France to 1649

France to 1649 Return to algis.com



CIA Factbook: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fr.html Hist. Documents: http://library.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs/france.html History (in French): http://philae.sas.upenn.edu/French/french.html HTA: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/9061/europe/france.html ICL: http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/law/fr__indx.html Lonely Planet: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/eur/fra.htm USDS: http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/france_9906_bgn.html At the foot of a cliff in Burgundy are about 2 1/2 acres of fossilized horse bones three feet deep. Pre-historic men drove horses over the cliff for food. (SFEC,11/2/97, Z1 p.6) 28,000 BCE Homo sapiens (modern). Skull of adult male found by French workmen (L. Lartet) at Cro-Magnon, France in 1868. (NG, Nov. 1985, p. 573) 28,000BCE The Cussac cave in France was found in 2000 to contain drawings from this time. Bones of 5 people from the Neolithic era were also found. (SFC, 7/5/01, p.A8) 26k-20k BCE This marks approximately the Gravettian (see 30-22k) cultural period. It was named after the southern French site of La Gravette. (AM, 9/01, p.12) 15,000BCE The cave art of Paleolithic man of Lascaux, France dates to this time. It was discovered in 1940 and contains some 600 paintings, 1,500 engravings, and innumerable mysterious dots and geometric figures. The dots were named "claviforms" and their age was estimated at 12,000 years. (NG, Oct. 1988, p.434,485)(SFEC, 5/30/99, p.T4) 15k-12kBCE Solutrean phase of the Upper Paleolithic is named after the Roche de Solutre near Macon. (SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4) 12,000BCE The Niaux cave in Tarascon dated back to the Ice Age. (SFEC, 5/30/99, p.T1) 800-700BCE The Languedoc region has produced wine since this time. Langue d'oc refers to the language of Occitan spoken in the region. (WSJ, 2/09/99, p.A20)(SSFC, 6/17/01, p.T10)



c100BCE The community situated on an island in the Seine River was known by the Romans in the first century BCE as Lutetia. At the time, it was occupied by the Gallic tribe called Parisii. As the city grew into a Roman trading center, it came to be known as Paris. (HNQ, 4/18/02) 52BCE Caesar climaxed his conquest of Gaul at Alesia in northern Burgundy where he vanquished Celtic forces under Vercingetorix. (NGM, 5/77)(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4) c300-400 The 1st French church dedicated to the Virgin Mary was built in the 4th century on the hill site of the later Chartres cathedral. (Hem., 10/97, p.83) 394 Sep 8, Arbogast, French general, committed suicide. (MC, 9/8/01) 397 Nov 8, Martin of Tours, [St Martin], bishop of Tours, died. [see Nov 11] (MC, 11/8/01) 397 Nov 11, Martinus (81), (St Martin), Roman bishop of Tours, died. [see Nov 8] (MC, 11/11/01) 451AD Jun 20, Roman and Barbarian warriors halted Attila's army at the Catalaunian Plains in eastern France. Attila the Hun was defeated by a combined Roman and Visigothic army. The Huns moved south into Italy but were defeated again. (V.D.-H.K.p.88) (HN, 6/20/98) 451AD Sep 20, General Aetius defeated Attila the Hun at Chalons-sur-Marne. (MC 9/20/01) 455AD Jul 9, Avitus, the Roman military commander in Gaul, became Emperor of the West. (HN, 7/9/98) 508 The Franks, led by Clovis, took Paris and made it their capital. Under Charlemagne, the capital was moved to Aachen and Paris waned, raided repeatedly by Norsemen during the 9th and 10th centuries. (HNQ, 4/18/02) 511 Nov 11, Clovis (45), king of Salische France and founder of Merovingians, died. [see Nov 27] (MC, 11/11/01)



511 Nov 27, Clovis, king of the Franks, died and his kingdom was divided between his four sons. [see Nov 11] (HN, 11/27/98) 538 Nov 30, St. Gregory of Tours, chronicler and bishop, was born. (MC, 11/30/01) 636 Nov 1, Nicholas Boileau-Despreaux, French poet, was born. He was also a critic and official royal historian and wrote "Lutrin. " (HN, 11/1/99) 732AD Oct 10, At Tours, France, Charles Martel killed Abd el-Rahman and halted the Muslim invasion of Europe. Islam's westward spread was stopped by the Franks at Poitiers. [see Oct 11] (V.D.-H.K.p.103)(HN, 10/10/98) 732 Oct 11, The French under Charles Martel beat the Moors at the Battle at Tours. Abd ar-Rahman, Yemenite general strategist (Bordeaux occupier), died. [see Oct 10] (MC, 10/11/01) 733 Oct 17, Battle at Poitiers: Charles Martel beat Abd al-Rachmans. (MC, 10/17/01) 741 Oct 22, Charles Martel of Gaul died at Quiezy. His mayoral power was divided between his two sons, Pepin III and Carloman. (HN, 10/22/98) 742AD Apr 2, Charlemagne (d.814), Charles I the Great, King of the Franks and first Holy Roman emperor (800-14), was born. His capital was at Aachen (Acquisgrana in Latin). (V.D.-H.K.p.105)(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.46)(HN, 4/2/98) 743-1194 Five cathedrals were built on the site of Chartres cathedral over this period. (Hem., 10/97, p.83) 0768 Sep 24, Pippin III, the short, King of France, died at 53. (MC, 9/24/01) 768-814AD Charlemagne becomes king of the Franks and emperor of the former Western Roman Empire. (V.D.-H.K.p.105)(ATC, p.72) 771 Dec 4, With the death of his brother Carloman, Charlemagne became sole ruler of the Frankish Empire. (HN, 12/4/98)



771-814 Reign of Charlemagne. (Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214) 774-814AD Charlemagne became king of the Lombards. (V.D.-H.K.p.68) 786 Feb 24, Pepin the Short of Gaul died. His dominions were divided between his sons Charles (Charlemagne) and Carloman. (HN, 2/24/99) 800 Dec 25, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor at the basilica of St. Peter's at Rome. (V.D.-H.K.p.105)(HN, 12/25/98) 800-900 In France monks moved inland from the Loire valley to escape the depredations of the Vikings and revived the making of Chablis wine with Chardonnay grapes. (SFC, 7/16/97, Z1 p.4) 839 Charles III the Fat, sometimes called Charles II of France, was born. He was the son of Louis the German and grandson of Charlemagne. Charles III the Fat was a Frankish king and emperor. His fall in 887 marked the final disintegration of the empire of Charlemagne. He was the youngest son of Louis the German and was crowned emperor by Pope John VIII in 881 and became king of all the East Franks in 882, succeeding his brother Louis the Younger. Charles III the Fat died on January 13, 888. (HNQ, 8/30/99) 841 Jun 25, Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeated Lothar at Fontenay. (HN, 6/25/98) 846 Nov 1, Louis II, the Stutterer, King of France (877-79), was born. (MC, 11/1/01) 850-930 Hucbaldus Elnonensis, was a French monk and composer, who became known for writing poetry about the hairless. He wrote "Ecloga de Calvis," (In Praise of Bald Men) for Hatto, a bald archbishop. All 150 lines of the Latin verse begin with the letter c (calvus means bald in Latin). (WSJ, 11/23/98, p.B1) 855 Sep 28, The Emperor Lothar died in Gaul, and his kingdom was divided between his three sons. (HN, 9/28/98) 876 Oct 8, Charles the Bald was defeated at the Battle of Andernach. Louis the Young beat Charles the Bare. (HN, 10/8/98)(MC, 10/8/01)



876 Charles the Bald donated a relic, the Sancta Camisia, to the city of Chartres. The relic was believed to the childbirth tunic of the Virgin Mary. (Hem., 10/97, p.86) 877 Oct 6, Charles II the Kale, King of France and Roman emperor (875-77), died at 54. (MC, 10/6/01) 0879 Sep 17, Charles III, [The Simple], king of France (893-923), was born. (MC, 9/17/01) 899 Dec 8, Arnulf of Carinthia, last emperor of Austria-France, died. (MC, 12/8/01) 900-1000 Alsace became part of Germany in the 10th century. (SFEC, 1/31/99, p.T4) 900-1000AD The French village of Prelenfrey dates back to the 10th Century. (SFC, 6/23/96, p.T8) 910 The abbey at Cluny was founded. (SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4) 911 A relic donated by Charles the Bald, the Sancta Camisia, was displayed above the city walls of Chartres and seemed to repel a Viking attack. The relic was believed to be the Virgin Mary's childbirth tunic. (Hem., 10/97, p.86) 921 Nov 7, Treaty of Bonn: East France and West France recognized each other. (MC, 11/7/01) 948-994 St. Mayeul managed the abbey at Cluny. (SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4) 954 Nov 12, Lotharius became king of France. (MC, 11/12/01) 985 Montpellier, France, was founded at the intersection of 3 trade and pilgrimage routes. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R22) 987 May, The Carolingian period of Frankish rule from the dynasty of Pepin the Short ended in France with the death of Louis V (20). (PCh, 1992, p.78)(AHD, 1971, p.205) 987 Jul, The count of Paris, Hugh Capet (49), became king of France and Paris emerged as the center of French political, cultural and religious life, once again becoming the



capital. (PCh, 1992, p.78)(HNQ, 4/18/02) 994-1049 St. Odilon managed the abbey at Cluny. (SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4) 996 Oct 24, Hugh Capet, king of France (987-96), died at 58. (MC, 10/24/01) 1003 May 12, Gerbert, French scholar, died in Rome. (SC, internet, 5/12/97) 1032 Feb 2, Conrad II claimed the thrown of France. (HN, 2/2/99) 1047 Construction began on the Abbaye-aux-Dames near the town of Saintes. (SFEC, 6/15/97, p.T8) 1049-1109 St. Hughes managed the abbey at Cluny. (SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4) 1065 Apr 16, The Norman Robert Guiscard took Bari, ending five centuries of Byzantine rule in southern Italy. (HN, 4/16/98) 1070 Jun 4, Roquefort cheese was accidentally discovered in a cave near Roquefort, France, when a shepherd found a lunch he had forgotten several days before. (HN, 6/4/01) 1072 Jan 10, Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger took Palermo in Sicily. (HN, 1/10/99) 1079-1142AD Peter Abelard, born in Brittany, became a great medieval scholar. He secretly married Heloise, niece of the Canon Fulbert of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The Canon Fulbert hired gangsters who waylaid and castrated Abelard. His most famous theological work, "Sic et Non" (Yes and No), consisted of a collection of apparent contradictions drawn from various sources, together with commentaries showing how to resolve the contradictions and providing rules for resolving others. He also wrote "Scito te Ipsum" (Know Thyself), which advanced the notion that sin consists not in deeds, which in themselves are neither good nor bad, but only in intentions. (V.D.-H.K.p.116)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R22) 1081-1151 Abbot Suger of St. Denis, France. He was the 1st great patron of the arts in the current millennium. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R53)



1086 St. Bruno founded the austere Carthusian order of monks in Grenoble. The silent order's mother house in La Grand Chartreuse, France, later maintained support by the sale of its Chartreuse liqueur. Denys Rackley (d.1998 at 76), Carthusian monk, helped build the only American monastery of the Carthusian order, the Charterhouse of the Transfiguration in Arlington, Vt. (WUD, 1994, p.227)(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A22)(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A22) 1087 Sep 9, William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and King of England, died in Rouen while conducting a war which began when the French king made fun of him for being fat. (HN, 9/9/00) 1095 Nov 27, In Clermont, France, Pope Urbana II made an appeal for warriors to relieve Jerusalem. He was responding to false rumors of atrocities in the Holy Land. Pope Urban II called for a Christian army to defeat the Turks and recapture the Holy Sepulchre from the Muslims. The first Crusade sparked a renewal of trade between Europe and Asia. (V.D.-H.K.p.109)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)(HN, 11/27/99) 1096 Saint-Eutrope's church was consecrated in the town of Saintes, the ancient capital of the Saintonge. (SFEC, 6/15/97, p.T8) c1097 The pilgrimage routes of France (chemins de pelerinage) were begun. Their 900th anniversary was celebrated in 1997. (SFEC, 6/15/97, p.T8) 1100s Troubadour musicians organized in southern France. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25) 1100-1200 Chretien de Troyes in the 12th century introduced Camelot into the Arthurian legend and placed Lancelot in the saga along with the quest for the Holy Grail. (WSJ, 3/27/98, p.W10) 1100-1200 In France the Abbot Suger was busy embellishing the abbey of St. Denis. (WSJ, 3/28/97, p.A16) 1100-1200 St. Martin Romanesque church was built in Chapaize in southern Burgundy. (SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T5) c1100-1200 Albigenses were members of the Catharistic sect that arose in southern France in the 11th century. [see 1244] (WUD, 1994 p.34) 1101 William IX, the Duke of Aquitaine, returned from the Crusades and composed songs about his adventures, thus becoming the first troubadour. He was excommunicated for licentious acts, but his lyrics led to the "courtly love" genre. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)



1114 Trade fairs were held at Champagne, France, at the crossing of roads from Flanders, Germany, Italy and Provence. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49) 1118 Dec 18, Afonso the Battler, the Christian King of Aragon captured Saragossa, Spain, a major blow to Muslim Spain. (HN, 12/18/98) 1130 The church at the abbey at Cluny was completed and measured over 400 feet long. (SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4) 1131 Oct 25, Louis VII the Young, King of France, was crowned. (MC, 10/25/01) 1135 The date of the Last Judgement carved into the tympanum of the Romanesque basilica in Conques. (SFEC, 6/15/97, p.T8) 1147 Oct 25, At the Battle at Doryleum Arabs beat Konrad III's crusaders. Conrad III of Germany and Louis VII of France had assembled 500,000 men for the 2nd Crusade. Most of the men were lost to starvation, disease and battle wounds. (PCh, 1992, p.94)(MC, 10/25/01) 1160 Dec 6, Jean Bodel's "Jeu de St Nicholas," premiered in Arras. (MC, 12/6/01) 1180 In Montpellier a medical school was founded. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R22) 1187 Sep 5, Louis VIII, [Coeur-de-Lion] king of France (1223-26), was born. (MC, 9/5/01) 1189 Jan 21, Philip Augustus, Henry II of England and Frederick Barbarossa assembled the troops for the Third Crusade. (V.D.-H.K.p.109)(HN, 1/21/99) 1190 The Louvre Museum in Paris was built as a fortress. (SFC, 6/16/96, T-5) 1194 The cathedral at Chartres was mostly destroyed by fire. The Sancta Camisia relic survived intact and the cathedral was rebuilt in 29 years. (Hem., 10/97, p.86) 1196 The Chateau Gaillard in Normandy was built by Richard the Lionhearted, Duke of Normandy, to protect his domain from Philip Augustus, King of France. (AMNH, DT, 1998)



c1197 A stone labyrinth was laid in the floor of the Chartres Cathedral by Benedictine monks. The pattern of "sacred" geometry was copied and used for floor patterns in San Francisco at Grace Cathedral (1995) and California Pacific Medical Center. (SFC, 6/6/97, p.A19) 1199 Apr 6, English King Richard I was killed by an arrow at the siege of the castle of Chaluz in France. (HN, 4/6/99) c1200-1300 The Abbey of Royaumont was established. (SFC, 9/8/97, p.D5) 1200-1300 The abbey on Mont St. Michel was established. In 1998 it was planned to remove the sand around the rocky island off the Normandy coast and re-establish its maritime character. (SFEC, 5/10/98, p.T3) 1201 Oct 9, Robert de Sorbon, founder of Sorbonne University, Paris, was born. (MC, 10/9/01) 1204 Apr 12, The Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople. Constantinople fell to a combined force of Franks and Venetians. The 4th Crusade failed to reach Palestine but sacked the Byzantine Christian capital of Constantinople. (AM, May/Jun 97 p.)(NH, 9/96, p.22)(HN, 4/12/98) 1204 France won back Normandy but the people of the isle of Jersey chose to remain loyal to England. The Chateau Gaillard of Richard the Lionhearted was defeated and partly dismantled as punishment. (Sky, 4/97, p.28)(AMNH, DT, 1998) 1212 Stephen, a shepherd boy from Cloyes-sur-le-Loir, France, had a vision of Jesus and set out to deliver a letter to the King of France. He gathered 30,000 children who went to Marseilles with plans to ship to the Holy Land and conquer the Muslims with love instead of arms. They got shipped to North Africa and were sold in the Muslim slave markets. (V.D.-H.K.p.110) 1213 Sep 12, Simon de Montfort defeated Raymond of Toulouse and Peter II of Aragon at Muret, France. (HN, 9/12/98) 1214 Apr 25, Louis IX, king of France, was born. (HN, 4/25/98)



1214 Jul 27, At the Battle of Bouvines in France, Philip Augustus of France defeated John of England. (HN, 7/27/98) 1221 In France the Chateau de Bagnols castle was built. Guichard, Lord of Oingt, built the first three of its 5 round towers. It was restored in the 1990s by English publishing mogul Paul Hamlyn and his wife Helen. (SFEM, 10/4/98, p.6) 1223 Jul 14, In France, Louis VIII succeeded his father, Philip Augustus. (HN, 7/14/98) 1223 Chartres cathedral in its present form was completed. (Hem., 10/97, p.83) 1225-1274 Thomas Aquinas, Italian scholastic philosopher and major theologian of the Roman Catholic Church. He maintained that the question of the beginning of time could never be resolved philosophically. (WUD, 1994, p.75)(WSJ, 8/21/98, p.W13) 1226 Nov 8, Louis VIII (39), the Lion, King of France (1223-26), died. He was succeeded by Louis IX. (HN, 11/6/98)(MC, 11/8/01) 1238 Sep 28, James of Aragon retook Valencia, Spain, from the Arabs. (HN, 9/28/98) 1244 Aug 23, Turks expelled the crusaders under Frederick II from Jerusalem. (HN, 8/23/98) 1244 Oct 17, The Sixth Crusade ended when an Egyptian-Khwarismian force almost annihilated the Frankish army at Gaza. (HN, 10/17/98) c1244 Pope Innocent III launched the Albigensian Crusade, a forerunner of the Inquisition, that systematically besieged and exterminated the Cathars. (SSFC, 6/17/01, p.T10) 1244 The Cathars, a group of Catholic heretics, settled at Montsegur, France, in the Ariege region. They were besieged for more than a year and chose to burn at the stake rather than submit. Occitania was the ancient name for this region of Languedoc, where the language of Occitan is spoken. (SFEC, 12/8/96, p.T1)(SSFC, 6/17/01, p.T10)



1245 Jul 27, Frederick II of France was deposed by a council at Lyons, which found him guilty of sacrilege. (HN, 7/27/98) 1246 May 22, Henry Raspe was elected anti-king by the Rhenish prelates in France. (HN, 5/22/98) 1248 Nov 23, Seville, France surrendered to Ferdinand III of Castile after a two-year siege. (HN, 11/23/98) 1250 Apr 30, King Louis IX of France was ransomed for one million dollars. The Mamluk dynasty exacted 240 tons of silver for his release. (HN, 4/30/98)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R4) 1256 France banned gambling with dice. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34) 1264 May 14, King Henry III was captured by his brother in law Simon deMontfort at the Battle of Lewes in France. (HN, 5/14/99) 1270 Aug 25, King Louis IX of France died on The Eighth Crusade, which was decimated by the Plague. (PCh, 1992, p.114)(V.D.-H.K.p.110) 1274 May 7, Second Council of Lyons opened. (HN, 5/7/98) 1274 Thomas Aquinas was summoned before a council at Lyons to answer for his opinions. He was publicly chastised but not condemned. He died in this year. (V.D.-H.K.p.122)(WUD, 1994, p.75) 1280 St. Julien-le-Pauvre was built in Paris. It became a barn during the French revolution and is now a Greek Orthodox church. (SFC, 9/1/96, T8) 1282 Mar 31, The great massacre of the French in Sicily, "The Sicilian Vespers," came to an end. (HN, 3/31/99) 1282 Apr 28, Villagers in Palermo led a revolt against French rule in Sicily. (HN, 4/28/98) 1285 Oct 5, Philippe III, the Stout, King of France (1270-85), died. (MC, 10/5/01)



1289 Oct 4, Louis X, the Stubborn, king of France (1314-16), was born. (MC, 10/4/01) c1290-1361 Philippe de Vitry, French music theorist, composer and poet. (WUD, 1994, p.1598)(SFC, 2/15/99, p.E7) 1300 Paris, with its population between 200,000 and 300,000, was at this time the largest city in the world. (HNQ, 4/18/02) 1300-1377 Guillaume de Machaut, French poet and composer. (WUD, 1994, p.629)(SFC, 2/15/99, p.E7) 1302 Jul 11, An army of French knights, led by the Count of Artois, was routed by Flemish pikemen. (HN, 7/11/98) 1303 May 20, A treaty was signed between England and France over the town of Glascony. (HN, 5/20/98) 1303 Sep 8, Anagni: French king Philip IV captured Pope Boniface VIII. (MC, 9/8/01) 1307 Oct 13, French king Philip IV convicted the Knights Templar of heresy. Members of the Knights of Templar were arrested throughout France, imprisoned and tortured by the order of the King Philip the Fair. (HN, 10/13/98)(MC, 10/13/01) 1310 May 12, Fifty-four Knights Templar were burned at the stake as heretics in France. They had been established during the Crusades to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land, but came into increasing conflict with Rome until Pope Clement V officially dissolved them in 1312 at the Council of Vienna. (SC, internet, 5/12/97) 1314 Nov 29, Philippe IV, the Handsome, King of France (1285-1314), died. (MC, 11/29/01) 1315 In France Parisian bakers were found guilty of mixing flour with animal droppings during the Great Famine. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25) 1315 Italian immigrants in France began the Western silk industry. (SFC, 3/11/00, p.B4)



1316 Nov 15, Jean I became king of France, and died 4 days later. (MC, 11/15/01) 1327 Apr 6, Petrarch met Laura de Sade in a church at Avignon, and was inspired for the rest of his life. He wrote his finest poems about her beauty and loveliness... and about his later recognition that he had loved her wrongly, placing her person ahead of her spirit. This event has been taken to mark the beginning of the Renaissance (V.D.-H.K.p.131)(MC, 4/6/02) 1340 Jun 24, The English fleet defeated the French fleet at Sluys, off the Flemish coast. (HN, 6/24/98) 1340 Nov 30, John, Duke de Berry, captain of Paris and art collector, was born. (MC, 11/30/01) 1346 Jul 12, Edward III of England landed his army on the Normandy beaches unopposed. (ON, 9/00, p.1) 1346 Jul 18, Edward III divided his army into 3 groups and began a march on Paris. (ON, 9/00, p.2) 1346 Aug 16, Philip VI offered Edward III sovereignty over Aquitaine in return for peace. Edward rejected the offer and learned that Philip had raised an army of 36,000 that included 15,000 Genoese crossbowmen. Edward marched toward Flanders in order to meet with allies. (ON, 9/00, p.2) 1346 Aug 25, Edward III of England defeated Philip VI's army at the Battle of Crecy in France. The English overcame the French at the Battle of Crecy. The longbow proved instrumental in the victory as French knights on horseback outnumbered the British 3 to 1. At the end of the battle 1,542 French lords and knights were killed along with 20,000 soldiers. The English lost 2 knights and 80 men. (MH, 12/96)(WSJ, 8/3/98, p.A12)(HN, 8/25/98) 1346 Sep 3, Edward III of England began the siege of Calais, along the coast of France. (HN, 9/3/98) 1346 Sep 28, Edward III and Philip VI signed a temporary truce. Their hostilities marked the beginning of the Hundred Years War, which only ended in 1453. (ON, 9/00, p.2) 1347 Aug 3, Six burghers of the surrounded French city of Calais surrendered to Edward III of England in hopes of relieving the siege. (HN, 8/3/98)



1347 Oct, After an 11 month siege, French Calais fell to England's King Edward III. English rule lasted for more than two centuries. (WSJ, 11/6/95, p. A-1) 1347-1350 Oct, The Black Death: A Genoese trading post in the Crimea was besieged by an army of Kipchaks from Hungary and Mongols from the East. The latter brought with them a new form of plague. Infected dead bodies were catapulted into the Genoese town. One Genoese ship managed to escape and brought the disease to Messina, in Sicily. From this time forth the disease became an epidemic. It moved over the next few years to northern Italy, North Africa, France, Spain, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, the Low countries, England, Scandinavia and the Baltic. There were lesser outbreaks in many cities for the next twenty years. An estimated 25 million died in Europe and economic depression followed. (V.D.-H.K.p.151)(NG, 5/88, p.678)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42) 1348 Plague arrived at Montpellier in the spring and killed an estimated two-thirds of the 50,000 inhabitants. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R22) 1349-1830 The eldest son of the king of France was referred to as the dauphine, as an honor to the Dauphine province after its cession to France. (WUD, 1994, p.369) 1350 Aug 22, John II, also known as John the Good, succeeded Philip VI as king of France. (HN, 8/22/98) 1355 Nov 2, English invasion army under King Edward landed at Calais. (MC, 11/2/01) 1356 Sep 19, In a landmark battle of the Hundred Years' War, English Prince Edward defeated the French at Poitiers. Jean de Clermont, French marshal, died in battle. (HN, 9/19/98)(MC, 9/19/01) 1357 Nov 25, Charles IV issued a letter of protection of Jews of Strasbourg and Alsace. (MC, 11/25/01) 1360 Oct 25, Louis, founder of house of Anjou, was born. (MC, 10/25/01) 1364 King Charles V (1337-1381) began his rule of France. (HNQ, 7/14/01)(WUD, 1994 p.249) 1370 Apr 22, The first stone of the Bastille was laid by order of King Charles V (13641380). The original design of the Bastille was merely a fortified gate, but it was later turned into a fortress by Charles VI. It began to be used as a prison in the 17th century.



