends the Paris Commune

Carmen

1875-03-03 Georges Bizet's last and greatest opera "Carmen" premieres at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, France

World's First Motor Race

1887-04-28 "Europe's first motoring competition" is 'won' by The Marquis de Dion on a steam-powered quadricycle built by French toymaker and engineer Georges Bouton; French newspaper Le Velocipede organized the 'test', and Bouton was the only participant

• 1900-08-19 Start of first and only Olympic cricket match, Great Britain beats France by 158 runs in Paris
• 1900-10-28 II Summer (Modern) Olympic Games, Paris, France: competition ends after 5 months; no opening or closing ceremonies conducted
• 1902-05-08 Mount Pelée on the French overseas island of Martinique erupts, wiping out the city of Saint-Pierre, killing 30,000 and leaving only two survivors
• 1903-12-29 French Equatorial Africa separates into Gabon, Chad and Ubangi-Shari (Central African Republic)
• 1909-09-07 Eugene Lefebvre becomes first pilot to die in an airplane craft, while test piloting new French-built Wright biplane at Juvisy

Fabre Hydravion

1910-03-28 First seaplane takes off from water under its own power, piloted by Henri Fabre from the Étang de Berre lagoon at Martigues, France

• 1913-09-06 1st aircraft to loop the loop - Adolphe Pégoud in France
• 1914-08-03 Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France, beginning World War I

• 1915-02-28 WWI: After the French try to drive the Germans forces back into the Champagne region, they gain a few hundred yards - at the cost of 50,000 casualties

The Red Baron

1916-09-17 WWI flying ace The Red Baron of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France

• 1917-06-26 First US troops arrive in France during World War I
• 1918-04-21 German World War I fighter ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen aka "The Red Baron", is shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France. Canadian pilot Arthur Roy Brown is credited with the kill.

San Remo Conference

1920-04-25 San Remo conference establishes three League of Nations mandates: a French mandate for Syria, and British mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine with effect to the terms of the Balfour Declaration

• 1923-05-26 Inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race for cars starts through public roads around Le Mans, France; inaugural winners: André Lagache and René Léonard(France) for Chenard & Walcker

• 1939-06-17 Last public guillotining in France. Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, is guillotined in Versailles outside the prison Saint-Pierre
• 1939-09-03 World War II: Britain declares war on Germany after invasion of Poland. France follows 6 hours later quickly joined by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa & Canada
• 1940-05-12 Nazi blitzkrieg and conquest of France begins with German forces crossing the Muese River

Miracle of Dunkirk

1940-06-04 British complete the "Miracle of Dunkirk" by evacuating 338,226 allied troops from France via a flotilla of over 800 vessels including Royal Navy destroyers, merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure craft and even lifeboats

• 1940-06-15 German troops occupy Paris as French resistance to the German invasion crumbles

Their Finest Hour

1940-06-18 Winston Churchill gives his "this was their finest hour" speech to the House of Commons urging perseverance in the war after the Dunkirk evacuation and the fall of France

• 1942-08-19 World War II: Over 4,000 Canadian and British soldiers are killed, wounded, or captured during a raid on Dieppe, France

Paris Surrenders

1944-08-25 German commander Dietrich von Choltitz surrenders Paris to the Free French forces of Philippe Leclerc, disobeying Adolf Hitler's orders to destroy the city. President of the Provisional Government of the French Republic Charles de Gaulle gives a famous speech at the Hôtel de Ville.

Pétain Arrested for Treason

1945-04-26 Marshal Philippe Pétain, leader of France's Vichy collaborationist regime during World War II, arrested for treason

The New Look

1947-02-12 French fashion designer Christian Dior presents his first influential collection, named the "New Look"

• 1949-05-23 Federal Republic of [West] Germany created out of the American, British and French occupation zones
• 1950-12-30 Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia become Independent states within the French Union
• 1951-11-29 1st underground atomic explosion at Frenchman Flat in Nevada
• 1954-07-21 Geneva Accords for Indochina signed, dividing French colonial territories into the countries of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), the State of Vietnam (South Vietnam), Cambodia, and Laos
• 1954-08-11 Formal peace treaty ends over 7 yrs of fighting in Indochina between the French and the Communist Viet Minh

• 1954-11-24 France sends 20,000 soldiers to Algeria
• 1956-03-02 French-Moroccan Agreement signed in Paris rescinds the Treaty of Fez, declaring independence of Morocco from France
• 1956-11-05 Britain and France land airborne forces at Port Said in Egypt, escalating the Suez Crisis
• 1960-02-13 France becomes the 4th nuclear nation by exploding their 1st device, a 70 kilo-ton "Gerboise Bleue" atomic bomb in the French Algerian Sahara desert [1]

Music History

1966-10-13 Jimi Hendrix Experience rock trio debuts with American guitarist Jimi Hendrix, British bassist Noel Redding and British drummer Mitch Mitchell in Évreux, Normandy, France

• 1967-12-16 "Playtime", French film directed by Jacques Tati, starring himself, is released
• 1968-08-24 France becomes the world's fifth thermonuclear power with a detonation on Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific

The French Connection

1971-10-07 "The French Connection" directed by William Friedkin and starring Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider and Fernando Rey premieres in the US (Academy Awards Best Picture 1972)

• 1976-05-24 In the Judgment of Paris, wine testers rate wines from California higher than their French counterparts, challenging the notion of France being the foremost producer of the world's best wines
• 1977-09-10 Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, is the last person to be executed by Guillotine in France

The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior

1985-07-10 French foreign intelligence agents blow up the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbor, New Zealand, to prevent it interfering with French nuclear tests in the South Pacific. Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira is killed.

• 1987-06-20 1st Rugby World Cup Final, Eden Park, Auckland: New Zealand fly-half Grant Fox lands 4 penalties, a conversion and drop goal as the All Blacks beat France, 29-9

• 1993-06-21 English mathematician Andrew Wiles proves last theorem of French mathematician Pierre de Fermat after 356 years, the world's most difficult maths problem
• 1994-11-14 1st public trains run through the Channel Tunnel linking England and France under the English Channel

• 2005-04-27 The superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France

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