Following the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, it was demolished. (HNQ, 7/14/01) 1371 The queen of France sent the Queen of England several dolls dressed in the latest French fashion. The outfits were copied by English dressmakers and costumed dolls from France went wherever French ships sailed. They were called mannequins. (SFC, 6/28/97, p.E3) 1378 Dec 18, Charles V denounced the treachery of John IV of Brittany and confiscated his duchy. (HN, 12/18/98) 1380 Nov 14, King Charles VI of France was crowned at age 12. (MC, 11/14/01) 1380 Nov 16, French King Charles VI declared no taxes forever. (MC, 11/16/01) 1380 King Charles V (1337-1381) ended his rule of France. (HNQ, 7/14/01)(WUD, 1994 p.249) 1382 Nov 27, The French nobility, led by Olivier de Clisson, crushed the Flemish rebels at Flanders. (HN, 11/27/98) 1383 Sep 4, Amadeus VIII, duke of Savoye, and the last antipope (Felix V (1439-48), was born. (MC, 9/4/01) 1384 Sep 2, Louis I, duke of Anjou and king of Naples (Battle of Poitiers), died. (MC, 9/2/01) c1392 Sir Jean Froissart authored "The Chronicles of England, France and Scotland." (ON, 4/00, p.6) 1394 Jul 25, Charles VI of France issued a decree for the general expulsion of Jews from France. [see Sep 17, Nov 3] (HN, 7/25/98) 1394 Sep 17, Jews were expelled from France by order of King Charles VI. [see Jul 25, Nov 3] (MC, 9/17/01) 1394 Nov 3, Jews were expelled from France by Charles VI. [see Jul 25, Sep 17] (MC, 11/3/01)



1395-1456 Jacques Coeur, financial adviser to Charles VII of France. He ran a variety of businesses and sold luxury goods. He bankrolled Charles' war in 1449 with nearly a ton of gold. His gothic mansion at Bourges had the family motto etched in stone: "To valiant hearts nothing is impossible." (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R6) 1400-1500 A 15th century songwriter named Oliver Bassel lived in the Vau de Vire, Valley of the Vire. His popular tunes were identified with his home and gave us the word "vaudeville." (SFEC, 1/10/99, Z1 p.8) 1400-1600 Researchers in 1997 announced that sometime in this period the Sauvignon Franc grape crossed with Sauvignon Blanc grape to produce the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. (SFC, 6/4/97, Z1 p.4) 1403 Feb 22, Charles VII, King of France (1422-1461), was born. (HN, 2/22/98)(MC, 2/22/02) c1410 The Book of the Chase depicted hunting dogs and snares. (SFEM, 4/6/97, p.16) 1412 Jan 6, According to tradition, French heroine Joan of Arc was born Jeanette d'Arc, in the French village of Domrémy. When she was 12 years old, she began hearing what she believed were voices of saints, sending her messages from God. When she was 17, the voices--which she believed to be of Saints Margaret and Catherine (queens of France) and the Archangel Michael-- told her to leave her village and save Orléans. Joan convinced the dauphin that she could lead French troops in resistance against their English invaders, and she was given a force of several hundred men to command, whom she led to victory at Orléans in 1429. Wearing her white enameled armor suit, she continued to fight against the English. Joan was captured by Burgundians and then burned at the stake by the English on May 30, 1431, for the offenses of witchcraft, heresy and wearing male clothing. The Roman Catholic Church recognized Joan of Arc as a saint in 1920. (CFA, '96,Vol 179, p.38)(AP, 1/6/98)(HNPD, 1/6/99) 1415 Oct 25, An English army under Henry V defeated the French at Agincourt, France. The French had out numbered Henry's troops 60,000 to 12,000 but Welsh longbows turned the tide of the battle. The French force was under the command of the constable Charles I d`Albret. Charles I d'Albret, son of Arnaud-Amanieu d`Albret, came from a line of nobles who were often celebrated warriors. His ancestors had fought in the First Crusade (1096-99) and his father had fought in the Hundred Years War himself--first for the English before joining the side of France! Charles' own exploits in the ongoing conflict came to an end at the Battle of Agincourt. The decisive victory for the outnumbered English saw the death of not only Charles, but a dozen other high-ranking nobles as well. But Charles' fate that October in 1415 did not end the Albrets as his



descendants went on to become kings of Navarre, and later, France. (MH, 12/96)(HN, 10/25/98)(HNQ, 1/30/01)(MC, 10/25/01) 1419 Sep 10, John the Fearless (48), Burgundy and French warrior, was murdered at Montereau, France, by supporters of the dauphin. (HN, 9/10/98)(MC, 9/10/01) 1422 Oct 21, Charles VI, King of France (1380-1422), died at 54. (MC, 10/21/01) 1429 Apr 29, Joan of Arc led French troops to victory over the English at Orleans during the Hundred Years' War. Legend has it that King Charles VII of France had a suit of armor made for Joan at a cost of 100 war horses. In 1996 a suit of armor was found and proposed to be Joan's armor. (ATC, p.107)(SFC, 6/19/96, p.A10)(AP, 4/29/98)(HN, 4/29/98) 1429 May 7, English siege of Orleans was broken by Joan of Arc. (HN, 5/7/98) 1429 May 9, Joan of Arc defeated the besieging English at Orleans. (HN, 5/9/98) 1429 Aug 26, Joan of Arc makes a triumphant entry into Paris. (HN, 8/26/99) 1430 May 23, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English. (AP, 5/23/97)(HN, 5/23/98) 1430 Jul 14, Joan of Arc, taken prisoner by the Burgundians in May, was handed over to Pierre Cauchon, the bishop of Beauvais. (HN, 7/14/98) 1431 May 30, Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic [as a witch], was burned at the stake in Rouen, France. She was 19 years old. A silent movie of her life was made in 1927 by Carl Theodor Dreyer. (CFA, '96, p.46)WSJ, 1/23/96, p.A-12)(AP, 5/30/97)(HN, 5/30/98) 1431 Dec 16, Henry VI of England was crowned King of France. (HN, 12/16/98) 1431-1463? Francois Villon, French poet. The 1938 film "If I Were King" starred Ronald Colman and Basil Rathbone and was directed by Preston Sturges. It was about the French poet and revolutionary Francois Villon. (WUD, 1994, p.1593)(SFEC, 8/2/98, DB p.49)



1435 Sep 21, Treaty of Atrecht. Philippe le Bon of Burgundy and French king Charles II signed a treaty at Arras. Phillipe broke with the English and recognized Charles as France's only king. (MC, 9/21/01)(PCh, 1992, p.145) 1440 Oct 26, Gilles de Rais, French marshal, depraved killer of 140 children, was hanged over slow fire. A brilliant young French knight, he was believed to have cracked over the torture and death of his true love, Jeanne d'Arc, the Maid of Orleans (d.1431). (MC, 10/26/01) 1451 Jacques Coeur was charged with poisoning Agnes Sorel, mistress to King Charles VII. Sorel had died in childbirth. Charles confiscated Coeur's property and put him in jail. Coeur escaped and fled to Rome. He died several years later fighting the Turks. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R6) 1453 Jul 17, France defeated England at Castillon, France, ending the 100 Years' War. [see Oct 19] (HN, 7/17/98) 1453 Oct 19, In the 2nd Battle at Castillon: France beat England, ending the hundred year war. [see Jul 17] (MC, 10/19/01) 1454 Feb 17, At a grand feast, Philip the Good of Burgundy took the "vow of the pheasant," by which he swore to fight the Turks. (HN, 2/17/99) 1456 Nov 25, Jacques Coeur, French merchant and banker, died in battle. (MC, 11/25/01) 1462 Jun 27, Louis XII, King of France, was born. (HN, 6/27/98) 1470 Jun 30, Charles VIII, King of France (1483-98), invaded Italy, was born. One of his feet had 6 toes which prompted his wearing broad, square tip shoes. (HN, 6/30/98)(SFC, 3/13/99, p.E6) 1470 The first book printed in France was an ornate ninth-century transcript produced for the grandson of Charlemagne. It is held by the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. (WSJ, 9/26/95, p.A-20) 1477 Jan 5, Swiss troops defeated the forces under Charles the Bold of Burgundy at the Battle of Nancy. (HN, 1/5/99)



1480-1520 The fortress at Bonaguil in the Quercy province was built by a baron as a bulwark against his vassals. (SFEC, 7/11/99, p.T4) 1490 Anne of Brittany married by proxy the recently widowed Maximilian of Hapsburg who had inherited Burgundy and Flanders from his first wife. Brittany was under siege by France and Maximilian failed to send troops in its defense. Anne had her marriage annulled and married the French Dauphin who had been engaged to marry Margaret of Austria, the daughter of Maximilian and Mary of Burgundy. Anne's portrait was later painted by Jan Mostaert (WSJ, 7/30/97, p.A13) 1490 Francois Rabelais (d.1553), French physician, satirist and humorist, was born. [see 1494] (WUD, 1994, p.1183)(V.D.-H.K.p.143)(SSFC, 2/10/02, p.G5) 1494 Sep 12, Francois I of Valois-Angoulome, king of France (1515-47), was born. (MC, 9/12/01) 1494-1547 In France the time of King Francois I. The stench along the Seine drove him from the Hotel des Tournelles. Cesspools and the guild that emptied them, the Maitres Fy-Fy, developed at this time. (Hem., 3/97, p.132) 1494-1553 Francois Rabelais, French satirist: "If you wish to avoid seeing a fool you must first break your mirror." [see 1490, 1553] (AP, 2/23/98) 1499 Sep 10, The French marched on Milan. (Hem., 12/96, p.19) c1500-1600 Madame Virginie de Rieux, 16th-century French writer: "Marriage is a lottery in which men stake their liberty and women their happiness." (AP, 12/6/97) c1500-1600 Clement Janequin was a 16th century composer best known for his big pictorial secular songs that included: "The Cries of Paris," "Bird Song," and "The Hunt." The French Ensemble Clement Janequin was formed in 1978. (SFC, 6/8/00, p.E3) 1503 Dec 14, Nostradamus [Michel de Nostredame], prophet, was born in St. Remy, Provence, France. He predicted correctly French king Henri II's manner of death. Nostradamus was the author of a book of prophecies that many still believe foretold the future. He was also physician, an astrologer and a clairvoyant. He wrote in rhyming quatrains, accurately predicting the Great London Fire in 1666, Spain's Civil War, and a Hitler that would lead Germany into war. He even correctly predicted his own death on



July 2, 1566. (HN, 12/14/99)(MC, 12/14/01) 1503 Jean Poyet, Renaissance artist, died. His work included "Vespers: Massacre of the Innocents and Flight Into Egypt." (WSJ, 2/22/00, p.A20) 1507 Martin Waldseemuller, German geographer working at a small college in Eastern France, labeled the New World "America," for the first time in his book "Cosmographiae Introductio," and gave Amerigo Vespucci credit for discovering it. Letters circulating in Florence claimed that Vespucci had discovered the new World. Vespucci was in fact only a passenger or low officer on one of the ships captioned by others. Vespucci was later believed to have been the brother of Simonetta Vespucci, the model for Venus in the Botticelli painting. (TL-MB, 1988, p.9)(SFEC, 8/23/98, p.T10) 1507 Genoa was annexed by the French. (TL-MB, p.9) 1509 May 14, In the Battle of Agnadello, the French defeated the Venetians in Northern Italy. (HN, 5/14/98) 1509-1564 John Calvin, French theologian. He started the Protestant Reformation in France in 1532. (TL-MB, 1988, p.14)(SFC, 7/21/97, p.A11) 1512 Apr 11, The forces of the Holy League were heavily defeated by the French at the Battle of Ravenna. France under Gaston de Foix beat the Spanish Army. (HN, 4/11/99)(MC, 4/11/02) 1513 Aug 16, Henry VIII of England and Emperor Maximilian defeated the French at Guinegatte, France, in the Battle of the Spurs. (HN, 8/16/98) 1513 Sep 9, King James IV of Scotland was defeated and killed by English at the Battle of Flodden Field. The Scottish navy was sold to France. (TL-MB, 1988, p.10)(HN, 9/9/98) 1514 England and France declared a truce in their warfare. Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, married Louis XII. (TL-MB, p.10) 1515 Sep 13, King Francis of France defeated the Swiss army under Cardinal Matthias Schiner at Marignano, northern Italy. Switzerland was last involved in a war. French armies defeated the Swiss and Venetians at the Battle of Marignano and Milan fell to the



French. Francis I conquered Lombardy in northern Italy. (TL-MB, 1988, p.11)(SFC, 6/7/96, p.A12)(HN, 9/13/98) 1515 The first nationalized French factories were set up in the manufacture of tapestries and arms. (TL-MB, p.11) 1516 The Treaty of Noyon brought peace between France and Spain. (TL-MB, p.11) 1518 Cardinal Wolsey arranged the Peace of London between England, France, the Pope, Maximilian I and Spain. (TL-MB, p.11) 1521 Nov 19, Battle at Milan: Emperor Charles V's Spanish, German, and papal troops beat France and occupied Milan. An eight year war between France and the Holy Roman Emp., Charles V, began after the French supported rebels in Spain. (TL-MB, 1988, p.12)(MC, 11/19/01) 1521 The Chateau de Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley of France was built for the royal tax collector, Thomas Bohier. It took eight years to construct. (TL-MB, p.12) 1521 The manufacture of silk cloth was introduced to France. It had been made in Sicily since the 1100s. (TL-MB, p.12) 1522 England declared war on France and Scotland. Holy Roman Emp. Charles V visited Henry VIII and signed the Treaty of Windsor. Both monarchs agreed to invade France. (TL-MB, p.12) 1523 Oct 27, English troops occupied Montalidier, France. (MC, 10/27/01) 1524 Chevalier Bayard, commander of French forces in Lombardy, was killed and the French were driven out. (TL-MB, p.12) 1525 Feb 24, In the first of the Franco-Habsburg Wars, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V captured the French king Francis I at the battle of Pavia, in Italy. (HN, 2/24/99) 1525 Feb 25, French King Francis I was defeated and captured by Imperial forces at Pavia. (HN, 2/25/98)



1526 Jan 14, Francis of France, held captive by Charles V for a year, signed the Treaty of Madrid, giving up most of his claims in France and Italy. (HN, 1/14/99) 1527 Apr 30, Henry VIII and King Francis of France signed the treaty of Westminster. (HN, 4/30/98) 1530 The earliest know French contract for comedia dell'arte players was drawn up. (TL-MB, p.14) 1530 Etienne Briard introduced round characters in musical engraving. (TL-MB, p.14) 1532 Francois Rabelais, French satirist, published "La Vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel," a grotesque and humorous satire on almost every aspect of contemporary religion and culture. (TL-MB, 1988, p.14)(SSFC, 2/10/02, p.G5) 1532 John Calvin (1509-1564), French theologian, started the Protestant Reformation in France. (TL-MB, 1988, p.14) 1533 Feb 28, Michel de Montaigne (d.1592), was born near Bordeaux, France. He was the French moralist who created the personal essay. Montaigne was brought up by his father under peasant guidance and a German tutor for Latin. He spent a lifetime of political service under Henry IV, and then composed his "Essays." This was the first book to reveal with utter honesty and frankness the author's mind and heart. Montaigne sought to reach beyond his own illusions, to see himself as he really was, which was not just the way others saw him. "Nothing is so firmly believed as what we least know." (WUD, 1994, p.928)(V.D.-H.K.p.144)(HN, 2/28/99) 1534 Oct 18, A new pursuit of French protestants began. (MC, 10/18/01) 1534 St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish ecclesiastic, founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in Paris with the aim of defending Catholicism against heresy and undertaking missionary work. Ignatius converted to Christianity while convalescing after a battle and wrote his Spiritual Exercises meant as a guide for conversion. In Paris, Ignatius and a small group of men took vows of poverty, chastity and papal obedience. (TL-MB, 1988, p.14)(HNQ, 1/13/01) 1535 May 19, French explorer Jacques Cartier set sail for North America. (HN, 5/19/98) 1535 Oct 2, Jacques Cartier first saw the site of what is now Montreal and proclaimed "What a royal mountain," hence the name of the city. [see 1536] Having landed in



Quebec a month ago, Jacques Cartier reached a town, which he names Montreal. (SFEC, 3/2/97, p.T7)(HN, 10/2/98) 1536 Jul 6, Jaques Cartier returned to France after discovering the St. Lawrence River in Canada. (HN, 7/6/98) 1536 Jul 14, France and Portugal signed the naval treaty of Lyons aligning themselves against Spain. (HN, 7/14/98) 1536 Oct 6, William Tyndale, the English translator of the New Testament, was strangled and burned at the stake for heresy at Vilvorde, France. William Tyndale was strangled and burned outside Brussels as a heretic by the Holy Roman Empire. (WSJ, 12/22/94, A-20)(WSJ, 11/19/96, p.A20)(HN, 10/6/98) 1539 Aug 10, King Francis of France declared that all official documents were to be written in French, not Latin. (HN, 8/10/98) 1539 In Lyon printers went on strike against long hours, poor conditions and excessive profits by masters. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25) 1541 Aug 23, Jacques Cartier landed near Quebec on his third voyage to North America. (HN, 8/23/98) 1542 Bernard Palissy started working in France. He produced dishes and plates with leaves, lizards, snakes, insects and shells in high relief. (SFC, 1/8/96, z-1 p.6) 1542 War was renewed between the Holy Roman Empire and France. (TL-MB, p.16) 1544 Sep 14, Henry VIII's forces took Boulogne, France. (HN, 9/14/98) 1544 Sep 14, Henry VIII's forces took Boulogne, France. (HN, 9/14/98) 1544 Sep 19, Francis, the king of France, and Charles V of Austria signed a peace treaty in Crespy, France, ending a 20-year war. The Peace of Crespy ended the fighting between Charles V and Francis I. Henry VIII was not consulted. France surrendered much territory and Charles gave up his claim to Burgundy. (TL-MB, 1988, p.16)(HN, 9/19/98)



1544 Henry VIII crossed the Channel to Calais to campaign with Charles V against Francis I. (TL-MB, 1988, p.16) 1544 Gustavus I of Sweden signed an alliance with France. (TL-MB, 1988, p.16) 1545 Jul 19, A French fleet entered The Solent, the channel between the Isle of Wight and Hampshire, England, and French troops landed on the Isle of Wight. The Mary Rose, pride of England's fleet, capsized with heavy loss in Portsmouth harbor. King Henry VIII of England watched his flagship, Mary Rose, capsize as it left to battle the French. (TL-MB, 1988, p.17)(HN, 7/19/98) 1546 Jun 7, The Peace of Ardes [Ardres] ended the war between France and England. (TL-MB, 1988, p.17)(HN, 6/7/98) 1546 Aug 3, French printer Etienne Dolet, accused of heresy, blasphemy and sedition, was hanged and burned at the stake for printing reformist literature. (HN, 8/3/98) 1546 Pierre Lescot, French architect, began the building of the Louvre in Paris. Francois I, needing more space for acquired works of art, started the construction of 2 new wings to the 12th century Louvre fortress. (TL-MB, 1988, p.17)(WSJ, 10/7/98, p.A20) 1547 Mar 31, Francis, King of France (1515-1547), died and was succeeded by his son Henry II. (HN, 3/31/99) 1548 Tomas Luis de Victoria, composer of spiritual miniatures, was born. (PNM, 1/25/98, p.5) 1549 Aug 9, France declared war on England. England declared war on France. (TL-MB, 1988, p.17)(HN, 8/9/98) 1549 Nov 5, Philippe du Plessis, France, author, was born. (MC, 11/5/01) 1553 Aug 2, An invading French army was destroyed at the Battle of Marciano in Italy by an imperial army. (HN, 8/2/98) 1553 "Les Observations de Plusieurs Singularitez et Choses Memorables" was written by Pierre Belon, French naturalist and traveler. It included an account of Turkish fruit sorbets. (NH, 4/97, p.77)



1553 Francois Rabelais (b.1490), French physician, satirist and humorist, died. He studied with the Benedictines and received orders from the Franciscans. His work included the multi-volume "La Vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel." (WUD, 1994, p.1183)(V.D.-H.K.p.143)(SSFC, 2/10/02, p.G5) 1553-1610 Henri IV, Henry of Navarre, Henry the Great. He was the King of France from 1589-1610. (WUD, 1994, p.662) 1554 Henry II of France invaded the Netherlands. (TL-MB, 1988, p.18) 1554 Fernelius, French physician, codified the medicine of the Renaissance. (TL-MB, 1988, p.18) 1555 Balthazar de Beaujoyeoux, violinist, introduced several fellow violinists to the court of Catherine de Medici. Under his influence the lute was replaced by the violin as France's most popular instrument. (SFC, 12/29/96, zone 1 p.2) 1556 Feb 5, Henry II of France and Philip of Spain signed the truce of Vaucelles. (HN, 2/5/99) 1556 The first tobacco seeds from Brazil reached Europe, brought back by a Franciscan monk. Diplomat Jean Nicot (hence nicotine) gave a gift of tobacco seeds to French royalty. (TL-MB, 1988, p.19)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49) 1557 Aug 10, Spanish and English troops in alliance defeated the French at the Battle of St. Quentin. French troops were defeated by Emmanuel Philibert's Spanish army at St. Quentin, France. (TL-MB, 1988, p.19)(HN, 8/10/98) 1558 Jan 6, The French seized the British held port of Calais. (HN, 1/6/99) 1558 Jan 7, The French, under the Duke of Guise, finally took the port of Calais from the English. (HN, 1/7/99) 1558 Apr 24, Mary, Queen of Scotland, married the French dauphin, Francis. (HN, 4/24/98) 1558 Jun 22, The French took the French town of Thioville from the English. (HN, 6/22/98)



1558 Jul 13, Led by the court of Egmont, the Spanish army defeated the French at Gravelines, France. (HN, 7/13/98) 1559 Apr 3, Philip II of Spain and Henry II of France signed the peace of CateauCambresis, ending a long series of wars between the Hapsburg and Valois dynasties. (HN, 4/3/99) 1559 The first synod of Calvinist, or Reformed, churches, met in Paris. The common name given to French Protestants during the Reformation, Huguenots, came into use soon thereafter. They formed a loose national organization as they won converts among many French nobles. This led to a series of wars as Roman Catholic nobles feared the growth of Huguenot power. The Religious Wars were marked by the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572 in which Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligny and thousands of Huguenots were killed at the behest of Catherine de" Medici. Persecution of Huguenots persisted until the French Revolution in 1789 granted freedom of religion. (HNQ, 10/8/00) 1559 Henry II of France was struck in the head by a tournament lance and died. This fulfilled a prophecy by Nostradamus. Gabriel de Lorges de Montgomery, captain of the Scottish Guards, accidentally killed Henry II as they jousted in front of the Hotel Royal des Tournelles. The widowed queen, Catherine de Medicis, had the royal residence demolished. (TL-MB, 1988, p.19)(SFEM, 3/15/98, p.16) 1560 The Huguenot conspiracy of Amboise attempted without success to overthrow the Guises, a powerful French ducal line that championed the Catholic cause. (TL-MB, p.20) 1561 May, In Montpellier, a Calvinist stronghold, the Catholics marched in protest against the Calvinists chanting "We shall dance in spite of the Huguenots." Wars of religion began to rip France apart and lasted for the next 6 decades. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R22) 1561 Sep 20, Queen Elizabeth of England signed a treaty at Hamptan Court with French Huguenot leader Louis de Bourbon, the Prince of Conde. The English would occupy Le Havre in return for aiding Bourbon against the Catholics of France. (HN, 9/20/98) 1561 Sep 23, Philip II of Spain gave orders to halt colonizing efforts in Florida. The French took advantage of the opportunity. (TL-MB, 1988, p.20)(HN, 9/23/98) 1561 Jean Nicot, French ambassador to Lisbon, sent tobacco seeds and powdered leaves back to France. The word "nicotine" is derived from his name. French diplomat Jean



Nicot introduced the use of tobacco to the French court in the 1560s. (TL-MB, 1988, p.20)(HNQ, 1/24/00) 1562 Jan 17, French Protestant Huguenots were recognized under the Edict of St. Germain. (AP, 1/17/98) 1562 Dec 19, The French Wars of Religion between the Huguenots and the Catholics began with the Battle of Dreux. (HN, 12/19/98) 1563 Apr 30, Jews were expelled from France by order of Charles VI. (HN, 4/30/98) 1564 Sep 13, On the verge of attacking Pedro Menendez's Spanish settlement at San Agostin, Florida, Jean Ribault's French fleet was scattered by a devastating storm. (HN, 9/13/98) 1564 France adopted the reformed calendar and shifted the new year from April to Jan. Some didn't like the change and were called April fools. (SFEC, 1/10/99, Z1 p.8) 1565 Sep 20, Pedro Menendez of Spain wiped out the French at Fort Caroline, in Florida. Spanish colonists in the northeast coast of Florida under Pedro Menendez de Aviles massacred a band of French Huguenots that posed a potential threat to Spanish hegemony in the area. They also took advantage of the local Timucuan Indian tribe. (NG, March 1990, J. Boslough p. 117)(WSJ, 8/3/95, p.A-8)(HN, 9/20/98) 1566 Jul 2, French astrologer, physician and prophet Nostradamus died in Salon. (AP, 7/2/97) 1567 Nov 10, Battle at St-Denis: French government army vs. Huguenots. The Huguenots had started a second War of Religion in France with the Conspiracy of Meaux. (TL-MB, 1988, p.21)(MC, 11/10/01) 1568 May 3, French forces in Florida slaughtered hundreds of Spanish. (HN, 5/3/98) 1569 Oct 3, Battle of Montcontour the Duke of Anjou beat the Huguenots. (MC, 10/3/01) 1570 Aug 8, Charles IX of France signed the Treaty of St. Germain (Peace of St. Germain-en-Laye), ending the third war of religion and giving religious freedom to the Huguenots. (TL-MB, 1988, p.22)(HN, 8/8/98)



1572 Aug 24, The slaughter of French Protestants at the hands of Catholics began in Paris as Charles IX of France attempted to rid the country of Huguenots. France's fourth war of religion started with the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day, in which 50,000 Huguenots and their leader, Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, were killed in and around Paris. (TL-MB, 1988, p.22)(AP, 8/24/97)(HN, 8/24/98) 1574 Feb 23, The 5th War of Religion, against the Huguenots, broke out in France. (TL-MB, 1988, p.22)(HN, 2/23/98)(MC, 2/23/02) 1574 In France Charles IX died and was succeeded by his brother Henry of Valois, Henry III. (TL-MB, 1988, p.22) 1575 Nov 8, French Catholics and Huguenots signed a treaty. (MC, 11/8/01) 1576 May 6, The peace treaty of Chastenoy ended the fifth war of religion. (HN, 5/6/98) 1576 Jean Bodin, French political theorist, published his Six Books of the Commonwealth, wherein he argues that the basis of any society is the family. (TL-MB, 1988, p.22) 1576 Carolus Clusius, French botanist, published his treatise on the flowers of Spain and Portugal. It was the first modern work on botany. (TL-MB, 1988, p.22) 1576 The Fifth War of Religion in France ends with the Peace of Monsieur. The Huguenots were granted freedom of worship in all places except Paris. (TL-MB, 1988, p.22) 1578 The Pont-Neuf was begun. (SFEM, 3/12/00, p.50) 1578 Faience, a tin-glazed earthenware, was manufactured at Nevers, France, by the Conrade brothers. (TL-MB, 1988, p.22) 1580 Nov 26, French Huguenots and Catholics signed a peace treaty. France's 7th War of Religion broke out and ended with the Peace of Fleix. (TL-MB, p.23)(PCh, 1992, p.200)(MC, 11/26/01) 1580 Michel de Montaigne, French scholar and nobleman, wrote his personal essays entitled "Essais." (TL-MB, p.23)



1580 The Roman fortress at Suin burned down. (SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4) 1581 Oct 15, Commissioned by Catherine De Medici, the 1st ballet "Ballet Comique de la Reine," was staged in Paris. (MC, 10/15/01) 1581 Nov 7, Queen Elizabeth I and Francois of Anjou were wed. (MC, 11/7/01) 1582 Oct 15, The Gregorian (or New World) calendar was adopted in Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal; and the preceding ten days were lost to history. This day followed Oct 4 to bring the calendar into sync. by order of the Council of Trent. Oct 5-14 were dropped. (K.I.-365D, p.97)(NG, March 1990, J. Boslough)(HN, 10/15/98) 1583 Nov, Francis Throckmorton, who was born in 1554, was arrested. He made a full confession of the Throckmorton Plot for the overthrow of Queen Elizabeth I and the restoration of papal authority in England after being tortured on the rack. He was tried and then executed on July 20, 1584. Throckmorton was the central figure in the conspiracy involving France and Spain, which called for a French invasion of England and the release from prison of Mary, Queen of Scots. (HNQ, 10/8/98) 1584 The oldest surviving lighthouse (wave-swept) was begun at Cordonau, by the mouth of the Gironde River in France. (TL-MB, p.23) 1585 Sep 9, Duc Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, French cardinal and statesman who helped build France into a world power under the leadership of King Louis XIII, was born. He was premier of France from 1624 to 1642. (HN, 9/9/98)(MC, 9/9/01) 1585 Sep 9, Pope Sixtus V deprived Henry of Navarre of his rights to the French crown. (HN, 9/9/98) 1585 Dec 14, Henry IV, the first Bourbon king of France, was born. He survived the massacre of St. Bartholomew's by proclaiming himself a Catholic. (HN, 12/14/99) 1585 The War of the Three Henries [Henry III, Henry of Guise, and Henry of Navarre] began when Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot, became heir to the French throne. (TL-MB, p.24) 1587 Oct 20, In France, Huguenot Henri de Navarre routed Duke de Joyeuse's larger Catholic force at Coutras. (HN, 10/20/98)



1588 May 12, King Henry II fled Paris after Henry of Guise entered the city. The people of Paris rose against Henry III, who fled to Chartres. Seven months later he had Henry of Guise and his brother, Cardinal de Guise, assassinated. (TL-MB, 1988, p.24)(HN, 5/12/98) 1589 Jan 5, Catherine de Medici, Queen Mother of France, died at age 69. (TL-MB, 1988, p.24)(AP, 1/5/98)(MC, 1/5/02) 1589 Aug 2, Henry III, King of France, was assassinated by a Jacobin monk, Jacques Clement. Last of the House of Valois, he named Henry (1553-1610), King of Navarre, to succeed him. During France's religious war, a fanatical monk stabbed King Henry II to death. (TL-MB, 1988, p.24)(WUD, 1994, p.662)(HN, 8/2/98) 1589 Sep 21, The Duke of Mayenne of France, head of the Catholic League, was defeated by Henry IV of England at the Battle of Arques. (HN, 9/21/98)(MC, 9/21/01) 1589 Bernard Palissey, a Huguenot, expressed the opinion that fossils were the remains of living creatures. He was locked up in the dungeons of the Bastille for his opinions and died there. (SFC, 9/20/97, p.E3) 1589-1610 Henry (1553-1610), King of Navarre, as Henry IV became the first Bourbon King of France, Henry the Great. He switched from Protestantism to Catholicism. "Paris is well worth a Mass." (TL-MB, p.24)(WUD, 1994, p.662)(Hem., 1/97, p.101) 1591 Sep 21, French bishops recognized Henri IV as king of France. (MC, 9/21/01) 1592 Sep 13, Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, French philosopher (L'Amiti), died at 59. (MC, 9/13/01) 1593 Jul 25, France's King Henry IV converted from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism. (AP, 7/25/97) 1594 The first act of Henry of Navarre, when he entered Paris as Henry IV, was to touch 600 scrofulous [tuberculytic] persons. (WP, 1951, p.7) 1594 Henry IV proposed his "Grande Dessein" to join the Louvre with the nearby Tuileries palace, which had been built under Catherine de Medici. (WSJ, 10/7/98, p.A20)



1594-1665 Nicolas Poussin, painter, known as the founder of French Classicism. He spent most of his career in Rome which he reached at age 30 in 1624. His GrecoRomanism work includes "The Death of Chione" (1622-1623) and "The Abduction of the Sabine Women." [WUD ends his life in 1655] (WSJ, 2/26/96, p.A-10)(AAP, 1964)(WUD, 1994, p.1126) 1595 Jun 5, Henry IV's army defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Fontaine-Francaise. (HN, 6/5/98) 1596 Mar 31, Rene Descartes (d.1650), French philosopher, was born in La Haye, France. He proposed a numerical index that represented fundamental notions. He made consciousness the defining feature of the self. Descartes died in Sweden. In 1997 Paul Strathern published: "Descartes in 90 Minutes," and Keith Devlin published "Goodbye Descartes: The End of Logic and the Search for a New Cosmology of the Mind." In 1998 the French biography by Genevieve Rodis-Lewis was translated to English: "Descartes: His Life and Thought." (V.D.-H.K.p.203)(Wired, 8/96, p.86)(WSJ, 3/18/97, p.A20)(AP, 3/30/97) (WSJ, 7/23/98, p.A14)(WSJ, 8/21/98, p.W13) 1598 Apr 13, King Henry IV of France endorsed the Edict of Nantes, which granted political rights to French Huguenots. (The edict was abrogated in 1685 by King Louis XIV, who declared France entirely Catholic again.) (AP, 4/13/98)(HN, 4/13/98) 1598-1666 Nicolas Francois Mansart, architect. The mansard roof is named after him. (WUD, 1994, p.873)(SFC, 8/25/99, Z1 p.7) 1600s The contractor Jean-Christophe Marie built bridges on the Seine to the Ile St.Louis and laid out lots on straight streets for sale. (SFEC, 6/22/97, p.T8) c1600 French fishermen and their families settled the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland. The 9-island was later made a French territory. (WSJ, 6/30/00, p.B4) 1601 Jan 17, The Treaty of Lyons ended a short war between France and Savoy. Savoy was ceded to France in 1860. (WUD, 1994, p.1272)(HN, 1/17/99) 1601 Sep 27, Louis XIII, king of France (1610-43), was born. He ascended to the throne at the age of nine following the assassination of his father Louis XII. At 17, he seized control of the empire from his mother Marie de' Medici. Louis XIII proved to be a strongly pro-Catholic ruler. (MC, 9/27/01)



1602 Jul 29, The Duke of Biron was executed in Paris for conspiring with Spain and Savoy against King Henry IV of France. (HN, 7/29/98) 1605 Henry IV and his minister, Duc de Sully, decided to build a square over the former site of the Hotel Royal des Tournelles. The new square was named the Place Royale until the Revolution when it was renamed the Place des Vosges after the first administrative department, Les Vosges, that paid taxes. (SFEM, 3/15/98, p.16) 1605 Henry IV established a building code that set architectural themes and specified that pavilions had to owned by a single family. (SFEM, 3/15/98, p.35) 1605-1704 Marc-Antoine Charpentier, French composer. His work included "Antiennes "O" de l'Avent." (WSJ, 11/27/01, p.A20) 1606 Jun 6, Pierre Corneille (d.1684), French dramatist, poet and writer of Le Cid, was born: "Guess, if you can, and choose, if you dare." (AP, 3/28/98)(HN, 6/6/98) 1606 The order of the Sisters of Ursula was founded in France. Like their Jesuit brethren they try to fuse contemplative withdrawal with worldly engagement. (WSJ, 12/3/98, p.W17) 1607 Sep 28, Samuel de Champlain and his colonists returned to France from Port Royal Nova Scotia. (HN, 9/28/98) 1608 Jul 3, The city of Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain. The French adventurer Etienne Brule accompanied Champlain to North America and was reportedly eaten by the Huron Indians. (AP, 7/3/97)(SFEC, 6/7/98, Z1 p.8) 1610 May 14, French King Henri IV (Henri de Navarre) was assassinated by a fanatical monk, François Ravillac. Henri IV was succeeded by 11-year-old Louis XIII, under the eye of Cardinal Richelieu. (HN, 5/14/99)(SFEM, 3/15/98, p.17) 1610-1643 Louis XIII (1601-1643) was King of France. He was the son of Henry IV of Navarre. He started the fashion of men's wigs do to loss of hair. (WUD, 1994, p.524)(SFC, 12/29/96, zone 1 p.2) 1612 "Le Carrousel du Roi," an equestrian ballet, was choreographed by Antoine de Pluvinel and scored by Robert Ballard. It was performed as part of an engagement



ceremony for Louis XIII of France to Anne of Austria, princess of Spain. An estimated 200,000 people viewed the performance in Paris' Place Royale (later the Place des Vosges). (SFEC, 6/4/00, DB p.38)(SFEC, 6/11/00, p.D9) 1612 The Pavillon du Roi, begun under Henri IV, was completed. It was occupied by the king's court and then the Duc de Sully, after which it was called the Hotel de Sully. (SFEM, 3/15/98, p.17) 1613 Sep 15, Francois, duc de la Rochefoucauld (d.1680), Paris France, writer (Memoires), was born. "When we cannot find contentment in ourselves it is useless to seek it elsewhere." (AP, 12/2/98)(MC, 9/15/01) 1613-1700 Andre Le Notre, architect and landscape designer. He shaped the gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Versailles, Marly, Chantilly, Saint Germain-en-Laye, Les Tuileries, saint cloud, Sceaux and Courances. (WUD, 1994, p.820)(SFEM, 5/18/97, p.26) 1614 May 15, An aristocratic uprising in France ended with the treaty of St. Menehould. (HN, 5/15/98) 1614 King Louis XIII (13) gave Christophe Marie and his partners the go-ahead to build the Pont Marie linking Paris' Right Bank to the Ile Saint Louis. (SFCM, 10/14/01, p.33) 1615 Feb 23, The Estates-General in Paris was dissolved, having been in session since October 1614. (HN, 2/23/99) 1615 Jul 28, French explorer Samuel de Champlain discovered Lake Huron on his seventh voyage to the New World. (HN, 7/28/98) 1615-1680 Nicolas Fouquet, treasurer to Louis XIV of France. He used embezzled funds to build his chateau Vaux le Vicomte. [see 1661] (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R8) 1616 Nov 20, Bishop Richelieu became French minister of Foreign affairs and War. (MC, 11/20/01) 1617 Baron de Vitry murdered Marechal d'Ancre in a pavilion on the Place des Vosges. (SFEM, 3/15/98, p.50) 1619-1655 Cyrano de Bergerac, French poet. His radical writings prefigured Voltaire and Diderot. His noted nose was an invention of the poet Theophile Gautier introduced in an



1844 book. Edmond Rostand's play on Cyrano was unveiled in 1897. (SFEC, 4/27/97, DB p.3) 1620 Feb 10, Supporters of Marie de Medici, the queen mother, who had been exiled to Blois, were defeated by the king's troops at Ponts de Ce, France. (AP, 2/10/99) 1621 Jul 8, Jean La Fontaine, poet and author of Fables, was born. (HN, 7/8/98) 1621 Sep 8, Louis II Conde, [Great Conde], duke of Bourbon (Rocroy), was born. (MC, 9/8/01) 1622 Jan 15, Moliere (d.1673) [Jean Baptiste Poquelin], French actor and comic dramatist, was born. He was the author of "Tartuffe" and "The Misanthrope" (1666). He also did the bilingual experiment "L'Impromptu du Versailles." His last play was "The Imaginary Invalid." "It is a stupidity second to none, to busy oneself with the correction of the world." (WUD, 1994, p.923)(WSJ, 4/5/96, p.A-6)(LSA, Spg/97, p.14)(WSJ, 4/2/98, p.A20)(AP, 11/10/98)(HN, 1/15/99) 1622 Sep 5, Richelieu became Cardinal. (MC, 9/5/01) 1622 Oct 18, French King Louis XIII and the Huguenots signed the treaty of Montpellier. (MC, 10/18/01) 1623 Jun 19, Blaise Pascal (d.1662), French mathematician, physicist, religious writer, was born. He affirmed that the heart has its reasons, that reason does not comprehend. The French mathematician invented the roulette wheel in an effort to create a perpetual motion machine. He formulated the first laws of atmospheric pressure, equilibrium of liquids and probability." All the troubles of man come from his not knowing how to sit still." (V.D.-H.K.p.123)(SFEC, 3/23/97, z1 p.7)(AP, 6/19/98)(AP, 5/28/99)(HN, 6/19/99) 1624 Apr 29, Louis XIII appointed Cardinal Richelieu chief minister of the Royal Council. (HN, 4/29/98) 1624 Aug 13, French King Louis XIII named Cardinal Richelieu his first minister. (AP, 8/13/97) 1624 Nicolas Poussin, French painter, left France and went to Rome. (WSJ, 2/26/96, p.A-10)



1624 Artisans of Louis XIII completed the 1st generation of the Louvre. (SFC, 7/15/00, p.B3) 1625 The Marais district house at 62 Rue Saint Antoine, later known as the Hotel de Sully, was built. (SFEC, 1/4/98, p.T7) 1626 Feb 6, Huguenot rebels and the French signed the Peace of La Rochelle. (HN, 2/6/99) 1628 Oct 28, After a fifteen-month siege, the Huguenot town of La Rochelle surrendered to Cardinal Richelieu's Catholic forces. (HN, 10/28/98)(MC, 10/28/01) 1630 Nov 10, In France there was a failed palace revolution against Richelieu government. (MC, 11/10/01) 1631 Oct 10, A Saxon army occupied Prague. (MC, 10/10/01) 1632 Oct 30, Henri de Montmorency, French duke and plotter, was beheaded. (MC, 10/30/01) 1634 The Academie Francaise was established. Its task was to preserve the purity of the French language, which included maintaining a dictionary. Members came to be known as the "immortals" and by 1998 they were struggling to with masculine nouns of positions held by women who desired feminine endings. (SFC, 1/17/98, p.A12) 1634-1644 Hugo Grotius (d.1645) of Holland, father of international law, served the Swedish government as ambassador to France. (HN, 4/10/98)(HNQ, 3/15/00) 1635 May 19, Cardinal Richelieu of France intervened in the great conflict in Europe by declaring war on the Hapsburgs in Spain. (DTnet, 5/19/97)(HN, 5/19/99) 1635 Jun 3, xxxx, French dramatist whose popular librettos included Amadis, Roland and Armida, was born. (HN, 6/3/99) 1635 Jun 28, The French colony of Guadeloupe was established in the Caribbean. (HN, 6/28/98)



1636 Aug 8, The invading armies of Spain, Austria and Bavaria were stopped at the village of St.-Jean-de-Losne, only 50 miles from France. (HN, 8/8/98) 1638 Sep 5, Louis XIV, "The Sun King" (1643-1715) of France, was born. He built the palace at Versailles. [see Sep 16] (HN, 9/5/98) 1638 Sep 16, France's King Louis XIV, the Sun King, was born. He ruled from 16431715 and died in 1715. [see Sep 5] (WUD, 1994, p.848)(AP, 9/16/97) 1638-1715 Dom Perignon, a French monk. He introduced blending, vineyard and cellaring practices that made champagne a better wine. (Hem., 10/97, p.104) 1639 Hugel Corp. first bottled wine in France. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R46) 1639-1699 Racine, French dramatist. (WUD, 1994, p.1184) 1642 Sep 12, Cinq Mars, French plotter, was executed. (MC, 9/12/01) 1642 Dec 4, Armand-Jean Duplessis Richelieu (57), bishop of Luzon, died. (MC, 12/4/01) 1642 Le Vau, the royal architect, built the Hotel Lambert on the Ile of Saint Louis. (SFCM, 10/14/01, p.32) 1642 Blaise Pascal invented a calculating machine to ease the drudgery of his taxcollector father. It was considered too complicated. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14) 1643 May 14, Louis XIV became King of France at age 4 upon the death of his father, Louis XIII. (AP, 5/14/97) 1643 May 18, Queen Anne, the widow of Louis XIII, was granted sole and absolute power as regent by the Paris parliament, overriding the late king's will. (HN, 5/18/99) 1643 May 19, A French army destroyed Spanish army at the Battle at Rocroi Allersheim in France (DTnet, 5/19/97)(HN, 5/19/98)



1643 Nov 22, Rene R. Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, French explorer, was born. (MC, 11/22/01) 1643-1715 Louis XIV was King of France. "L'etat c'est moi" (I am the state). Francois Michelle Le Tellier, the Marquis de Louvois, was his secretary of state for war. A portrait of the Marquis was painted by Herault. (WUD, 1994, p.848)(SFC,10/23/97, p.E1) 1645 Aug 16, Jean de la Bruyere, French writer and moralist famous for his work "Characters of Theophratus," was born. (HN, 8/16/98) 1646-1707 Jules Hardouin Mansart, architect. He became the chief architectural director for Louis XIV. (WUD, 1994, p.873) 1647 Mar 14, The 1647 Treaty of Ulm was reached between the French and the Bavarians during the Thirty Years' War. In negotiations with the French, Maximilian I of Bavaria abandoned his alliance with the Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand III through the Treaty of Ulm. In 1648 Bavaria returned to the side of the emperor. (HNQ, 11/7/98) 1647 Nov 8, Pierre Bayle (d.1706), French-Dutch theologian, philosopher, and writer, was born. He authored the "Historical and Critical Dictionary." "If an historian were to relate truthfully all the crimes, weaknesses and disorders of mankind, his readers would take his work for satire rather than for history." (WUD, 1994, p.128)(AP, 11/19/97)(WSJ, 12/2/97, p.A20)(MC, 11/8/01) 1647 "L'Orfeo" was produced in France. It was composed by Luigi Rossi who was imported by Cardinal Mazarin who sought to bring the Italian operatic tradition to France and mate it with the court orchestra, Les Vingt-Quatre Vuiolons du Roi. (WSJ, 6/19/97, p.A16) 1648 The painting "Holy Family on the Steps," later acquired by the US National Gallery of Art, was initially attributed to Nicolas Poussin. The original turned out to be at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the National Gallery changed the authorship to a "follower of Poussin." (WSJ, 4/9/99, p.W16) 1649 Mar 11, The peace of Rueil was signed between the Frondeurs (rebels) and the French government. (HN, 3/11/99) 1649 Poussin created his painting "Moses Striking the Rock." (WSJ, 1/04/00, p.A16)



1649-1743 Hyacinthe Rigaud, painter. Painted the "Portrait of Louis XIV." (AAP, 1964) Go to 1650 France 1650-1795 Return to algis.com 1651-1715 Francois Fenelon, French theologian: "Nothing is more despicable than a professional talker who uses his words as a quack uses his remedies." (AP, 11/27/98) 1652 Jul 4, Prince of Cond‚ started a blood bath in Paris. (Maggio) 1652 Jul 22, Prince Conde's rebels narrowly defeated Chief Minister Mazarin's loyalist forces at St. Martin, near Paris. (HN, 7/22/98) 1653 Nov 5, The Iroquois League signed a peace treaty with the French, vowing not to wage war with other tribes under French protection. (HN, 11/5/98) 1654 Jun 7, Louis XIV was crowned King of France in Rheims. (AP, 6/7/97)(HN, 6/7/98) 1657 Mar 23, France and England formed an alliance against Spain. (HN, 3/23/98) 1658 Moliere was anointed with the patronage of King Louis XIV. (SFC, 6/20/96, p.D2) 1661 In France Nicolas Fouquet, treasurer to Louis XIV, invited the king to his new chateau Vaux le Vicomte. The king, peeved by the wealth of the nonroyal, ordered his arrest and had him imprisoned for embezzlement. The property was confiscated and Louis hired Fouquet's architects and designers to build Versailles. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R8) 1663 The Institut de France was begun. (SFEM, 3/12/00, p.50) 1663-1742 Jean Baptiste Massillon, French clergyman: "To be proud and inaccessible is to be timid and weak." (AP, 7/23/97)



1664 Aug 1, The Turkish army was defeated by French and German troops at St. Gotthard, Hungary. (HN, 8/1/98) 1664-1769 The French East India Company was chartered to carry on trade in the East Indies. (WUD, 1994, p.449) 1665 In France Louis XIV began to systematically hollow out formal guarantees to the Protestants until they became little more than scraps of paper. (WSJ, 1/11/98, p.R23) 1667-1668 The War of Devolution was fought between France and Spain as a result of the claim by Louis XIV of France that the ownership of the Spanish Netherlands devolved to his wife, Marie Therese, upon the death of her father, Philip IV of Spain. France conquered the area, now Belgium, and also seized the Franche-Comte, a Spanish possession that bordered on Switzerland. (HNQ, 2/7/00) 1668 Feb 7, The Netherlands, England and Sweden concluded an alliance directed against Louis XIV of France. (HN, 2/7/99) 1668 May 2, Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the War of Devolution in France. (HN, 5/2/99) 1668 May 8, Alain Rene Lesage, French novelist and dramatist, was born. He is best known for his works "The Adventures of Gil Blas" and "Turcaret." (HN, 5/8/99) 1668 Louis XIV of France purchased the 112 carot blue diamond from John Baptiste Tavernier for 220,000 livre. Tavernier was also given a title of nobility. (THC, 12/3/97)(EB, 1993, V6 p.51) 1670 May 26, A treaty was signed in secret in Dover, England, between Charles II and Louis XIV ending hostilities between them. (HN, 5/26/99) 1670 Cafe Procope, the first cafe in Paris, began serving ice cream. (SFC, 11/23/96, p.E4) 1670s French explorer Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, explored the Great Lakes region of the New World. (SFC, 11/30/96, p.A7)



1671-1729 John Law, Scotsman and financier for France. He controlled France's foreign trade, mints, revenue, national debt and the Louisiana territory. [see 1694] (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R8) 1671 Moliere wrote his farce "Les Fourberies de Scapin" (The Wiles of Scapin or Scapin the Cheat). (WSJ, 1/10/97, p.A9)(SFC, 6/15/98, p.D3) 1672 Apr 29, King Louis XIV of France invaded the Netherlands. (HN, 4/29/99) 1673 The Blue Diamond was recut to a 67 carot stone. (EB, 1993, V6 p.51) 1676 Lully (1632-1687), French composer born in Italy, composed his tragic opera "Atys." (SFEC, 1/18/98, DB p.33)(WUD, 1994, p.852) 1677 Racine wrote his drama Phèdre. It was based on the tragic Greek tale of Phaedra's love for her stepson Hippolytus, son of Theseus. (WSJ, 5/21/97, p.A12) 1678 Louis XIV claimed the region of Alsace from Germany. (SFEC, 1/31/99, p.T4) 1681 May 17, Louis XIV sent an expedition to aid James II in Ireland. As a result, England declared war on France. (HN, 5/17/99) 1682 Apr 9, The French explorer Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, reached the Mississippi River. La Salle returned to France after having discovered the mouth of the Mississippi River. La Salle claimed lower Mississippi River and all lands that touched it for France. (AP, 4/9/97)(SFC, 11/30/96, p.A7) (HN, 4/9/98) 1682 May 6, King Louis XIV moved his court to Versailles, France. The palace of Versailles was built by Mansart and the gardens were designed by Le Notre. (HN, 5/6/98)(Hem., 10/97, p.107) 1682 Pere Lachaise, a Jesuit priest, was confessor to Louis XIV. His order built a house on the future site of the Paris cemetery named after him. (SFC, 6/16/96, T-6) 1684 For one year Paris was the world's biggest city. (SFEC, 2/22/98, Z1 p.8)



1684 French explorer Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, set sail for what is now Louisiana with 4 ships commissioned from King Louis XIV. On the way one ship was lost to pirates, another broke apart on a sand bar and a third returned home. The 4th was sunk in a storm in 1686. (SFC, 11/30/96, p.A7) 1685 Oct 18, Edict of Nantes was lifted by Louis XIV. The edict, signed at Nantes, France, by King Henry IV in 1598, gave the Huguenots religious liberty, civil rights and security. By revoking the Edict of Nantes, Louis XIV abrogated their religious liberties. He declared France entirely Catholic again. (AP, 10/18/97)(AP, 4/13/98)(HN, 4/13/98)(HN, 10/18/98) 1685 Sylvestre Dufour published "Traitez Nuveaux et Curieux de Cafe, du The, et du Chocolat." (WSJ, 7/7/98, p.A14) 1687 Mar 19, French explorer Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle -- the first European to navigate the length of the Mississippi River -- was murdered by mutineers while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in present-day Texas. (SFC, 11/9/96, p.A12)(AP, 3/19/97)(HN, 3/19/99) 1687 Aug 12, At the Battle of Mohacs, Hungary, Charles of Lorraine defeated the Turks. (HN, 8/12/98) 1687 In France Jean Baptiste Lully, Paris Opera director, stabbed himself in the foot with a baton and died of blood poisoning. (SFC, 8/21/99, p.B3) 1688 Nov 26, Louis XIV declared war on the Netherlands. (HN, 11/26/98) 1688 In France a blind Benedictine monk named Dom Perignon discovered the fermentation process that led to champagne. [see 1662] He later devised a cork stopper to hold the bubbles. (WSJ, 10/16/98, p.W13)(Hem., 10/97, p.103)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34) 1689 May 11, The French and English naval battle took place at Bantry Bay. (HN, 5/11/98) 1689-1755 Charles Louis de Montesquieu, French philosopher: "In most things success depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed." (AP, 4/13/99) 1690 May 11, In the first major engagement of King William's War, British troops from Massachusetts seized Port Royal in Acadia (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) from the



French, their objective was to take Quebec. (HN, 5/11/99) 1690 Jul 1, Led by Marshall Luxembourg, the French defeated the forces of the Grand Alliance at Fleurus in the Netherlands. (HN, 7/1/98) 1691 Jul 12, William III defeated the allied Irish and French armies at the Battle of Aughrim, Ireland. (HN, 7/12/98) 1692 Aug 3, French forces under Marshal Luxembourg defeated the English at the Battle of Steenkerke in the Netherlands. (HN, 8/3/98) 1693 Jul 4, Battle at Boussu-lez-Walcourt: French-English vs. Dutch army. (Maggio) 1693 Jul 29, The Army of the Grand Alliance was destroyed by the French at the Battle of Neerwinden in the Netherlands. (HN, 7/29/98) 1693 Heidelberg was torched by the troops of Louis XIV in a dispute over a royal title. (SFEC, 9/26/99, p.T8) 1694 Nov 21, Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire (d.1778), French philosopher, historian, dramatist and essayist, was born. The author of Candide (1759) and the Philosophical Dictionary (1764), Voltaire's works often attacked injustice and intolerance and epitomized the Age of Enlightenment. He wrote that "Self-love resembles the instrument by which we perpetuate the species. It is necessary, it is dear to us, it gives us pleasure and it has to be concealed." "All styles are good except the tiresome sort." "Love truth, but pardon error." "The great errors of the past are useful in many ways. One cannot remind oneself too often of crimes and disasters. These, no matter what people say, can be forestalled." S.G. Tellentyre said on Voltaire: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." (WUD, 1994, p.1600) (G&M, 2/1/96, p.A-22)(AP, 7/17/97)(SFEC, 1/4/98, Z1p.8)(HNQ, 10/1/98)(SFEC, 10/11/98, Z1 p.8)(HN, 11/21/98) 1694 John Law fled England after killing a rival in a duel. He traveled in Europe, played the casinos and studied finance. He set up a bank in France and issued paper money and established the Mississippi Company to exploit the French-controlled territories in America. [see 1720] (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R8) 1695 The Comediens Italiens were expelled from Paris for indiscretion in their opera parodies. The fair theaters took up where they left off with the use of vaudevilles and



comedia dell'arte characters. (PNM, 1/25/98, p.4) 1697 Oct 30, The Treaty of Ryswick ended the war between France and the Grand Alliance. (HN, 10/30/98) 1701 Sep 7, England, Austria, and the Netherlands formed an Alliance against France. (HN, 9/7/98) 1702 Oct 12, [British] Admiral Sir George Rooke defeated the French fleet off Vigo. (HN, 10/12/98) 1703 Sep 30, The French, at Hochstadt in the War of the Spanish Succession, suffered only 1,000 casualties to the 11,000 of their opponents, the Austrians of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. (HN, 9/30/98) 1704 Aug 13, The Battle of Blenheim was fought during the War of the Spanish Succession, resulting in a victory for English and Austrian forces. The Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Austria defeated the French Army at the Battle of Blenheim. (AP, 8/13/97)(HN, 8/13/98) 1707 Apr 25, At the Battle of Almansa, Franco-Spanish forces defeated AngloPortuguese. (HN, 4/25/98) 1707-1788 Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French naturalist and theoretical biologist. He commented on the origins of marine invertebrate fossils in the hills of France. He also wrote a 35 volume work titled "Histoire Naturelle," Generale, et Particuliere, that was an attempt to record all that was known of the world of nature. (DD-EVTT, p.114)(WSJ, 8/28/97, p.A12) 1708 Jul 11, The French were defeated at Oudenarde, Malplaquet, in the Netherlands by the Duke of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy. (HN, 7/11/98) 1709 Jul 5, Etienne de Silhouette, French minister of finance, outline portrait artist, was born. (HN, 7/5/98) 1708 Dec 21, French forces seized control of the eastern shore of Newfoundland after winning a victory at St. John's. (HN, 12/21/98)



1709 Sep 11, John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, won the bloodiest battle of the 18th century at great cost, against the French at Malplaquet. (HN, 9/11/98) 1709 Oct 20, Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy took Mons in the Netherlands. (HN, 10/20/98) 1709 Representatives of the Comedie-Francaise tore down the loges at the Foire de Saint-Germain. The loges were quickly rebuilt and the Comedie-Francasie people came back enraged and burned them. The theaters were rebuilt in a week and plays resumed. (PNM, 1/25/98, p.4) 1710 Feb 15, Louis XV (d.1774), King of France, was born. He ruled from 1715-1774. (HN, 2/15/98) (WUD, 1994, p.848) 1711 Marin Marais, a great French virtuoso on the viola da gamba, composed a pair of suites. (SFC, 6/10/98, p.D1) 1712 Feb 29, Marquis Louis Joseph de Montcalm, Commander of French Forces in North America during French and Indian War, was born. (HN, 2/29/00) 1712 Jun 28, Jean Jacques Rousseau, French social philosopher, was born. He wrote "The Social Contract." (HN, 6/28/99) 1713 Apr 11, The Peace of Utrecht was signed, France ceded Maritime provinces to Britain. The French colony of Acadia, now Nova Scotia, was ceded to Great Britain. The Acadians had come from western France to fish and farm. Those who would not swear allegiance to the crown were deported. Many of these deportees went to the bayou country of Louisiana. (WUD, 1994, p.7)(WSJ, 9/4/96, p.A12)(HN, 4/11/98) 1714 In France Dom Perignon invented champagne. [see 1688] (SFEC, 2/1/98, Z1p.8) 1715 Jan 26, Claude Helvétius, French philosopher, was born. He advanced the theory that sensation is the source of all intellectual activity. (HN, 1/26/99) 1715 May 4, A French manufacturer debuted the first folding umbrella. (HN, 5/4/98)



1715 Louis XIV, "the Sun King," died of gangrene. There was an 8-year Regency period between Louis XIV and Louis XV. (WUD, 1994, p.848)(THC, 12/3/97)(SFEC, 7/25/99, BR p.3) 1715-1774 Louis XV (b.1710) ruled as king. (WUD, 1994, p.848) 1717 May 13, Empress Maria Theresa, wife of Napoleon, was born. (HN, 5/13/98) 1717 Watteau drew "Two Studies of a Flutist and a Study of the Head of a Boy." (WSJ, 12/9/99, p.A24) 1717 Aug 4, A friendship treaty was signed between France and Russia. (HN, 8/4/98) 1717-1783 Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, French mathematician and physicist. He and Denis Diderot designed and edited the "Encyclopedie," a massive reference work and polemical attempt to reform French society. In 1998 Andrew Crumey authored the novel "D'Alembert's Principle: A Novel in Three Panels." (SFEC, 12/27/98, BR p.5) 1718-1719 The French artist Watteau, known for his draftsmanship, created "Woman in Black" and "Head of a Man." (WSJ, 12/9/99, p.A24) 1719 The fair theaters were closed through the intrigues of their enemies. (PNM, 1/25/98, p.4) 1720 Mar 24, In Paris, banking houses closed in the wake of financial crisis. The "Mississippi Bubble" burst as panicked investors withdrew their money from John Law's bank and Mississippi Company. Law fled to Venice and spent his remaining years at gaming tables. [see South Sea Bubble, Jan, 1720] (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R8)(HN, 3/24/99) 1720-1725 Francois Lemoyne, artist, created his work "Study of a Nude Woman." (WSJ, 12/9/99, p.A24) 1721 Dec 29, Madam Jeanne Poisson de Pompadour, influential mistress of Louis XV, was born. (HN, 12/29/98) 1721 The 10-volume Theatre de la Foire, containing plays by Lesage, Fuzelier, Dorneval and later Carolet began to be printed. (PNM, 1/25/98, p.5)



1721 The bandit Cartouche (The Cartridge) took refuge in a Belleville cabaret, Le Pistolet. He was captured while sleeping and was hung at the Place de Greve in the center of Paris. (SFEC, 6/28/98, p.T8) 1722 Three disgruntled playwrights, Lesage, Fuzelier, and Dorneval, bought a dozen marionettes and set themselves up at the Foire de Saint-Germain to give plays of their own composition. (PNM, 1/25/98, p.4) 1722 A French Jesuit got into the Jingdezhen, a gated porcelain producing city in China, and sent home detailed letters on porcelain production. Within decades France developed its own porcelain production plant at Sevres. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R50) 1726 The puppet show "La Grandmere amoureuse" by Fuzelier and Dorneval was a spoof on French opera based on Lully's tragic 1676 opera "Atys." It was revived in 1998 by the SF Bay Area team of Magnificat and the Carter Family Marionettes. It made reference to a current dispute between the physicians and surgeons of Paris. (SFEC, 1/18/98, DB p.33)(PNM, 1/25/98) 1726 St. -Louis-en-l'Ile Church was built on the Ile St. -Louis on the Seine in Paris. It was vandalized during the French Revolution. (SFEC, 6/22/97, p.T8) 1730 Jean Baptiste Oudry and Pierre-Josse Perrot, artists in the court of King Louis XV, created a drawing for the wall tapestry "Le Coq et Le Perle." The tapestry was made by French weaving house Savonnerie and went on auction in 1997 for $300-400 thousand. (WSJ, 2/21/97, p.B10) 1730-1806 Jean Honore Fragonard, French painter. Hubert Robert was a painter friend and the painting "La Jardinaire" was painted by one or the other. (WUD, 1994, p.562)(WSJ, 2/19/99, p.W12) 1732 Jan 24, Pierre de Beaumarchais, French dramatist, was born. He was best remembered for his plays "Barber of Civil" and "Marriage of Figaro." (HN, 1/24/99) 1732 The playwright Marivaux wrote "Le Triomphe de l'amour." In 1997 it was redone as the musical "Triumph of Love." (WSJ, 10/29/97, p.A20) 1733 Oct 10, France declared war on Austria over the question of Polish succession. (HN, 10/10/98)



1733 The opera "Hippolyte et Aricie" by Rameau had its premiere. The libretto was by Abbe Simon-Joseph Pellegrin and was based on Racine's 1677 drama Phèdre. (WSJ, 5/21/97, p.A12) 1736 May 26, British and Chickasaw Indians defeated the French at the Battle of Ackia. In northwestern Mississippi the Chickasaw Indians, supported by the British, defeated a combined force of French soldiers and Chocktaw Indians, thus opening the region to English settlement. (AHD, 1971, p.11)(HN, 5/26/98) 1738 May 28, Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotine, French inventor of the guillotine, was born. (HN, 5/28/98) 1740 Jun 2, Donatien Alphonse Francois (d.1814), writer, Marquis de Sade, was born in Paris. He was the French nobleman who was imprisoned for holding orgies in which he whipped and sodomized prostitutes. He wrote "The 120 Days of Sodom" and "Justine." (http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Atrium/3539/) (WUD, 1994, p.1259)(WSJ, 2/7/96, p.A-12)(WSJ, 11/5/98, p.A20)(WSJ, 2/7/96, p.A12)(HN, 6/2/99) 1740 Aug 26, Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French inventor, born. He and his brother Jacques-Etienne invented the hot air balloon in 1783. (RTH, 8/26/99) 1743 May 24, Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionist, was born. He advocated extreme violence and was assassinated in his own bath. (HN, 5/24/99) 1743 Jun 27, King George of the English defeated the French at Dettingen, Bavaria. English armies were victorious over the French at Dettingen. This event was celebrated by Handel in his composition "Dettingen Te Deum." (BLW, Geiringer, 1963 ed. p. 317)(HN, 6/27/98) 1743 Aug 26, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, was born. He discovered "dephlogisticated air" which he called oxygen and was executed by the revolution in 1794. (HN, 8/26/99)(RTH, 8/26/99) 1743 Sep 17, Marquis Marie Jean de Condorcet, French mathematician and philosopher, a leading thinker in the Enlightenment, was born. (HN, 9/17/98) 1743 In France Louis XV had the first elevator installed at Versailles to see his mistress. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)



1744 Feb 21, The British blockade of Toulon was broken by 27 French and Spanish warships attacking 29 British ships. (HN, 2/21/98) 1745 Jan 7, Etienne Montgolfier, French inventor, was born. He and his brother launched the first successful hot-air balloon. (HN, 1/7/99) 1745 Apr 20, Philippe Pinel (d.1826), French physician and founder of psychiatry, was born. (WUD, 1994, p.)(HN, 4/20/98) 1745 May 11, French forces defeated an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army at Fontenoy. (HN, 5/11/98) 1745 Jean-Philippe Rameau wrote the lyric comedy "Platee." It was an amalgam of song, dance and spectacle based on a simple plot where Jupiter tries to cure Juno of her jealousy. It was a parody of late-Baroque opera. It was stage on the occasion of the Dauphin Louis' marriage to Princess Maria Teresa of Spain. (WSJ, 10/1/97, p.A20)(SFC, 1/20/98, p.E1)(SFEM, 6/7/98, p.8)(WSJ, 6/16/98, p.A17) 1745 The renowned Champagne house of Moët & Chandon was established in the city of Epernay. (SFEC,12/28/97, p.A12) 1746-1818 Gaspard Monge, Comte de Peluse, French mathematician. He served with Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier on the revolutionary commission to devise the metric system. (WUD, 1994, p.924)(NH, 12/98, p.24) 1747 Jul 2, Marshall Saxe led the French forces to victory over an Anglo-Dutch force under the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Lauffeld. (HN, 7/2/98) 1748-1825 Jacques Louis David, French painter. He painted "Madame Hamelin." He also painted a portrait of Napoleon crossing the St. Bernard Pass on a rearing horse. Jean Ingres began his career as a pupil of David. (AAP, 1964)(WUD, 1994, p.369)(WSJ, 5/19/97, p.A16)(WSJ, 5/28/99, p.W12) 1749 Rameau's composition "Zoroastre," a lyric tragedy, was first performed in Paris. It did not do well and the composer reworked it with his librettist, Louis de Cahusac, for a Les Arts performance in 1756. (WSJ, 4/13/98, p.A20) 1749-1827 Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician. He wrote the 5-volume work "Celestial Mechanics." In 1998 Charles Couiston Gillespie published his biography



"Pierre-Simon Laplace: A Life in Exact Science." (WSJ, 2/19/98, p.A20) 1751 Voltaire published "Micromegas" in which he mentioned "aliens from outer space." This is believed to be the first mention of such aliens in literature. (SFEC, 1/25/98, Z1 p.8) 1754 Feb 2, Charles Maurice de Tallyrand-Perigord, minister of foreign affairs for Napoleon I, was born. He represented France brilliantly at the Congress of Vienna. (HN, 2/2/99) 1754 Jul 4, George Washington gave Ft. Necessity to France. (Maggio) 1754 Jul 13, At the beginning of the French and Indian War, George Washington surrendered the small, circular Fort Necessity in southwestern Pennsylvania to the French, leaving them in control of the Ohio Valley. (HN, 7/13/98) 1754 Aug 2, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, French engineer who designed the layout of Washington, D.C., was born. (HN, 8/2/98) 1754 Aug 23, Louis XVI (d.1793), King of France during the French Revolution who met his fate at the guillotine, was born. He ruled as king from 1774-1792. He was the grandson of Louis XV and married Marie Antoinette. (WUD, 1994, p.848)(AP, 8/23/97)(HN, 8/23/98) 1754-1824 Joseph Joubert, French moralist. "Kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve." "To be capable of respect is today almost as rare as to be worthy of it." (AP, 3/22/97)(AP, 1/22/99) 1754-1838 Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, statesman, served as the minister of foreign affairs during the reign of Napoleon. (WUD, 1994, p.1450) 1755 Jul 8, Britain broke off diplomatic relations with France as their disputes in the New World intensified. (HN, 7/8/98) 1755 Jul 9, General Edward Braddock was killed when French and Indian troops ambushed his force of British regulars and colonial militia, which was on its way to attack France's Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh). Gen. Braddock's troops were decimated at Fort Duquesne, where he refused to accept Washington's advice on frontier style fighting. (A & IP, ESM, p.11)(HN, 7/9/98)



1755 Aug 23, Jean Baptiste Lislet-Geoffroy, French geographer, was born. (HN, 8/23/98) 1755 Sep 8, British forces under William Johnson defeated the French and the Indians at the Battle of Lake George, N.Y. (HN, 9/8/98) 1755 Oct 24, A British expedition against the French held Fort Niagara in Canada ended in failure. (HN, 10/24/98) 1755 Nov 2, Marie Antoinette (d.1793), Queen of France, was born. She was the daughter of Maria Theresa and Francis I; and wife of Louis XVI in 1770 and thus Queen of France. She was arrested by the Revolutionary Tribunal and beheaded on Oct. 15. (CFA, '96, p.58)(HN, 11/2/98) 1755 Nov 17, Louis XVIII of France, was born. (HN, 11/17/98) 1755 Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote his "Discourse on the Origin of Inequality," in which he denounced private property as the root of all evil. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14) 1756 May 17, Britain declared war on France, beginning the French and Indian War and England hoped to conquer Canada.. (HN, 5/17/98)(HNPD, 9/13/98) 1756 Aug 14, French commander Louis Montcalm took Fort Oswego, New England, from the British. (HN, 8/14/98) 1756 Aug 31, The British at Fort William Henry, New England, surrendered to Louis Montcalm of France. (HN, 8/31/98) 1756 Fussier French Sevres porcelain, under the patronage of King Louis XV, gained the upper hand in porcelain production over Meissen. Its trademark pictured cobalt-blue crossed swords. (WSJ, 8/28/98, p.W10) 1757 Jan 4, Robert Francois Damiens was born. He late made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate King Louis XV of France. (HN, 1/4/99)



1757 Sep 6, Marie Joseph du Motier, Marquis de LaFayette, French soldier and statesman who aided George Washington during the American Revolution, was born. (HN, 9/6/98) 1757 Nov 5, Frederick II of Prussia defeated the French at Rosbach in the Seven Years War. (HN, 11/5/98) 1758 Jan 2, The French began bombardment of Madras, India. (HN, 1/2/99) 1758 May 6, Maximilien Robespierre, French revolutionary, was born. He was known as the "Sea-Green Incorruptible" from his sallow complexion. (HN, 5/6/99) 1758 Jun 23, British and Hanoverian armies defeated the French at Krefeld in Germany. (HN, 6/23/98) 1758 Jul 26, British captured France's Fortress of Louisbourg on Ile Royale (Capre Breton Island, Nova Scotia) after a seven-week siege, thus gaining control of the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River. (HN, 7/26/98) 1758 Sep 18, James Abercromby [was] replaced as supreme commander of British forces after his defeat by French commander, the Marquis of Montcalm, at Fort Ticonderoga during the French and Indian War. (HN, 9/18/98) 1759 Apr 13, The French defeated European Allies in Battle of Bergen. (HN, 4/13/98) 1759 Apr 23, British seized Basse-Terre and Guadeloupe in the Antilies from France. (AP, 4/23/98) 1759 May 8, Hearing of his appointment in the west, General Napoleon Bonaparte left for Paris in order to obtain a different posting. (HN, 5/8/99) 1759 Jul 25, British forces defeated a French army at Fort Niagara in Canada. (HN, 7/25/98) 1759 Jul 26, The French relinquished Fort Ticonderoga in New York to the British under General Jeffrey Amherst. (HN, 7/26/98)



1759 Aug 1, British and Hanoverian armies defeated the French at the Battle of Minden, Germany. (HN, 8/1/98) 1759 Aug 18, The French fleet was destroyed by the British under "Old Dreadnought" Boscawen at the battle of Lagos Bay. (HN, 8/18/98) 1759 Sep 13, During the final French and Indian War, the Battle of Quebec [Canada] was fought. British Gen. James Wolfe's army defeated Commander Louis Joseph de Montcalm's French forces on the Plains of Abraham overlooking Quebec City. "Measured by the numbers engaged," wrote historian Francis Parkman, the Battle of Quebec "was but a heavy skirmish; measured by results, it was one of the great battles of the world." Fought on the rainy morning of September 13, 1759, the armies of England and France clashed outside the walls of Quebec City and altered the balance of power of an entire continent. The battle on the Plains of Abraham lasted less than half an hour. By the time the rain had washed away the blood, Quebec had surrendered to the British. Four years later, the Treaty of Paris gave England sole dominion over most of the land that Quebec City had governed, from Cape Breton Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Mississippi River. (CFA, '96, p.54)(SFC, 7/7/96, BR p.7)(AP, 9/13/97)(HNQ, 9/8/98) 1759 Sep 18, Quebec surrendered to the British after a battle which saw the deaths of both James Wolfe and Louis Montcalm, the British and French commanders. (AP, 9/18/97)(HN, 9/18/98) 1759 The philosopher Voltaire wrote his novel Candide. (WUD, 1994, p.216) 1759 Britain triumphed over France in the naval victory at Quiberon Bay. (WSJ, 3/14/00, p.A28) 1760 Apr 28, French forces besieging Quebec defeated the British in the second battle on the Plains of Abraham. (HN, 4/28/98) 1760 Jul 31, Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, foiled last French threat at Warburg and drove the French army back to Rhine River. (HN, 7/31/98) 1760 Sep 8, The French surrendered the city of Montreal to the British. [see Sep 18, 1759] (HN, 9/8/98)



1760s Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour built the La Petit Trianon at Versailles as a retreat. She died before it was finished. Louis XVI later gave it to Marie Antoinette. (SFEM, 8/9/98, p.26) 1760-1960 The textbook "France in Modern Times: 1760-1960" was one of the works of Prof. Gordon Justin Wright (d.2000 at age 87). His other books included "The Reshaping of French Democracy." (SFC, 1/20/00, p.C3) 1762 Feb 5, Martinique, a major French base in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, surrendered to the British. (HN, 2/5/99) 1762 Dec 3, France ceded to Spain all lands west of the Mississippi- the territory known as Upper Louisiana. (CO, Grolier's, 11/10/95) (HN, 12/3/98) 1762 Jean-Jacques Rousseau published his didactic novel "Emile" and his work of political philosophy "The Social Contract." The books were banned in France and he was forced to leave. (WSJ, 2/18/97, p.A18) 1763 Feb 10, The Treaty of Paris ended the French-Indian War. France ceded Canada to England and gave up all her territories in the New World except New Orleans and a few scattered islands. (HN, 2/10/97)(AP, 2/10/97)(AP, 2/10/99) 1763 Jun 23, Josephine Martinique, empress of France, was born. (HN, 6/23/98) 1764 Feb 13, Talleyrand, Napoleon's foreign minister, was born. (HN, 2/13/98) 1766 Mar 5, Spanish official Don Antonio de Ulloa arrived in New Orleans to take possession of the Louisiana Territory from the French. (AP, 3/5/98) 1766-1831 Rudolphe Kreutzer, a leading French violinist. Beethoven's "Kreutzer" Sonata was dedicated to him. His Stradivarius violin sold for $1.58 mil. in 1998. (WUD, 1994, p.795)(SFC, 4/2/98, p.E4) 1767 Mar 25, Joachim Murat (d.1815), Napoleon's brother in law, was born in Labastide-Murat. He was a French marshal and became king of Naples in 1808. (WUD, 1994, p.941)(HN, 3/25/99)



1768 Mar 21, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier (d.1830), French mathematician, physicist and Egyptologist, was born. (HN, 3/21/98)(WUD, 1994, p.561) 1768 May 15, By the Treaty of Versailles, France purchased Corsica from Genoa. (SFC, 12/3/96, p.A1)(HN, 5/15/99) 1768 Jul 27, Charlotte Corday, French patriot who assassinated Jean Paul Marat, was born. (HN, 7/27/98) 1768 Sep 4, Vicomte François René de Chateaubriand, French writer and chef who gave his name to a style of steak, was born. (HN, 9/4/98) 1769 Aug 15, Napoleon Bonaparte (d.1821), ruler of France and continental Europe, was born on the island of Corsica. (AP, 8/15/97)(WUD, 1994, p.950)(HN, 8/15/98) 1769 The Parc Monceau in Paris was created on the property of the Duc de Chartres, father of future King Louis Philippe. (SFEC, 3/26/00, p.T12) 1770 May 16, Marie Antoinette, age 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15. (AP, 5/16/97)(HN, 5/16/98) 1773 Augustin Pajou, sculptor, completed his bust of Madame du Barry. (WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A20) 1773-1827 Elizabeth de Meulan Guizot, French author: "Much misconstruction and bitterness are spared to him who thinks naturally upon what he owes to others, rather than on what he ought to expect from them." (AP, 7/18/99) 1774 May 10, Louis XVI succeeded his father Louis XV as King of France. King Louis XV died and was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI. (WUD, 1994, p.848)(AP, 5/10/97)(HN, 5/10/99) 1774 Sep 13, Tugot, the new controller of finances, urged the king of France to restore the free circulation of grain in the kingdom. (HN, 9/13/98) 1774 Dec, In Paris nearly 100 feet of the Rue d'Enfer ("street of Hell") collapsed to a depth of 100 feet. (Hem., 3/97, p.129)



1774-1792 King Louis XIV ruled. (WUD, 1994, p.848) 1776 Mar 1, French minister Charles Gravier advised his Spanish counterpart to support the American rebels against the English. (HN, 3/1/99) 1776 Augustin Pajou, sculptor, completed his "Monument to Buffon." (WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A20) 1777 Jul 27, The marquis of Lafayette arrived in New England to help the rebellious colonists fight the British. (HN, 7/27/98) 1777 Aug 16, France declared a state of bankruptcy. (HN, 8/16/98) 1777 Dec 17, France recognized American independence. (AP, 12/17/97) 1778 Feb 6, The United States won official recognition from France as the nations signed treaties in Paris. (AP, 2/6/97) 1778 Jul 10, In support of the American Revolution, Louis XVI declared war on England. (HN, 7/10/98) 1778 Jul 27, British and French fleets fought to a standoff in the first Battle of Ushant. (HN, 7/27/98) 1778 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, writer and philosopher, died. (WSJ, 2/18/97, p.A18) 1779 Jul 4, French fleet occupied Grenada. (Maggio) 1779 Jul 24, The Siege of Gibraltar by the Spanish and French was begun. It was finally lifted on Feb 7, 1783. (HN, 2/7/99) 1780 Aug 24, King Louis XVI abolished torture as a means to get suspects to confess. (HN, 8/24/98)



1780 A communal grave at the Cemetery of the Innocents in Paris cracked and spilled into the cellars of adjoining houses and prompted its closure. (Hem., 3/97, p.129) 1780 Guillaume Raynal, a French historian, proclaimed Puerto Rico to be "in proportion to its size the very best island in the New World." (SFEC, 4/26/98, p.A3) 1782 Aug 30, The French fleet arrived in the Chesapeake Bay to aid the American Revolution. (HN, 8/30/98) 1782 Sep 13, The British fortress at Gibraltar came under attack by French and Spanish forces. (HN, 9/13/98) 1782 Nov 30, The United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War. (AP, 11/30/97) 1782 Pierre Choderlos de Laclos wrote his novel "Les Liaison Dangereuses." It was made into the opera "The Dangerous Liaisons" in 1994 by Conrad Susa and Philip Littell. (WSJ, 3/25/98, p.A20) 1783 Jan 20, The fighting of the Revolutionary War ended. Britain signed a peace agreement with France and Spain, who allied against it in the American War of Independence. (HFA, '96, p.22)(HN, 1/20/99) 1783 The Treaty of 1783, which formally ended the American Revolution, is also known as the Definitive Treaty of Peace, the Peace of Paris and the Treaty of Versailles. Under the treaty, Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States. (HNQ, 7/19/98) 1783 Feb 7, The Siege of Gibraltar, which was pursued by the Spanish and the French since July 24, 1779, was finally lifted. [see Sep 13, 1782] (HN, 2/7/99) 1783 Jun 5, Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier publicly demonstrated their hot-air balloon in a 10-minute flight over Annonay, France. [HC says Nov 21 for the first flight] (AP, 6/5/97)(HN, 6/5/98) 1783 Oct 15, Francois Pilatre de Rozier made the first manned flight in a hot air balloon. The first flight was let out to 82 feet, but over the next few days the altitude increased up to 6,500 feet. [see Jun 5] (HN, 10/15/98)



1783 Nov 21, Jean de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes made the first free-flight ascent in a balloon, to over 500 feet, in Paris. [see Jun 5, Oct 15] (HN, 11/21/98) 1783 Augustin Pajou, sculptor, completed his "Psyche Abandoned." (WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A20) 1783-1842 Stendahl Henri Beyle, French author and critic. In 1997 Jonathon Keates published his book "Stendhal," which covers the writer's life story. "Beauty is the promise of happiness." (WSJ, 3/25/97, p.A16) (AP, 12/4/97) 1784 Jan 14, The United States ratified a peace treaty with England, the Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War. (HFA, '96, p.22)(AP, 1/14/98) 1784 Feb 29, Marquis de Sade was transferred from Vincennes fortress to the Bastille. (HN, 2/29/00) 1784 May 20, Peace of Versailles ended the war between France, England, and Holland. (HN, 5/20/98) 1784 Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais wrote "The Marriage of Figaro," the sequel to "The Barber of Seville." A 1997 film, "Beaumarchais," was a look at the artist, who was also a womanizer, a spy and an arms runner. (WSJ, 12/19/96, p.A16)(SFEC,11/23/97, DB p.14) 1784 Denis Diderot (b.1713), French philosopher, critic, and encyclopedist, died. "Let us strangle the last king with the entrails of the last priest." (WSJ, 6/15/99, p.A16) 1785 Jan 7, The first balloon flight across the English Channel was made. Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and the American Dr. John Jeffries crossed the English Channel for the first time in a hydrogen balloon. (HN, 5/15/98)(HN, 1/7/99) 1785 Mar 27, Louis XVII, Pretender to the throne during the French Revolution, was born. (HN, 3/27/98) 1785 Jul 17, France limited the importation of goods from Britain. (HN, 7/17/98) 1785 It was decided to move the Cemetery of the Innocents in Paris to the limestone quarries south of the city. (Hem., 3/97, p.119)



1786 Apr, The process of moving the bones from the Cemetery of the Innocents to the new site in the limestone quarries began. The process took 2 years. (Hem., 3/97, p.129) 1786 Aug 8, Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michael-Gabriel Baccard became the first men to climb Mont Blanc in France. (HN, 8/8/98) 1786 Sep 26, France and Britain signed a trade agreement in London. (HN, 9/26/99) 1786-1859 Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, French actress and poet: "Who will give me back those days when life had wings and flew just like a skylark in the sky." (AP, 2/28/99) 1787 Jul 30, The French parliament refused to approve a more equitable land tax. (HN, 7/30/98) 1787 Sep 4, Louis XVI of France recalled parliament. (HN, 9/4/98) 1787 Nov 29, Louis XVI promulgated an edict of tolerance, granting civil status to Protestants. (HN, 11/29/98) 1787 Quatremiere de Quincy coined the term "Baroque" and defined it as absurdity carried to excess. (WSJ, 8/18/99, p.A17) 1788 Jul 6, Ten thousand troops were called out in Paris as unrest mounted in the poorer districts over poverty and lack of food. (HN, 7/6/98) 1788 Jul 15, Louis XVI jailed 12 deputies who protest new judicial reforms. (HN, 7/15/98) 1788 Jul 19, Prices plunged on the Paris stock market. (HN, 7/19/98) 1788 Jul 20, The governor of the French colony of Pondicherry, Vietnam, abandoned plans to place King Nhuyen Anh back on the throne. (HN, 7/20/98) 1788 Sep 19, Charles de Barentin became lord chancellor of France. (HN, 9/19/98)



1788 Sep 23, Louis XVI of France declared the Parliament restored. (HN, 9/23/98) 1788 Sep 24, After having been dissolved, the French Parliament of Paris reassembled in triumph. (HN, 9/24/98) 1788 Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (1758-1823) painted "Love Seduces Innocence, Pleasure Entraps, and Remorse Follows." (WSJ, 4/8/98, p.A20) 1789 Jun 17, The Third Estate in France declared itself a national assembly, and undertook to frame a constitution. (AP, 6/17/97) 1789 Jul 9, In Versailles, the French National Assembly declared itself the Constituent Assembly and began to prepare a French constitution. (HN, 7/9/98) 1789 cJul 11, Just days before the Bastille was taken the tavern keepers and wine merchants of Belleville, angered by levies on food and drink, sacked the local tax collector's office. (SFEC, 6/28/98, p.T8) 1789 July 14 , Bastille Day. The citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille, the Paris fortress used as a prison to hold political prisoners, and released the seven prisoners inside at the onset of the French Revolution. The average Frenchman was 5 foot 2 and weighed 105 pounds. (HFA, '96, p.34)(AHD, 1971, p.112)(AP, 7/14/97)(HN, 7/14/98)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R12) Historian Francois Furet (d.1997 at 70) was a leading writer on the French Revolution and was best known for his work: "Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution." He refuted Marxist interpretations of the events that preceded and followed the fall of the monarchy. (SFC, 7/15/97, p.A18) 1789 Jul 14, The French Revolution. "It was not the literate and cultured minority of Frenchmen who brought down the government, as had been the case in England and America. Instead it was the common people, who marched upon the king and queen in their palace at Versailles. The Jacobins promulgated a Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen that went beyond the American Bill of Rights in affirming, "Nothing that is not forbidden by Law may be hindered, and no one may be compelled to do what the Law does not ordain," for "Liberty consists in being able to do anything that does not harm others." (V.D.-H.K.p.230-231)



1789 Jul 15, The electors of Paris set up a "Commune" to live without the authority of the government. (HN, 7/15/98) 1789 Jul 18, Robespierre, a deputy from Arras, France, decided to back the French Revolution. (HN, 7/18/98) 1789 Aug 26, The Constituent Assembly in Versailles, France, approved the final version of the Declaration of Human Rights. (HN, 8/26/99) 1789 Sep 13, Guardsmen in Orleans, France, opened fire on rioters trying to loot bakeries, killing 90. (HN, 9/13/98) 1789 Sep 16, Jean-Paul Marat set up a new newspaper in France, L'Ami du Peuple (The Friend of the People). (HN, 9/16/98)(ON, SC, p.7) 1789 Oct 10, In Versailles France, Joseph Guillotin said the most humane way of carrying out a death sentence is decapitation by a single blow of a blade. (HN, 10/10/98) 1789 Nov 2, The property of the Church in France was taken away by the state. (HN, 11/2/98) 1789 Dec 13, The National Guard was created in France. (HN, 12/13/98) c1789 The Marquis de Lafayette wrote the original version of the Declaration of the Rights of Man. He was appalled by the excesses of the revolution and fled to Austria where he was imprisoned for 5 years. (WSJ, 1/15/97, p.A12) 1789 In 1999 Rachel Wright authored "Paris: 1789," an informative children's book of Parisian life on the eve of the Revolution. (SFEC, 5/9/99, Par p.8) 1789 The French dwarf Richeborg stood 23 inches and was costumed as a baby in diapers during the French Revolution. In the arms of innocent girls he could eavesdrop on sensitive conversations and carried secret dispatches in and out of Paris. (SFC, 6/23/96, zone 1 p.2)



1789 The bankruptcy of the French government brought banks across Europe to their knees. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R48) 1790 Jan 21, Joseph Guillotine proposed a new, more humane method of execution: a machine designed to cut off the condemned person's head as painlessly as possible. (HN, 1/21/99) 1790 Feb 26, As a result of the Revolution, France was divided into 83 departments. (HN, 2/26/99) 1790 Mar 31, In Paris, France, Maximilien Robespierre was elected president of the Jacobin Club. (HN, 3/31/99) 1790 May 21, Paris was divided into 48 zones. (HN, 5/21/98) 1790 Jul 3, In Paris, the marquis of Condorcet proposed granting civil rights to women. (HN, 7/3/98) 1790 Jul 12, The French Assembly approved a Civil Constitution providing for the election of priests and bishops. (HN, 7/12/98) 1790 Jul 26, An attempt at a counter-revolution in France was put down by the National Guard at Lyons. (HN, 7/26/98) 1790 Sep 4, Jacques Necker was forced to resign as finance minister in France. (HN, 9/4/98) 1790 Oct 21, The Tricolor was chosen as the official flag of France. (HN, 10/21/98) 1790 Dec 23, Jean François Champollion, French founder of Egyptology, was born. He deciphered the Rosetta Stone. (HN, 12/23/99) 1790 The celerifere bicycle appeared in Paris about this time and was a two-wheeled, unsteerable vehicle that the rider propelled by striking his feet on the ground. This was improved upon with a bar to steer the front wheel in 1816 by Baron von Drais of Germany, and was called a draisine. The ordinary, which had a high front wheel, wirespoked wheels and solid rubber tires, was developed in the 1870s. (HNQ, 10/29/99)



1790-1869 Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine, French poet, womanizer, historian and statesman. (WUD, 1994, p.803)(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T5) 1791 Apr 18, National Guardsmen prevented Louis XVI and his family from leaving Paris. (HN, 4/18/98) 1791 Jun 20, King Louis XVI of France attempted to flee the country in the so-called Flight to Varennes, but was caught. (AP, 6/20/97) 1791 Jun 21, The French royal family was arrested in Varennes. (HN, 6/21/98) 1791 Jul 16, Louis XVI was suspended from office until he agreed to ratify the constitution. (HN, 7/16/98) 1791 Jul 17, National Guard troops opened fire in Paris on a crowd of demonstrators calling for the deposition of the king. (HN, 7/17/99) 1791 Jul 24, Robespierre expelled all Jacobins opposed to the principles of the French Revolution. (HN, 7/24/98) 1791 Sep 9, French Royalists took control of Arles and barricaded themselves inside the town. (HN, 9/9/98) 1791 Sep 14, Louis XVI solemnly swore his allegiance to the French constitution. (HN, 9/14/98) 1791 Sep 27, Jews in France were granted French citizenship. (HN, 9/27/98) 1791 Oct 1, In Paris, the National Legislative Assembly held its first meeting. (HN, 10/1/98) 1792 Mar 20, In Paris, the Legislative Assembly approved the use of the guillotine. (HN, 3/20/99) 1792 Apr 20, France declared war on Austria, Prussia, and Sardinia, marking the start of the French Revolutionary wars. (AP, 4/20/97) (HN, 4/20/98)



1792 Apr 24, The national anthem of France, "La Marseillaise," was composed by Capt. Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, an officer stationed in Strasbourg. (AP, 4/24/97) (HN, 4/24/98) 1792 Apr 25, Highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier became the first person under French law to be executed by guillotine. (AP, 4/25/97)(HN, 4/25/98) 1792 Jul 30, The French national anthem "La Marseillaise" by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, was first sung in Paris. (AP, 7/30/99) 1792 Aug 11, A revolutionary commune was formed in Paris, France. (HN, 8/10/98) 1792 Sep 2, Verdun, France, surrendered to the Prussian Army. (HN, 9/2/98) 1792 Sep 5, Maximilien Robespierre was elected to the National Convention in France. (HN, 9/5/98) 1792 Sep 21, The French National Convention voted to abolish the monarchy. (AP, 9/21/97) 1792 Sep 22, The French Republic was proclaimed. (AP, 9/22/97) 1792 Dec 11, France's King Louis XVI went before the Convention to face charges of treason. Louis was convicted and executed the following month. (AP, 12/11/97) 1792 Pierre Ordinaire, French chemist, invented absinthe as a digestive or all-purpose tonic. It quickly caught on as an apéritif. Ordinaire invented absinthe in 1797. It was popularized by Henri-Louis Pernod, who opened his first distillery in Switzerland before moving to Pontarlier, France, in 1805. (WSJ, 12/24/96, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/22/99, p.W8)(SFC, 3/24/00, p.A3) 1792 The crown jewels of France were stolen including the 67 carot Blue Diamond. (THC, 12/3/97)(EB, 1993, V6 p.51) 1793 Jan 21, In France the Great Terror continued. Louis XVI, condemned for treason, was executed on the guillotine. The vote for execution in the National Convention won by a margin of one vote. (WUD, 1994, p.1677)(V.D.-H.K.p.231)(NH, 6/97, p.23)(AP, 1/21/98)



1793 Feb 1, France declared war on Britain and the Netherlands. (HN, 2/1/99) 1793 Apr 14, A royalist rebellion in Santo Domingo was crushed by French republican troops. (HN, 4/14/99) 1793 Jun 2, Maximillian Robespierre, a member of France's Committee on Public Safety, initiated the "Reign of Terror," a purge of those suspected of treason against the French Republic. (HN, 6/2/98) 1793 Jun 24, The first republican constitution in France was adopted. (AP, 6/24/97) 1793 Jul 13, French revolutionary writer Jean Paul Marat was stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday, who was executed four days later. In 1970 Marie Cher authored "Charlotte Corday, and Certain Men of the Revolutionary Torment." (AP, 7/13/97)(ON, SC, p.8) 1793 Jul 23, The French garrison at Mainz, Germany, fell to the Prussians. (HN, 7/23/98) 1793 Jul 27, In France, Robespierre became a member of the Committee of Public Safety. (HN, 7/27/98) 1793 Aug 14, Republican troops in France laid siege to the city of Lyons. (HN, 8/14/98) 1793 Aug 27, Maximilien Robespierre was elected to the Committee of Public Safety in Paris, France. (HN, 8/27/98) 1793 Sep 6, French General Jean Houchard and his 40,000 men began a three-day battle against an Anglo-Hanoverian army at Hondschoote, southwest Belgium, in the wars of the French Revolution. (HN, 9/6/98) 1793 Oct. 16, Marie Antoinette was beheaded. Madame Tussaud used her severed head as a model for her wax bust death mask. (HFA, '96, p.40)(SFEC, 11/17/96, p.T5) 1793 Nov 8, The Louvre opened in Paris. (HN, 11/6/98)



1793 Nov, Philippe Aspairt, a hospital porter, ventured alone into the limestones quarries south of Paris, site of the new cemetery, and got lost. Workmen found his bones 11 years later. (Hem., 3/97, p.119) 1793 Dec 19, French troops recaptured Toulon from the British. (HN, 12/19/98) 1793 Jacques-Louis David painted "Death of Marat." (SFEC, 3/21/99, BR p.5) 1793 Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (1758-1823) painted "Cupid Laughs at the Tears He Causes." (WSJ, 4/8/98, p.A20) 1794 May 8, Antoine Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, was executed on the guillotine during France's Reign of Terror. (AP, 5/8/97) 1794 May 10, Elizabeth, the sister of King Louis XVI, was beheaded. (HN, 5/10/99) 1794 Jun 26, French defeated an Austrian army at the Battle of Fleurus. (HN, 6/26/98) 1794 Jul 8, French troops captured Brussels, Belgium. (HN, 7/8/98) 1794 Jul 26, The French defeated an Austrian army at the Battle of Fleurus in France. (HN, 7/26/98) 1794 Jul 27, In France Robespierre was executed. [see July 28] (WUD, 1994, p.1677) 1794 Jul 28, Maximilien Robespierre, a leading figure of the French Revolution, was sent to the guillotine. [see July 27] (AP, 7/28/97)(HN, 7/28/98) 1794 Aug 21, France surrendered the island of Corsica to the British. (HN, 8/21/98) 1794 Sep 28, The Anglo-Russian-Austrian Alliance of St. Petersburg, which was directed against France, was signed. (HN, 9/28/98) 1794 Nov 3, Thomas Paine was released from a Parisian jail with help from the American ambassador James Monroe. He was arrested for having offended the



Robespierre faction. (HN, 11/3/99) 1794 Napoleon's occupying army in Maastricht, Netherlands, took back to France a giant dinosaur head that was found in a dark recess of St. Peter's mountain in 1780. It was named the Mosasaurus and roamed the seas some 70 million years ago. The head was lugged to the home of Theodorus Godding, a canon at the local church. The French say that he swapped it to Napoleon for 600 bottles of wine. Records however seem to indicate otherwise. (NYT, 6/7/96, p.A4) 1794-1815 An anthology of first hand reports on the naval war between France and Britain was edited by Dean King and John B. Hattendorf and published in 1997. (SFEC,11/2/97, Par p.10) 1795 Feb 4, France abolished slavery in her territories and conferred slaves to citizens. (HN, 2/4/99) 1795 May 4, Thousands of rioters entered jails in Lyons, France, and massacred 99 Jacobin prisoners. (HN, 5/4/99) 1795 May 15, Napoleon entered the Lombardian capital of Milan in triumph. After taking Milan he released his troops on the townspeople who became victims of an orgy of destroying, raping and killing. The events are described in the 1998 biography "Napoleon Bonaparte" by Alan Schom. (SFEC, 1/18/98, BR p.9)(HN, 5/15/98) 1795 Jul 7, Thomas Paine defended the principal of universal suffrage at the Constitutional Convention in Paris. (HN, 7/7/98) 1795 Sep 23, A national plebiscite approved the new French constitution, but so many voters sustained that the results were suspect. (HN, 9/23/99) 1795 Oct 4, General Napoleon Bonaparte led the rout of counterrevolutionaries in the streets of Paris, beginning his rise to power. (HN, 10/4/99) 1795 Oct 5, The day after he routed counterrevolutionaries in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte accepted their formal surrender. Napoleon takes charge. (HN, 10/5/99) 1795 Oct 11, In gratitude for putting down a rebellion in the streets of Paris, France's National Convention appointed Napoleon Bonaparte second in command of the Army of



the Interior. (HN, 10/11/99) 1795 Oct 26, Napoleon Bonaparte, second-in-command, became the army's commander when General Paul Barras resigned his commission as head of France's Army of the Interior to become head of the Directory. (HN, 10/26/99) 1795 In Paris the Place de la Revolution was Place de la Concorde. (WSJ, 10/26/99, p.A24) Go to 1796 France 1796-1869 Return to algis.com 1796 Mar 9, Napoleon Bonaparte, age 26, married Josephine Tascher de Beauharnais (32) in Paris. (AP, 3/9/98)(HN, 3/9/98) 1796 Apr 2, Haitian revolt leader Toussaint L'Ouverture commanded French forces at Santo Domingo. (AP, 4/2/99) 1796 May 10, Napoleon Bonaparte won a brilliant victory against the Austrians at Lodi bridge in Italy. (HN, 5/10/99) 1796 Nov 17, Napoleon Bonaparte defeated an Italian army near the Alpone River, Italy. (HN, 11/17/98) 1796 In France Michael Thonet was born in the Rhenish village of Boppard. He invented the classic bent wood chair. (WSJ, 12/4/97, p.A20) 1796 Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (1758-1823) painted "Marie-Anne-Celestine Pierre de Vellefrey," the portrait of a little girl. (WSJ, 4/8/98, p.A20) 1796-1797 Napoleon conquered northern Italy. (SFEC, 1/18/98, BR p.9) 1796-1887 Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter. Dated in WSJ (1796-1875). His work included "Madame Corot" (1833-1835) and "Interrupted Reading" (1870-1873). He led the way toward new forms of perspective and composition that was later mined by



impressionism and photography. (SFC, 6/4/96, p.E5)(WSJ, 10/25/96, p.A15)(WSJ, 3/25/97, p.A16) 1797 Jan 14, Napoleon Bonaparte defeated Austrians at Rivoli in northern Italy. (HN, 1/14/99) 1797 Feb 22, The last invasion of Britain took place when some 1,400 Frenchmen landed at Fishguard, in Wales. (HN, 2/22/99) 1797 Oct 22, French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet; at some 2,200 feet over Paris. (AP, 10/22/97)(HN, 10/22/98) 1797 Henry-Louis Pernod began to manufacture absinthe. The drink was made with fennel, aniseed and the oil of wormwood which contained thujone, a poisonous ketone. (WSJ, 1/22/99, p.W8) 1797 French forces attacked Britain at the port of Fishguard. The event was depicted in the tapestry "The Last Invasion of Brittain." (SFEC, 5/25/97, p.T5) 1797 The wine bottles of Chateau Lafite that date back to this year are recorked every 25 years to safeguard the wine and prevent deterioration caused by oxidation through decayed corks. (WSJ, 11/26/97, p.A12) 1797 The Republic of Liguria in NW Italy was set up by Napoleon. (WUD, 1994, p.830) 1797-1863 Theophile Bra, French academic sculptor. (SFC, 12/19/98, p.C18) 1798 Jul 1, Napoleon Bonaparte took Alexandria, Egypt. (SFC, 9/11/97, p.E3)(HN, 7/1/98) 1798 Jul 7, Napoleon Bonaparte's army began its march towards Cairo, Egypt, from Alexandria. (HN, 7/7/98) 1798 Jul 21, Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the Arab Mameluke warriors at the Battle of the Pyramids, becoming the master of Egypt. (HN, 7/21/98)



1798 Aug 1, Admiral Horatio Nelson routed the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile at Aboukir Bay, Egypt. (HN, 8/1/98) 1798 Aug 21, Jules Michelet, French historian who wrote the 24-volume "Historie de France," was born. (HN, 8/21/98) 1798 Sep 2, The Maltese people revolted against the French occupation, forcing the French troops to take refuge in the citadel of Valetta in Malta. (HN, 9/2/98) 1798 Eugene Delacroix (d.1863), French artist, was born. His work included the "Baron Schwiter." (WUD, 1994, p.381)(WSJ, 7/1/96, p.A11) 1798-1857 Auguste Comte, the French founder of the philosophical system of Positivism. (WUD, 1994, p.303)(WSJ, 6/22/99, p.A22) 1799 Feb 9, The USS Constellation captured the French frigate Insurgente off the coast of Wisconsin. (HN, 2/9/97) 1799 Mar 7, In Palestine, Napoleon captured Jaffa and his men massacred more than 2,000 Albanian prisoners. [see Mar 26] (HN, 3/7/99) 1799 Mar 17, Napoleon Bonaparte and his army reached the Mediterranean seaport of St. Jean d'Acra, only to find British warships ready to break his siege of the town. (HN, 3/17/00) 1799 Mar 26, Napoleon Bonaparte captures Jaffa, Palestine. [see Mar 7] (HN, 3/26/99) 1799 May 20, Honore de Balzac, French novelist, was born in Tours, France. He is considered the founder of the realistic school and wrote "The Human Comedy" and "Lost Illusions." (AP, 5/20/99)(HN, 5/20/99) 1799 Jun 17, Napoleon Bonaparte incorporated Italy into his empire. (HN, 6/17/98) 1799 Jul 17, Ottoman forces, supported by the British, captured Aboukir, Egypt from the French. (HN, 7/17/99)



1799 Jul 30, The French garrison at Mantua, Italy surrendered to the Austrians. (HN, 7/30/98) 1779 Aug 10, Louis XVI of France freed the last remaining serfs on royal land. (HN, 8/10/98) 1799 Aug 22, Napoleon slipped through the British blockade of the Egyptian coast and returned to France. (ON, 12/99, p.4) 1799 Nov 9, Napoleon Bonaparte participated in a coup and declared himself dictator of France. (HN, 11/9/98) 1799 Honore de Balzac (d..1850), French novelist, was born. (WUD, 1994, p.115) 1800 Oct. 1, Spain ceded Louisiana to France in a secret treaty. (AP, 10/1/97) 1800 Dec 3, Austrians were defeated by the French at the Battle of Hohenlinden, near Munich. (HN, 12/3/98) 1801 Oct 6, Napoleon Bonaparte imposed a new constitution on Holland. (HN, 10/6/98) 1801 Napoleon opened the Louvre to the public. (SFC, 2/11/97, p.E5) 1802 Feb 26, Victor Hugo (d.1885), French novelist and poet, was born. In 1998 Graham Robb published the biography: "Victor Hugo." "Initiative is doing the right thing without being told." (WSJ, 2/10/98, p.A16)(HN, 2/26/98)(AP, 6/13/99) 1802 Mar 27, Treaty of Amiens was signed. The French Revolutionary War ended. (HN, 3/27/98) 1802 May 18, Great Britain declared war on Napoleon's France. (HN, 5/18/99) 1802 May 19 Napoleon established the French Honorary legion officer award. It was a general military and civil order of merit conferred without regard to birth or religion, provided that anyone admitted swore to uphold liberty and equality. (DrEE, 9/28/96, p.5)(SFC, 10/19/96, A7)



1802 Jul 24, Alexandre Dumas (d.1870), French novelist and dramatist who wrote "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Three Musketeers," was born. Alexandre Dumas, pere, French author of romantic plays and novels. He wrote "The Man in the Iron Mask." He was the father of Alexandre Dumas fils (1824-1895), French author of plays of social realism. (HFA, '96, p.34)(AHD, 1971, p.403)(WUD, 1994, p.441)(HN, 7/24/98) 1802 Aug 2, Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed "Consul for Life" by the French Senate after a plebiscite from the French people. (HN, 8/2/98) 1802 Sep 11, Piedmont, Italy, was annexed by France. (HN, 9/11/98) 1802 The Rosetta Stone was seized by the British in Egypt after the defeat of Napoleon's army and was sent to England. (RFH-MDHP, p.182) 1802 Napoleon sent a large army under his brother-in-law, Charles Leclerc, to regain control of Haiti. Thousands of soldiers died mainly to yellow fever and French control was abandoned so as to support military ventures in Europe. (CO, Grolier's, 11/10/95) 1803 May 18, France declared war against England. (ON, 11/99, p.4) 1803 May 23, Lord Elgin and his family were detained in Paris. Elgin's family was allowed to proceed but he was arrested and declared a prisoner of war. (ON, 11/99, p.4) 1803 Dec 11, Hector Berlioz (d.1869), French composer and conductor, was born. He introduced arresting and gaudy instrumental colors in combinations that had not been dreamed of before him. He composed "Romeo and Juliet" in 1939 and conducted its first performance. He also composed the "Death of Cleopatra." He composed "Symphonie Fantastique" and "La Damnation de Faust." (T&L, 10/80, p. 58)(SFC, 10/5/96, p.E1)(HN, 12/11/99) 1803 Dec 20, The Louisiana Purchase was completed as the territory was formally transferred from France to the United States during ceremonies in New Orleans. (CO, Grolier's, 11/10/95)(AP, 12/20/97) 1803 The French Academy of Sciences insisted that meteorites could not exist because no specimens had been produced. (WSJ, 4/2/96, p.A-15)



1804 Mar 21, The French civil code, the "Code Napoleon," was adopted. (AP, 3/21/97) 1804 May 18, The French Senate proclaimed Napoleon Bonaparte emperor. (AP, 5/18/97) (HN, 5/18/98) 1804 Dec 2, Napoleon was crowned emperor of France. (AP, 12/2/97) 1804 The 118 acre Pere Lachaise Cemetery of Paris was founded. It was named after a Jesuit priest, who was confessor to Louis XIV. His order built a house on the site in 1682. (SFC, 6/16/96, T-6) 1804 Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon I, began a rose collection at Malmaison, and sparked a wide interest in rose culture. (SFC, 7/14/99, p.4) 1804-1876 George Sand (Lucile Aurore Dupin Dudevant) French author. In 1975 Curtis Cate published the biography: "George Sand." French author: "I would rather believe that God did not exist than believe that He was indifferent." (WUD, 1994, p.1265)(SFEC, 6/15/97, Z1 p.3)(AP, 10/17/98) 1805 May 26, Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned king of Italy. (AP, 5/26/97) 1805 May 28, Napoleon was crowned in Milan, Italy. [see May 26] (HN, 5/28/98) 1805 Jul 29, Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian who wrote "Democracy in America, was born." (HN, 7/29/98) 1805 Aug 9, Austria joined Britain, Russia, Sweden and the Kingdom of PiedmontSardinia in the Third Coalition against Napoleonic France and Spain. (HN, 8/9/98)(HNQ, 10/19/98) 1805 Oct 20, Austrian general Karl Mac surrendered to Napoleon's army at the battle of Ulm. (HN, 10/20/98) 1805 Oct 21, A British fleet commanded by Vice Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated a French-Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar fought off Cape Trafalgar, Spain. Admiral Nelson won his greatest victory and though fatally wounded in the battle aboard his flagship, he lived long enough to see victory. (WSJ, 6/6/96, p.A15)(AP, 10/21/97)(HN, 10/21/98)



1805 Dec 2, Napoleon Bonaparte celebrated the first anniversary of his coronation with a victory at Austerlitz over a Russian and Austrian army. (HN, 12/2/98) 1805 Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (1758-1823) painted "Empress Josephine at Malmaison." (WSJ, 4/8/98, p.A20) 1805 Napoleon defeated Austria and Prussia. In 1997 Alistair Horne wrote: "How Far from Austerlitz? Napoleon 1805-1815." (WSJ, 7/10/96, p.A16)(WSJ, 5/19/97, p.A16) 1805 Liguria was incorporated into France. (WUD, 1994, p.830) 1805 Absinthe was popularized by Henri-Louis Pernod, who opened his first distillery in Switzerland before moving to Pontarlier, France, in 1805. (WSJ, 12/24/96, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/22/99, p.W8)(SFC, 3/24/00, p.A3) 1805-1815 The 1997 book by British historian Alistair Horne: "How Far From Austerlitz," covered this period Napoleon Bonaparte. (SFEC,11/2/97, Par p.10) 1806 Jun, Lord Elgin was paroled by the French government. (ON, 11/99, p.4) 1806 Oct 27, Emperor Napoleon entered Berlin. (HN, 10/27/98) 1806 Dec 26, Napoleon's army was checked by the Russians at the Battle of Pultusk. (HN, 12/26/98) 1806 Jean Ingres painted his magnificent: "Napoleon I on His Imperial Throne." (WSJ, 5/28/99, p.W12) 1806 In Paris the 3-mile Canal St. Marten waterway was built to connect the Seine to northeast France. (SFEC, 6/28/98, p.T7) 1806 Napoleon issued his Berlin Decrees. They established the Continental System to restrict European trade with Britain. (WSJ, 7/10/96, p.A16) 1807 Jan 7, Responding to Napoleon's blockade of the British Isles, The British blockaded Continental Europe. (HN, 1/7/99)



1807 Feb 8, At Eylau, Napoleon's Marshal Pierre Agureau attacked Russian forces in a heavy snowstorm. Like Napoleon, to whom he is most often compared, Alexsandr Suvorov believed that opportunities in battle are created by fortune but exploited by intelligence, experience and an intuitive eye. To him, mastery of the art and science of war was not, therefore, purely instinctive. (HN, 2/8/98) 1807 Jul 4, Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) Italian military leader, was born in Nice, France. He led the movement to make Italy one nation. (HN, 7/4/98)(IB, Internet, 12/7/98) 1807 Jul 7, Czar Alexander met with Napoleon Bonaparte to divide Europe among themselves and isolate Britain. (HN, 7/7/98) 1807 In Naples Major Leopold Hugo, the father of Victor Hugo, was promoted after a successful campaign against the Calabrian banditti. (WSJ, 2/10/98, p.A16) 1808 Mar 1, In France, Napoleon created an imperial nobility. (HN, 3/1/99) 1808 Apr 17, The Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France ordered the seizure of U.S. ships. (HN, 4/17/98) 1808 Apr 20, Louis-Napoleon (Napoleon III), emperor of France, was born. (HN, 4/20/98) 1808 Aug 21, Napoleon Bonaparte's General Junot was defeated by Wellington at the first Battle of the Peninsular War at Vimiero, Spain. (HN, 8/21/98) 1808 Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (1758-1823) painted "Justice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime." (WSJ, 4/8/98, p.A20) 1808 Joachim Murat (b.1767), Napoleon's brother in law, became king of Naples. (HN, 3/25/99) 1808-1873 Napoleon III, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, was the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte I. He later served as president (1848-1852) and as emperor (1852-1870) of France. (WUD, 1994, p.950)(WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A20)



1808-1879 Honore Daumier, French painter, sculptor, caricaturist and lithographer. He painted Crispin and Scapin. (AAP, 1964)(WUD, 1994, p.369)(WSJ, 3/10/00, p.W16) 1809 Jan 4, Louis Braille, inventor of a universal reading system for the blind, was born in Coupvray, France. (AP, 1/4/98)(HN, 1/4/99) 1809 Mar 12, Great Britain signed a treaty with Persia forcing the French out of the country. (HN, 3/12/99) 1809 Apr 10, Austria declared war on France and her forces entered Bavaria. (HN, 4/10/99) 1809 Apr 20, Napoleon defeated Austria at Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria. (HN, 4/20/98) 1809 Dec 16, Napoleon Bonaparte was divorced from the Empress Josephine by an act of the French Senate. Napoleon married Marie Louise, the daughter of Francis I of Austria, in 1809 following the death of Josephine. (AP, 12/16/97)(WSJ, 11/26/99, p.W12) 1810 Mar 11, Emperor Napoleon of France was married by proxy to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. (AP, 3/11/98) (HN, 3/11/98) 1810 General Count Hugo, the father of Victor Hugo, governed Central Spain during the Peninsula War. He exterminated guerrillas and nailed up their severed heads. (WSJ, 2/10/98, p.A16) 1811 Mar 20, Napoleon II, the Duke of Reichstadt, was born. He was the son of Napoleon Bonaparte. (HN, 3/20/99) 1811 Aug 31, Théophile Gautier, French poet, novelist and author of "Art for Art's Sake," was born. (HN, 8/31/98) 1811 Napoleon Bonaparte gave to his wife, Empress Marie Louise, a tiara with 950 diamonds (700 carats). The original emeralds were later replaced with Persian turquoise. Now part of the Smithsonian Inst. and bequeathed by Marjorie Merriweather Post. (Postcard , Nat'l Mus. Nat. Hist.,1995)



1811-1823 The abbey at Cluny was quarried over this period. It had been shut down by French Revolutionaries. (SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4) 1811-1882 Louis Blanc, French utopian socialist, proposed the social ideal of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." The nineteenth-century writer and thinker had a profound influence on radical thought. (HNQ, 4/12/99) 1812 Mar 9, Swedish Pomerania was seized by Napoleon. (HN, 3/9/98) 1812 Jun 12, Napoleon Bonaparte and his French army invaded Russia. (HN, 6/12/99) 1812 Jul 22, English troops under the Duke of Wellington defeated the French at the Battle of Salamanca in Spain. (AP, 7/22/97)(HN, 7/22/98) 1812 Aug 12, British commander the Duke of Wellington occupied Madrid, Spain, forcing out Joseph Bonaparte. (HN, 8/12/98) 1812 Aug 17, Napoleon Bonaparte's army defeated the Russians at the Battle of Smolensk during the Russian retreat to Moscow. (HN, 8/17/98) 1812 Sep 7, On the road to Moscow, Napoleon won a costly victory over the Russians at Borodino. (HN, 9/7/98) 1812 Sep 14, Napoleon's invasion of Russia reached its climax as his Grande Army entered Moscow--only to find the enemy capital deserted and burning, set afire by the few Russians who remained. (HN, 9/14/98) 1812 Sep, In France as Napoleon's army proceeded to invade Russia it numbered 442,000 troops. In Sept. it reached Moscow with 100,000 men. The remains of the Grandee Armee struggled out of Russia in 1813 with 10,000 men. A map drawn by Charles Joseph Minard plots six variables to depict the march over time: the size of the army, its location on a 2-dimensional surface, the direction of the army's movement, and temperatures on various days during the retreat from Moscow. In 1970 Curtis Cate published the book: "The War of the Two Emperors." (Adv. E. Tufte, 5/18/96, p.4)(SFEC, 6/15/97, Z1 p.3)



1812 Oct 19, French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte began their retreat from Moscow. (AP, 10/19/97)(HN, 10/19/98) 1812 Nov 6, The first winter snows fell on the French Army as Napoleon Bonaparte retreated form Moscow. (HN, 11/6/99) 1812 Nov 14, As Napoleon Bonaparte's army retreated form Moscow, temperatures dropped to 20 degrees below zero. (HN, 11/14/99) 1812 Nov 27, One of the two bridges being used by Napoleon Bonaparte's army across the Beresina River in Russia collapsed during a Russian artillery barrage. (HN, 11/27/99) 1812 Dec 6, The majority of Napoleon Bonaparte's Grand Armeé staggered into Vilna, Lithuania, ending the failed Russian campaign (HN, 12/6/99) 1812 Dec 13, The last remnants of Napoleon Bonaparte's Grand Armeé reached the safety of Kovno, Poland after the failed Russian campaign. (HN, 12/13/99) 1812 Dec 18, Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Paris after his disastrous campaign in Russia. (HN, 12/18/99) 1812 Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (1758-1823) painted "Venus and Adonis." (WSJ, 4/8/98, p.A20) 1812 Georges Cuvier, French anatomist, published his 4 volume work "Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles" (Research on Fossil Bones). (NH, 8/96, p.18) 1813 Mar 4, The Russians fighting against Napoleon reached Berlin. The French garrison evacuated the city without a fight. (HN, 3/4/99) 1813 Jul 15, Napoleon Bonaparte's representatives met with the Allies in Prague to discuss peace terms. (HN, 7/15/98) 1813 Aug 27, The Allies defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Dresden. (HN, 8/27/98) 1813 Oct 18, The Allies defeated Napoleon Bonaparte at Leipzig, France. (HN, 10/18/98)



1813 Dec 31, Some 83,000 Prussian and Russian soldiers pursued Napoleon across the Rhine at Pfalzgrafenstein Castle. (SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T5) 1813 A new 45 carot blue diamond emerged. It was guessed to have been cut from the 112 carot Blue Diamond of the crown jewels. The 112 carot stone was recut in 1673 to 67 carots. (THC, 12/3/97)(EB, 1993, V6 p.51) 1814 Feb 10, Napoleon personally directed lightning strikes against enemy columns advancing toward Paris, beginning with a victory over the Russians at Champaubert. During the Napoleonic Wars a British naval officer proposed the use of saturation bombing and chemical warfare to undermine the strength of Emperor Napoleon. (HN, 2/10/97) 1814 Feb 27, Napoleon's Marshal Nicholas Oudinot was pushed back at Barsur-Aube by the Emperor's allied enemies shortly before his abdication. (HN, 2/27/98) 1814 Mar 10, Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by a combined Allied Army at the battle of Laon, in France. (HN, 3/10/99) 1814 Apr 6, Granted sovereignty in the island of Elba and a pension from the French government, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated at Fountainebleau. He was allowed to keep the title of emperor. [see Apr 11] (HN, 4/6/99) 1814 Apr 11, Napoleon Bonaparte first abdicated as emperor of France and was banished to the island of Elba. [see Apr 6] (AP, 4/11/97) (HN, 4/11/98) 1814 Apr, The Duke of Wellington led 60,000 troops against 325,000 French troops at Toulouse and defeated them just days after Napoleon abdicated the throne. (WSJ, 1/6/95, A-10) 1814 May 30, The First Treaty of Paris was declared, after Napoleon's first abdication. It returned France to its 1792 borders. (HN, 5/30/98)(HN, 5/30/99) c1814 Pierre Paul Prud'hon (1758-1823), French artist, drew his "Bust of a Female Figure." (WSJ, 12/5/96, p.A16) 1814 Alexander I of Russia entered Paris at the head of an anti-Napoleon coalition. (WSJ, 6/26/96, p.A16)



1814 The Marquis de Sade died. His writings included "Justine," "Juliette," and "120 Days of Sodom." In 1999 Neal Schaeffer published "The Marquis De Sade: A Life," and Francine du Plessix Gray published "At Home With the Marquis De Sade: A Life." (SFEC, 7/25/99, BR p.3) 1815 Feb 25, Napoleon left his exile on the Island of Elba, intending to return to France. (HN, 2/25/98) 1815 Feb 26, Napoleon, escaped from the Island of Elba, and 1,200 of his men started the 100-day re-conquest of France. (HN, 2/26/98)(AP, 2/26/98) 1815 Mar 1, In France, returning from Elba, Napoleon landed at Cannes with a force of 1, 500 men and marched on Paris. (HN, 3/1/99) 1815 Mar 20, Napoleon Bonaparte entered Paris, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule. He had escaped from his imprisonment on the island of Elba off the coast of Tuscany. He gathered his veterans and marched on Paris. At Waterloo, Belgium, he met the Duke of Wellington, commander of the allied anti-French forces and was resoundingly defeated. Napoleon was then imprisoned on the island of St. Helena in the south Atlantic. In 1997 Gregor Dallas published: "The Final Act: The Roads to Waterloo." The book includes a good account of the Congress of Vienna. (AP, 3/20/97)(V.D.-H.K.p.232)(SFEC,11/2/97, Par p.10) (HN, 3/20/98) 1815 Jun 16, Napoleon defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Ligny, Netherlands. (HN, 6/16/98) 1815 Jun 16, A French attack at the crossroads called Quatre Bras badly mauled the British army, but failed to rout it or to take the crossroads. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte had marched into Belgium to find himself confronted by two allied armies, which he tried to split apart. Although similarly battered at Ligny that day, the Prussian army also retired intact. Both armies would face Napoleon again two days later at Waterloo. (HNPD, 6/16/99) 1815 Jun 18, Napoleon Bonaparte met his Waterloo as British and Prussian troops under the Duke of Wellington defeated the French in Belgium. The French elite troops of the Imperial Gueard wore bearskins to appear more intimidating. After the victory Britain established towering bear skin hats for soldiers in ceremonial duties and to guard royal residencies and the Tower of London. Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher made a short speech to his troops saying that he was pregnant and about to give birth to an elephant. He was taken from the front in protective custody and missed the battle. (AP, 6/18/97)(SFC, 8/14/97, p.C5)(HN, 6/18/98)(SFEC, 2/28/99, Z1p.10) 1815 Jun 22, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated a second time. (AP, 6/22/97)



1815 Jul 7, After defeating Napoleon at Waterloo, the victorious Allies marched into Paris. (HN, 7/7/98) 1815 Jul 17, Napoleon Bonaparte surrendered to the British at Rochefort, France. (HN, 7/17/98) 1815 Aug 8, Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena, in the South Atlantic, to spend the remainder of his days in exile. He died there in 1821 at age 51. (AP, 8/8/97)(SFEC, 8/1/99, Par p.16) 1815 Oct 7, Marshal Ney, one of Napoleon's most trusted field commanders, was condemned to death and shot for having left the services of the King. (HN, 10/7/98) 1816 Sep 5, Louis XVIII of France dissolved the chamber of deputies, which had been challenging his authority. (HN, 9/5/98) 1816 In France Joseph N. Niepce developed the first photographic negative. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)(SFC, 7/14/99, p.4) 1816 France adopted the Paris meridian as the standard clock time for the country. Sundials were used up to this time. (WSJ, 10/26/99, p.A24) c1817-1924 Pierre Joseph Redoute printed "Les Roses." (SFEM, 4/6/97, p.16) 1818 Theophile Bra, French academic sculptor, won the Prix de Rome. (SFEM, 11/1/98, p.4) 1818 Baron Karl de Drais de Sauerbrun invented the draisienne, the first 2-wheeled, rider-propelled machine and exhibited it in Paris. (Wired, 2/98, p.172) c1819 In France a silver soup tureen was manufactured by Jean-Baptiste Claude Odiot. It fetched over a million dollars in a 1997 auction. (WSJ, 10/24/97, p.B18) 1819-1877 Gustav Courbet, French realist painter. His realistic landscapes were marked by bold shadows and compositions fragmented by the play of natural light. This technique was pursued more fully by the impressionists. His work included "Rock at HautePierre." (DPCP, 1984)(WSJ, 3/10/00, p.W16)



1819-1880 Jacques Offenbach, composer. His work included the comedy opera "BarbeBleue" (Blue Beard). (WSJ, 2/20/98, p.A16) 1820s A road was constructed through La Mas d'Azil, a tunnel cut by Arize River. (SFEC, 5/30/99, p.T4) 1821 May 5, Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the island of St. Helena. They poisoned him by putting arsenic in his food. He died by slow poisoning at the hands of his companion Charles Tristan de Montholon on the island of St. Helena. Scottish pathologist Dr. Hamilton Smith later used Napoleon's hair to determine that arsenic had been administered about 40 times from 1820-1821. In 1992 Proctor Patterson Jones authored "Napoleon, An Intimate Account." In 1999 an English translation of Jean-Paul Kauffmann's "The Black Room at Longwood: Napoleon's Exile on St. Helena" was published. In 1904 F. De Bouirrienne published "Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte." In 1988 S. De Chair edited "Napoleon's Memoirs." (V.D.-H.K.p.232)(AP, 5/5/97)(SFEC, 1/18/98, BR p.9)(SFEC, 8/16/98, Z1 p.8)(SFC, 4/8/99, p.C5)(AP, 8/8/97)(SFEC, 8/1/99, Par p.16) 1821 Dec 12, Gustave Flaubert (d.1880), French novelist, was born. He revealed in painful detail the small foibles of a bourgeois life and believed in perfection of form and the absolute value of art. His work included "Madam Bovary" and "A Simple Heart." "Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times." (V.D.-H.K.p.278)(AP, 6/19/99)(HN, 12//99) 1822 Dec 27, Louis Pasteur (d.1895), French chemist and microbiologist, was born in Dole, France. One of his several monumental contributions to science and industry was pasteurization, the process of heating wine, beer and milk to kill microorganisms that cause fermentation and disease. Pasteur also developed important vaccines and his work on molecular asymmetry led to the science of stereochemistry. He was the first to vaccinate animals for anthrax and chicken cholera, and in 1885 he proved that his rabies vaccine could be used successfully on humans when he saved the life of a 9 -year-old boy who had been bitten by a rabid dog. The Pasteur Institute was formed in Paris in 1888 for research on rabies. Pasteur ran the institute until his death in 1895. (WUD, 1994, p.1055)(AP, 12/27/97) (HNPD, 12/27/98) 1822 Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (1758-1823) painted "A Grief-Stricken Family." It was painted shortly after his student and mistress, Constance Mayer, slit her throat. (WSJ, 4/8/98, p.A20) 1825 Rossini wrote the "IL Viaggio a Reims" opera to celebrate the coronation of Charles X. The libretto by Luigi Balocchi was intended to show all major European nationalities coming together to celebrate the event. (WSJ, 9/29/99, p.A20)



1826 Theophile Bra, French academic sculptor, experienced a nervous breakdown and began to make visionary paintings. (SFEM, 11/1/98, p.) 1826 Corot painted "Cascade of Terni." "Its flat light, monumentalizing simplicity and minimal content anticipated Courbet, Manet and Cezanne." (SFC, 6/4/96, p.E5) 1826 In Egypt Jean-Francois Champollion, French Egyptologist and decipherer of the Rosetta Stone, began collecting Egyptian artifacts. He convinced Charles X to purchase the private collections of the French and English consuls in Egypt. (WSJ, 1/29/98, p.A16) 1827 Victor Hugo wrote the official coronation ode for Charles X, the last Bourbon king. (WSJ, 2/10/98, p.A16) 1827 The first Egyptian Museum was housed in the Louvre's Cour Caree with JeanFrancois Champollion as curator. (WSJ, 1/29/98, p.A16)(WSJ, 10/7/98, p.A20) 1828 Feb 8, French author Jules Verne (d.1905) was born. He is considered the father of science fiction. Many of his 19th-century works forecast amazing scientific feats--feats that were actually carried out in the 20th century--with uncanny accuracy. Verne's 1865 book From the Earth to the Moon told the story of a space ship that is launched from Florida to the moon and that returns to Earth by landing in the ocean. Something of a scientist and traveler himself, Verne's 1870 work about a submarine, "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," and "Around the World in Eighty Days" also foretold technological advances that seemed fantastic at the time. (HNPD, 2/8/99) 1828 Dr. Paul Ferdinand Gachet was born in Lille. He moved to Paris in 1848 to study medicine and developed a clientele of artists that included Pissarro and Cezanne. He accepted paintings in exchanged for services and amassed a sizable collection. He also painted and used the pseudonym Paul Van Ryssel. (WSJ, 2/16/99, p.A20) 1828 A perfume and cosmetics house was established. In 1998 the firm was led by JeanPaul Guerlain, the great-grandson of the founder. (SFC, 6/13/98, p.A11) 1829 The Obelisk of Luxor, a gift from Egypt, was transported to the Place de la Concorde. (WSJ, 10/26/99, p.A24) 1829-1833 Honore Daumier created his bust of Comte de Lameth. Daumier honed his caricaturing skills with a series of terra-cotta busts that lampooned the right-wing leaders



of the court party. Lameth had fought for the colonists in the American Revolution and had voted to abolish the aristocracy during the French revolution. (WSJ, 3/10/00, p.W16) 1830 Feb, The Comedie-Francaise performed "Hernani," a play whose hero swears vengeance against Don Carlo, i.e. King Charles. The play "provoked a brouhaha that heralded the July Revolution." (WSJ, 2/10/98, p.A16) 1830 Jul 5, The French occupied the North African city of Algiers. (AP, 7/5/97) 1830 Jul 26, King Charles X of France issued five ordinances limiting the political and civil rights of citizens. (HN, 7/26/98) 1830 Jul 29, Liberals led by the Marquis of Lafayette seized Paris in opposition to the king's restrictions on citizens' rights. (HN, 7/29/98) 1830 The First Symphony by Berlioz had its premiere. (SFC, 6/28/97, p.E1) 1830 The Hotel de Ville (City Hall), at 29 Rue de Rivoli, was built. It was rebuilt between 1874 and 1882 in the neo-Renaissance style and is used for official city receptions. (SFEC, 1/4/98, p.T7) 1830 Henry Philip Hope purchased the 45 carot blue diamond. It later began to be known as the "Hope Diamond." (THC, 12/3/97) 1830 A Frenchman patented a sewing machine. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25) 1830-1903 Camille Pissarro, French impressionist, was born on the island of St. Thomas in the West Indies. He studied as a child in Paris but spent his early years as an artist in Caracas, Venezuela. In Paris he became a devotee of the neo-Impressionist technique. (WUD, 1994, p.1097)(DPCP 1984) 1831 Balzac wrote his story "The Unknown Masterpiece." It became a parable of modern art. (WSJ, 1/4/98, p.A8) 1831 Stendhal wrote his novel "The Red and the Black." [2nd source said 1830] (WSJ, 1/2/96, p. A-7)(WSJ, 3/25/97, p.A16)



1832 Jan 23, Edouard Manet (d.1883), French impressionist painter. His work was a major influence on the young artists who created the Impressionist movement. His style was influenced by the Spanish masters, particularly Velasquez. His work included the "Execution of Maximilian," "Luncheon on the Grass," the pastel "Portrait of Mademoiselle Lemaire," "In the Boat," "La Promenade" and "Le Journal Illustre" (ca. 1878-79). (WUD, 1994, p.871)(WSJ, 7/1/96, p.A11)(SFC, 8/21/96, p.A9)(AAP, 1964) (WUD, 1994, p.871)(WSJ, 2/13/97, p.A16)(DPCP 1984) 1832 Dec 15, Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, designed named the tower in Paris, was born. (HN, 12/15/98) 1832 Jean Ingres painted the portrait of the self-made newspaperman "Louis-Francois Bertin." (WSJ, 5/28/99, p.W12) 1832 Honore Daumier, French artist, was imprisoned for 6 months for his barbs against King Louis-Philippe. (WSJ, 3/10/00, p.W16) 1832 Berlioz composed "Lelio." (SFC, 6/28/97, p.E1) 1833 In Paris the St. Vincent de Paul Society was founded to provide aid to the poor. (SFC, 9/15/98, p.A9) 1834 Jul 19, Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas (d.1917), French impressionist painter. His mother was a Creole and he journeyed to New Orleans in the 1870s. His work included "The Millinery Shop," "Combing the Hair," "Nude Fixing Her Hair," "Two Dancers" (c1890-1898), "Frieze of Dancers" (1893-1898), "Self Portrait" (c1863-1865 & c18951900) and "Blue Dancers" (1895). He also collected art and by the time of his death had amassed more than 500 paintings and 5,000 prints. The collection was auctioned off in Paris from Mar 1918 to Jul 1919. His time in New Orleans is covered in the 1997 book "Degas in New Orleans: Encounters in the Creole World of Kate Chopin and George Washington Cable" by Christopher Benfey. (WSJ, 7/1/96, p.A11)(AAP, 1964)(WUD, 1994, p.380)(WSJ, 10/2/96, p.B5)(SFC, 10/22/96,p.E8)(WSJ,10/21/97,p.A20)(SFEC, 1/4/98, BR p.9)(HN, 7/19/98) 1834 The Marquis de Lafayette died. (WSJ, 1/15/97, p.A12) 1834 A Frenchman invented a wire nail-making machine. (SFEC, 5/31/98, Z1 p.8) 1834-1910 Leon Walras, French economist. He founded the marginalist school of economic thought, which held that prices depend on the level of customer demand. He



developed a mathematical formulation of the mechanics of the price system with equations that tied together theories of production, exchange, money and capital. His general equilibrium theory is called "Walrasion general equilibrium" and is still part of modern economic theory. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R20) 1835 Jul 28, King Louis Napoleon of France survived an assassination attempt by Giuseppe Maria Fleschi, who rigged 25 guns together and fired them all with the pull of a single trigger. (HN, 7/28/98) 1836 Jul 6, French General Thomas Bugeaud defeated Abd al-Kader's forces beside the Sikkak River in Algeria. (HN, 7/6/98) 1836 The 107-foot-tall Egyptian Obelisk reached Paris. (SFC, 5/15/98, p.D3) 1838 Oct 25, Georges Bizet, composer, was born. (HN, 10/25/98) 1838 Nov 30, Mexico declared war on France. (HN, 11/30/98) 1839 Jan 2, French photographic pioneer Louis Daguerre took the first photograph of the moon. Soon after his first photograph of people was a shoeshine scene on a Paris boulevard. (HN, 1/2/99)(SFEC, 1/16/00, Z1 p.2) 1839 Jan 19, Paul Cezanne (d.1906), French painter, was born in Aix-en-Provence in southern France. He was considered a founding figure in 20th century art. He departed from the Impressionists in his desire to render perspective through color. His work had a profound influence on the Cubists. A catalogue of his work was made by John Rewald (1912-1994) and published posthumously as: "The Paintings of Paul Cezanne: A catalogue Raisonne." His work includes: "The Feast" (late 60s), "Portrait of Achille Emperaire" (1869-70), "Self-Portrait" (c1875), "Rocks at L'Estaque" (1879-82), "Flowerpots" (c1885), "Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan" (1885-86), "The Kitchen Table" (1888-90), "Madame Cezanne in a Yellow Chair" (1893-95), "The Lac d'Annecy" (1896), "Pyramid of Skulls" (1898-1900), "Garden at Le Lauves" (c1906), "Large Bathers" (1906), "Mont Ste.-Victoire Seen from Les Lauves." He is best remembered for his works Card Players and L'Oeuvre. (SFC, 5/30/96, p.E1)(WSJ, 2/10/96, p.A16)(DPCP 1984)(HN, 1/19/99) 1839 Mar 9, The Daguerrotype photo process was announced at the French Academy of Science. (HN, 3/9/98)



1839 Aug 19, At a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris a new photographic process was unveiled by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. He "was able to capture images directly onto small, silvered plates; and in England where William Henry Fox invented what he called "photogenic drawing." This process produced a negative image on paper from which positive images could be made... but it took more than an hour to take a picture and the fuzzy prints were difficult to see. The daguerreotype enabled the photographer to create a highly detailed image. The process consisted of polishing a copper plate, using iodine to sensitize it, and developing it over mercury after exposing it to light in a camera. Daguerreotypes became so popular in the United States that New York City boasted more than 70 daguerreotype studios by 1850. (Smith., 5/95, p.72)(HNQ, 10/28/98) 1839 Stendhal, Marie-Henri Beyle, wrote his novel "Charterhouse of Parma" in 52 days. A 1st edition from the library of Marie Louise, 2nd wife of Napoleon, sold for $157,310 in 1999. (WSJ, 1/2/96, p. A-7)(WSJ, 3/25/97, p.A16) 1839 France began to mass produce women's corsets about this time. See the discussion by Marilyn Yalom in her 1997 book: "History of the Breast." (SFEC, 2/9/97, z1 p.3) 1839 Parisian tailors revolted and destroyed the new sewing machines. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25) 1839-1899 Alfred Sisley, impressionist artist, was born in Paris of English parents. He studied in London and then in Paris in the studio of Charles Gleyre. He painted landscapes almost exclusively. His work included "A Turn in the Road" (1873). (DPCP 1984) 1840 Apr 2, Emile Zola, French novelist, reporter (Nana) , was born. (HN, 4/2/98) 1840 Nov 12, Auguste Rodin, French sculptor who created "The Kiss," was born. (HN, 11/12/98) 1840 Nov 14, Claude Monet (d.1926), French Impressionist painter, best known for his late work done at Giverney, northwest of Paris after 1890. He came up with the idea of series pictures, which feature a single subject shown again and again under varying conditions of light and weather. He studied in Paris with Charles Gleyre, a Swiss academic painter, and there met Frederic Bazille, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley. Together they developed open-air painting which came to be known as Impressionism. (WSJ, 7/25/95, p.A-10)(HN, 11/14/98) 1840-1916 Odilon Redon, French painter and etcher. (WUD, 1994, p.1203)



1840s French explorer Dumont d'Urville named the Adelie penguin after his wife. (WSJ, 7/1/97, p.A6) 1841 Feb 25, Pierre Auguste Renoir (d.1919), French painter, was born. He was an Impressionist painter, father of Jean Renoir, and founder of the French Impressionist movement. He was the son of a Paris tailor and began his career as a porcelain painter in the Sevres china factory. His paintings included "Luncheon of the Boating Party," "Selfportraits" (1875 & 1899) and "Sleeping Girl With a Cat" (1880). [see 1894, J. Renoir] (HFA, '96, p.22)(WSJ, 8/13/96, p.A9)(DPCP 1984)(HN, 2/25/99) 1841 Jun 28, The ballet "Giselle," also called Les Wilis, was premiered in Paris. It was the brain-child of Theophile Gautier, a leading voice of the Romantic Age. It told of a dance-loving peasant girl who dies of a broken heart when Albrecht, a philandering nobleman, betrays her. (SFEM, 3/28/99, p.12)(WSJ, 4/22/99, A20) 1841 Sep 28, Georges Clemenceau, premier of France during World War I, was born. (HN, 9/28/98) 1841 Lord Elgin died in Paris at age 75. (ON, 11/99, p.4) 1842 May 12, Jules Massenet Montaud, French composer, was born. His work included "Manon" and "Le Cid." (SC, internet, 5/12/97) 1842-1898 Stephane Mallarme, French essayist and poet: "Every soul is a melody which needs renewing." (AP, 7/17/98) 1843-1848 The Chateau de Boursault was built by the widow Clicquot. She contributed to the development of the champagne-making process. (Hem., 10/97, p.104) 1844 Oct 22, Legendary stage actress Sarah Bernhardt was born in Paris. (AP, 10/22/97) 1844-1924 Anatole France, French novelist and essayist. He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1921. His love for Madame de Caillavet, whose salon helped make him famous, formed the backdrop for his novel "Le Lys Rouge," (The Red Lily). "All the historical books which contain no lies are extremely tedious." (WSJ, 2/20/96, p.A-14) (AP, 10/11/98) 1844-1833 Celestine Chaumette from the French village of Chassignolles saved her personal letters. They were later found and published by British writer Gillian Tindall as



"Voices from a French Village." (SFC, 6/16/96, BR p.4) 1845 May 12, Gabriel Urbain Faur, French composer, was born in Pamiers. His work included "Requiem" and "Ballade." (SC, internet, 5/12/97) 1845 Sep 8, A French column surrendered at Sidi Brahim in the Algerian War. (HN, 9/8/98) 1847 Cartier jewelers opened in Paris. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34) 1848 Feb 26, The Second French Republic was proclaimed. (AP, 2/26/98 1848 Jun 7, Paul Gauguin, French post-impressionist painter, was born in Paris. He abandoned his family to focus on his work. (AP, 6/7/97)(HN, 6/7/99) 1848 Jun 23, A bloody insurrection of workers in Paris erupted to protest inflation, unemployment and corruption. (HN, 6/23/98)(SFEC, 6/28/98, p.T9) 1848 Jul 4, Vicomte François-René de Chateaubriand, French writer and statesman, 79, died in Paris. (WUD, 1994, p.250) 1848 Jul 26, The French army suppressed the Paris uprising. (HN, 7/26/98) 1848-1852 Napoleon III, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte I, served as president. (WUD, 1994, p.950) 1848-1894 Gustave Caillebotte, French impressionist painter, he was a Jewish lawyer turned painter with a crisp, almost photographic style. He is best know for "Paris Street: Rainy Day" done in 1877. (WSJ, 2/23/95, p.A-10) 1849 Apr 30, The [Italian] republican patriot and guerrilla leader Giuseppe Garabaldi repulsed a French attack on Rome. (HN, 4/30/98) 1849 French officer Claude-Etienne Minie invented a bullet that changed the face of warfare. The Minie ball was shot from a grooved bore, i.e. a rifle, and expanded when



shot to clean out the grooves of the bore. (WSJ, 7/24/98, p.W10) 1850 Honore de Balzac (b.1799), French novelist, died. (WUD, 1994, p.115) 1850s The Petite Ceinture was a rail line built to haul merchandise between the major train stations of Paris. It was shut down in 1934 but opened again by the Germans during WW II. (SFEC, 6/28/98, p.T9) 1850s In France the Yonne Department had almost 99,000 acres of grapevines for wine. Diseases such as oidium and phyloxera destroyed the Chablis vines in the late 19th century. (SFC, 7/16/97, Z1 p.4) 1851 Nov 13, The London-to-Paris telegraph opened. (HN, 11/13/98) 1851 Louis Napoleon staged a coup. Victor Hugo sought refuge on the Channel island of Guernsey where he wrote "Les Miserables" and other works. (WSJ, 2/10/98, p.A16) 1852 Eugene Delacroix painted "Desdemona Cursed by Her Father." (WSJ, 9/24/98, p.A16) 1852 Maria Vernet Worth, a Parisian shop clerk, became the 1st professional model when her husband found that he sold more dresses when she helped. (SFEC, 2/6/00, Z1 p.2) 1852 In France Louis Braille died of tuberculosis at age 43. He was blinded by an accident and spent years developing a system to read by touch. In 1997 Russell Freedman wrote "Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille." (SFEC, 7/6/97, BR p.10) 1852-1870 Napoleon III, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte I, served as emperor. (WUD, 1994, p.950) 1852-1935 Paul Bourget, French author: "We had better live as we think, otherwise we shall end up by thinking as we have lived." (AP, 2/11/00) 1853 Napoleon III assigned Georges Haussmann to modernize Paris. For the next 17 years Haussman, as prefect of the Seine, transformed Paris. He is responsible for the tree lined grand boulevards, the Bois de Boulogne, several railroad stations, the aqueducts,



and a tourist friendly sewer system. Haussman employed one Parisian in five and financed his projects using private capital raised with bonds. The project forced some 200,000 residents from their homes. He used surpluses in his operational budget to cover deficits in his capital budgets. The debts paralyzed the city until the Gaullist era. (WSJ, 1/17/1995, p.A-16)(SFEC, 6/28/98, p.T9)(WSJ, 12/9/98, p.A20) 1853 French wines were first ranked at the order of Napoleon. The top grades were selected on the basis of price, not taste. (SFEC, 2/1/98, p.T4) 1854 Mar 28, During the Crimean War, Britain and France declared war on Russia. (AP, 3/28/97) 1854 Oct 25, During the Crimean War, a brigade of British light infantry was destroyed by Russian artillery as they charged down a narrow corridor in full view of the Russians. The Crimean War is largely remembered for the Charge of the Light Brigade, a hopeless but gallant British cavalry charge against a heavily defended Russian force. The battle began when the Russians attacked the British-French supply depot at Balaclava near Chersonesos, some eight miles from Sevastopol, on the Black Sea Crimean Peninsula. Taken by surprise, the British counterattacked but failed to follow up. Through a staff error, Gen. Lord Cardigan's Light Brigade of 673 horsemen was ordered to charge the Russian position through a mile-long valley and prevent them from carrying away some captured cannon. The Light Brigade advanced up the valley, taking casualties all the way, and reached the guns. But once there, they could not hold their position and were forced to retreat. Of the 673 men who took part in the senseless charge, only 195 were present at roll call that night. The Charge of the Light Brigade ended the battle, but Balaclava remained in the hands of the British-French Allies. The event was described in a poem by Tennyson. (SFC,12/190/97, p.F6)(AP, 10/25/97)(HNPD, 10/25/98)(HN, 10/25/98) 1854 Nov 5, The British and French defeated the Russians at Inkerman, Crimea. (HN, 11/5/98) 1854 Eugene Delacroix painted "Arabs Stalking a Lion." (WSJ, 9/24/98, p.A16) 1854 The Marriage Freres tea shop at 30 Rue du Bourg-Tibourg was founded. It has a small 2nd floor museum of tea implements from around the world. (SFEC, 1/4/98, p.T7) 1854 Eugene Delacroix painted "The Riding Lesson." (WSJ, 9/24/98, p.A16) 1855 Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), French impressionist, moved to France from his native St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. (WSJ, 1/14/97, p.A16)(Hem., 1/97, p.124)(WUD, 1994, p.1097)



1856 Apr 24, Henri Philippe Pétain, French Marshall, was born. He was known as the 'hero of Verdun' but collaborated with the Nazis after the fall of France in 1940 and convicted of treason in 1945. (HN, 4/24/99) 1856 The ballet "Le Corsaire" (The Corsair) was first performed in Paris to a score by Adolph Adam. It was based on a work by Lord Byron. (SFC, 12/20/99, p.E1) 1856 Emperor Napoleon III decided to quell an impending revolt in Algeria by sending a magician, who would demonstrate the power of the Europeans to the natives. He sent Jean-Eugene Robert Houdin (1805-1871). The 1998 novel "The Magician's Wife" by Brian Moore is based on the historic events. The magician is named Henri Lambert. (WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A20)(SFEC, 1/25/98, BR p.5) 1857 Mar 3, Under pretexts, Britain and France declared war on China. (HN, 3/3/99) 1857 Jean-Francois Millet painted "The Gleaners." (WSJ, 7/12/99, p.A26) 1857 Gustave Flaubert published his novel "Emma Bovary." It was later considered as the first novel of a liberated woman in modern literature. In 1998 Dacia Maraini published "Searching for Emma." (SFEC, 6/28/98, Par p.18) 1857-1926 Emile Coue, French pharmacist. In 1920 [1910] he devised the mantra "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better" to promote his theory of selfimprovement through auto-suggestion. (NH, 7/98, p.20)(SFEC, 6/20/99, Z1 p.8) 1858 Jan 14, Emperor Napoleon and Empress Eugenie escaped unhurt after an Italian assassin threw a bomb at their carriage as they traveled to the Paris Opera. (AP, 1/14/98)(HN, 1/14/99) 1858 Feb 11, A French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed for the first time to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes. (AP, 2/11/97) 1858 Dancers in Paris displayed their tail feathers in a high kick routine called the "cancan." The word was a diminutive form of "canard," the word for duck, whose evenly displayed feathers were likened to those of the dancers. (SFEC, 3/23/97, z1 p.7) 1858 Charles Frederick Worth, an English tailor in Paris, began haute couture. He was hired by Napoleon to create a suitable wardrobe for Princess Eugenie and trigger a



demand for French fashion. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R40) 1859 Mar 19, The opera "Faust" by Charles Gounod premiered in Paris. (AP, 3/19/97) 1859 May 3, France declared war on Austria. (HN, 5/3/98) 1859 May 15, Pierre Curie, physicist, was born. He and his wife discovered radium. (HN, 5/15/99) 1859 Jun 4, The French army under Napoleon III took Magenta from the Austrian army after a bloody battle in northern Italy. (HN, 6/4/99) 1859 Jun 24, At the Battle of Solferino, also known as the Battle of the Three Sovereigns, the French army led by Napoleon III defeated the Austrian army under Franz Joseph I in northern Italy. (HN, 6/24/99) 1859 Jun 30, French acrobat Blondin (born Jean Francois Gravelet) crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope as 5,000 spectators watched. (AP, 6/30/97)(HN, 6/30/98) 1859 Jul 8, With the signing of the truce at Villafranca Austria ceded Lombardy to France. France also received Nice and Savoy. (HN, 7/8/99) 1859 Oct 9, Alfred Dreyfus, French artillery officer who was falsely accused of giving French military secrets to foreign powers, was born. (HN, 10/9/98) 1859 Dec 2, George Seurat (d.1891), French artist, was born in Paris. He entered the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1875. His method of painting with bright colors juxtaposed as tiny dots was called pointillism, often called Neo-Impressionism. (SFC, 5/6/97, p.E4)(WUD, 1994, p.1306)(DPCP 1984)(HN, 12/2/98) 1859 Jean-Francois Millet painted "The Angelus," and it became the most reproduced painting of the 19th century. (SFEC, 8/22/99, BR p.3) 1859 One of the first reports relating tobacco to cancer was published in France. (HNQ, 11/10/98)



1859-1941 Henri Bergson, French philosopher. He is said to have taught that man acts first and thinks later as opposed to Descartes who said man thinks before he acts. He won the 1927 Nobel Prize for Literature. His dualistic philosophy held that man's intellect enables him to appraise the world and his intuition tells him something of the allpervading life force, or elan vital. (AHD, 1971, p.125)(WSJ, 11/21/95, p.A-12)(SFC, 3/27/99, p.C2) 1860 Savoy was ceded to France. (WUD, 1994, p.1272) 1860 The Parc Monceau in Paris was taken over by the state to enable Baron Haussman to complete the Boulevard Malesherbes. (SFEC, 3/26/00, p.T12) 1860-1910 Auguste Moreau, a bronze sculptor, worked over this period. His art included the sculpture "Eglantine" (wild rose), which depicted a woman draped in a vine of roses. It was used as the design for a clock c1900. His bronzes were copied in spelter, a soft white metal that's mostly zinc. (SFC, 2/18/98, Z1 p.3)(SFC, 3/11/98, Z1 p.5) 1860-1945 Rene Lalique, French goldsmith, jeweler, glassmaker and artist. He helped mold the shape of 20th century art nouveau, art deco and architectural ornamentation. (SFC, 3/26/97, z1 p.7)(Hem., 6/98, p.134) 1861 Pierre-Auguste Renoir, impressionist painter, entered the Ecole des Beaux Arts and studied with Charles Gleyre. (DPCP 1984) 1861 French troops embarked to invade Mexico seeking to collect on Mexico's foreign debt. (SFEC,11/9/97, p.T6) 1861 Protestant banker Edouard Andre (d.1894) married Catholic painter Nelie Jacquemart and caused a minor scandal. (SFEC, 3/26/00, p.T12) 1862 Jan, 7, French troops landed at Vera Cruz, Mexico with the intention of taking over under the rule of Archduke Maximillian of Austria. 1862 Mar 28, Aristide Briand, premier of France (1909-22) , was born. (HN, 3/28/98) 1862 May 5, At the Battle of Pueblo, a [2,000] 5,000 man Mexican force (cavalry), loyal to Benito Juarez and under the leadership of Gen'l. Ignacio Zaragoza, defeated 6,000 French troops sent by Napoleon III. The event became memorialized in the Cinco de Mayo annual festival. Napoleon intended to march through to the US and help the



Confederacy in the Civil War. (SCal, May 1995)(SFEM, 4/27/97, p.6)(AP, 5/5/97) (SFEC,11/9/97, p.T6)(SFEC, 11/8/98, p.T8)(SFC, 5/1/99, p.A13) 1862 Jun 24, U.S. intervention saved the British and French at the Dagu forts in China. (HN, 6/24/98) 1862 Victor Hugo published "Les Miserables." (WSJ, 4/30/98, p.A17) 1863 Jun 7, Mexico City was captured by French troops. (HN, 6/7/98) 1863 The Paris Salon des Refuses was a group show of artists rejected by the mavens of the official salon. The hit and scandal of the show was Edouard Manet's "Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe" which depicted a happy foursome picnicking in the woods with the two women undressed. Other refused artists included Cezanne, Pissarro, and other impressionists. (WSJ, 6/14/95, p.A-14) 1863 French forces captured Puebla, Mexico. (SFEC,11/9/97, p.T6) 1863 Jul, The European public first learned of Angkor in Cambodia from the posthumously published journal of French naturalist Henri Mouhot. (SFEC, 7/26/98, p.T6) 1863 Eugene Delacroix (b.1798), French artist, died. (WUD, 1994, p.381) 1864 Nov 24, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, French post-impressionist painter, was born. (HN, 11/24/98) 1864 Gustave Moreau, French painter, created his work "Oedipus and the Sphinx." His students included Georges Rouault, Albert Marqyet, and Henri Matisse. (WSJ, 6/1/99, p.A20) 1864-1910 Jules Renard, French educator and author: "Talent is like money; you don't have to have some to talk about it." (AP, 4/16/97) 1865 Frederic Bazille painted "Beach at Sainte-Adresse." (WSJ, 3/9/99, p.A20) 1865 Monet painted "A Cart on the Snowy Road at Honfleur." (SFC, 1/29/99, p.D6)



1865 Emile Zola wrote a diatribe against the annual French state-sponsored art show called the Salon. He mocked the jurors who had rebuffed Edouard Manet amongst others. (WSJ, 8/1/96 p.A13) 1865 Eduard Rene Lefebvre de Laboulaye, a scholar, proposed a monument for America's centennial and strengthen the democratic cause in France. The monument took form as the Statue of Liberty. (SFEC, 6/20/99, p.T10) 1865 A Latin Monetary Union was established amongst France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Greece, but quickly weakened as members pursued their own economic policies. (WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A1) 1866 Jean-Francois Millet painted "Flight of Crows." (WSJ, 7/12/99, p.A26) 1866-1954 Ernest Dimnet, French priest, lecturer and author: "The happiness of most people we know is not ruined by great catastrophes or fatal errors, but by the repetition of slowly destructive little things." (AP, 9/6/98) 1867 (OTD) Apr 1, The International Exhibition opened in Paris.



1867 Nov 7, Marie Curie (d.1934), Polish-born French scientist, discovered radioactivity of thorium, discovered polonium, and radium, and isolated radium from pitchblende. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1903 with her husband, and in chemistry in 1911. "You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity." (AHD, 1971, p.323)(AP, 10/26/98)(HN, 11/7/98) 1867 Claude Monet painted "The Beach at Sainte Adresse" and "Road by Saint-Simeon Farm Winter." (DPCP 1984)(SFC, 1/29/99, p.D6) 1867 France ruled Mexico until this year. (SFEC,11/9/97, p.T6) 1867-1868 Degas painted "Mlle. Fiocre in the Ballet 'La Source'." (SFEC, 6/21/98, BR p.8) 1867-1947 Pierre Bonnard, French painter. He wrote that he wanted to "show what one sees when one enters a room all of a sudden." He married Marthe de Meligny in 1925 and during his life painted some 384 images of her. In 1998 John Elderfield and Sarah



Whitfield published "Bonnard." (WUD, 1994, p.169)(WSJ, 6/24/98, p.A16)(SFEC, 8/2/98, BR p.9) 1868 Jean-Francois Millet painted "Path Lined With Trees Near Vichy." (WSJ, 7/12/99, p.A26) 1868 Claude Monet painted "The River." It shows the water of the Seine and was an early attempt by the artist to depict shimmering light on water. (DPCP 1984) 1868 The first known bicycle race was held in Paris. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34) 1868-1955 Paul Claudel, French author: "Why must all the churches be closed at night? How often has the wanderer groaned in front of those closed doors?" (AP, 12/27/98) 1869 Dec 31, Henri Matisse (d.1954), French artist best known for his paintings "Woman with a Hat" and "The Red Studio," was born. His work included the "Dance II," now at the Hermitage in Moscow. In 1998 Hilary Spurling authored "The Unknown Matisse: A Life of Henri Matisse, Vol. 1: 1869-1908." (WSJ, 7/5/96, p.A5)(SFEC, 12/13/98, BR p.9)(HN, 12/31/98) 1869 Renoir and Monet sat side by side and painted views of the bathing house, La Grenouillleres and its patrons. (WSJ, 9/10/96, p.A16)(SFC, 10/30/96, p.E2) 1869 Camille Pissarro painted "The Versailles Road at Louveciennes." (SFEM, 1/31/99, p.18) 1869 Pierre and Ernest Michaux built the first motorcycle. It was powered by a steam engine. (SFEC, 7/27/97, Z1 p.7) 1869-1951 Andre Gide, French author and critic: "There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them." "Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it." "The color of truth is gray." (AP, 10/31/97)(AP, 3/24/98)(SFEC, 6/28/98, Z1 p.8) Go to 1870 France 1870-1920 Return to algis.com



1870 Jul 19, The Franco-Prussian War. Napoleon declared war on Bismarck. Emperor Napoleon III of France declared war on Germany under Otto von Bismarck. Napoleon was defeated in three months and abdicated. (WSJ, 3/14/95, p.A-16) (V.D.-H.K.p.260)(NH, 6/96, p.24) 1870 Aug 18, Prussian forces defeated the French at the Battle of Gravelotte during the Franco-Prussian War. (HN, 8/18/98) 1870 Sep 1, The Prussian army crushed the French at Sedan, the last battle of the Franco-Prussian War. (HN, 9/1/99) 1870 Sep 2, Napoleon III capitulated to the Prussians at Sedan, France. (WSJ, 3/14/95, p.A-16)(HN, 9/2/98) 1870 Sep 4, A republic was proclaimed in Paris and a government of national defense was formed. (HN, 9/4/98) 1870 Oct 7, French Minister of the Interior Leon Gambetta escaped besieged Paris by balloon, hoping to reach the French provisional government in Tours. Gambetta was slightly wounded when his balloon drops dangerously low over Prussian held territory, only rising to safety after the pilot jettisons the ballast. (HN, 10/7/98) 1870 Oct 20, The Summer Palace in Beijing, China, was burnt to the ground by a Franco-British expeditionary force. (HN, 10/20/98) 1870 Oct 27, The French fortress of Metz surrendered to the Prussian Army. (HN, 10/27/98) 1870 Prussian troops laid siege to Paris for 135 days and forced the people of the city to eat Castor and Pollux, the 2 elephants in the zoo. (SFC, 4/17/99, p.B3) 1870 With the downfall of Napoleon Victor Hugo returned to France. (WSJ, 2/10/98, p.A16) 1870 Madame Pomeroy introduced the first brut champagne. Until this time champagne was sweet. (Hem., 10/97, p.104) 1870 Frederic Bazille (29), artist and friend of Claude Monet, died. (WSJ, 3/9/99, p.A20)



1870-1871 "The best book on this period is Emile Zola's historical novel The Debacle." In reference to the days of the Paris Commune. (WSJ, 3/14/95, p.A-16) 1870-1871 During the Franco-Prussian War there was a shortage of beef and horse meat began to be used. Germany annexed Alsace after the war. (SFEC, 8/3/97, Z1 p.2)(SFEC, 1/31/99, p.T4) 1870s Edgar Degas, French painter journeyed to New Orleans. His time in New Orleans is covered in the 1997 book "Degas in New Orleans: Encounters in the Creole World of Kate Chopin and George Washington Cable" by Christopher Benfey. (SFEC, 1/4/98, BR p.9) 1871 Jan 8, Prussian troops began to bombard Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. (HN, 1/8/99) 1871 Jan 28, France, under a provisional republican government, continued the war against Germany, but was forced to surrender in the Franco-Prussian War. Surrounded by Prussian troops and suffering from famine, the French army in Paris surrendered. During the siege, balloons were used to keep contact with the outside world. (V.D.-H.K.p.260)(AP, 1/28/98)(HN, 1/28/99) 1871 Jan, The bombardment of Paris began. (WSJ, 3/14/95, p.A-16) 1871 Feb 26, France and Prussia signed a preliminary peace treaty at Versailles. (HN, 2/26/99) 1871 Mar 1, Germans paraded down the Champs-Elysses, Paris, France during the Franco-Prussian War. (HN, 3/1/99)(WSJ, 3/14/95, p.A-16) 1871 May, The Parisians revolted against their government and tried to secede by electing their own government. The Commune of Paris refused to obey Adolphe Thiers, the elected president of the country. Thiers asked the Germans to release thousands of French prisoners and organized a powerful force to overcome the Commune. 1871 May 28, The last French communards of the Paris commune were shot against the Mur des Federes in Pere Lachaise cemetery by troops from Versailles. (V.D.-H.K.p.260)(HN, 5/28/98) 1871 Degas painted "Racehorses at Longchamp." (SFEC, 6/21/98, BR p.8) 1871 In France Whistler completed his best known work: "Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's [Artist's] Mother," [i.e. Whistler's Mother] His mother,



Anna McNeill Whistler, had moved into his apartment displacing his Irish model and sweetheart, Jo Heffernan. The mother died in 1881 and Whistler borrowed £50 to get her portrait back from a pawn shop. (WSJ, 5/31/95, p. A-14)(SFEC, 5/10/98, p.C6) 1871-1922 Marcel Proust, French writer. His masterpiece was "Remembrance of Things Past." In 1998 it was turned into a comic book series. In 1999 Edmund White published the biography "Marcel Proust" for the Penguin Lives series. (SFC, 9/16/98, p.A10)(SFEC, 2/7/99, Par p.14) 1872 Edgar Degas, French painter, journeyed to New Orleans where his mother was born. He made 22 paintings there. His time in New Orleans is covered in the 1997 book "Degas in New Orleans: Encounters in the Creole World of Kate Chopin and George Washington Cable" by Christopher Benfey. (SFEC, 1/4/98, BR p.9)(SFC, 3/5/99, p.W12) 1872 The opera "La Fille de Madame Angot" was written by Charles Lecocq. An English version in 1998 by David Scott Marley was titled "Daughter of the Cabinet." (SFC, 7/17/98, p.D5) 1872-1950 Leon Blum, French statesman: "Life does not give itself to one who tries to keep all its advantages at once. I have often thought morality may perhaps consist solely in the courage of making a choice." (AP, 8/22/98) 1873 Jun 28, Alexis Carrel, French surgeon and biologist, was born. He won a Nobel Prize for the development of blood vessel suture technique. (HN, 6/28/99) 1873 Sep 20, A financial panic hit the US when the high-flying bond dealer, Jay Cooke, granted too many loans to the railroads. Panic spread to Europe as London and Paris markets crashed and the New York Stock Exchange closed for the first time for 10 days. (WSJ, 2/27/95, p.A-10)(WSJ, 7/8/96, p.C1)(WSJ, 10/7/98, p.A22) 1873 Claude Monet painted "Sunrise," a depiction of the port of La Havre with ships in the Spring. (SFC, 11/13/98, p.C8) 1873 Pissaro painted "Street in Pontoise, Winter." (SFC, 1/29/99, p.D1) 1873 Colette (d.1954), French author, was born. Her works included "Cheri" and "Gigi." "To talk to a child, to fascinate him, is much more difficult than to win an electoral victory. But it is also more rewarding." In 1999 Claude Francis and Fernande Gontier published a 2-part biography: "Creating Colette: Volume One: From Ingenue to Libertine 1873-1913. The 2nd volume was "From Baroness to Woman of Letters 1913-1954."



Other biographies included: "The Difficulty of Loving" by Margaret Crossland; "Colette: A Taste for Life" by Yvonne Mitchell; "Colette" by Joanna Richardson; "Colette: A Passion for Life" by Genevieve Dorman. (AP, 10/18/97)(SFEC, 3/21/99, BR p.8) 1873-1914 Charles Peguy, French poet and writer: "It is impossible to write ancient history because we lack source materials, and impossible to write modern history because we have far too many." (AP, 7/28/98) 1874 Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste-Renoir, Albert Sisley and Edouard Manet gathered at Argenteuil on the banks of the Seine to relax and paint. (WSJ, 12/11/98, p.W16) 1874 Alfred Sisley painted "Snow Effect at Argenteuil." (SFC, 1/29/99, p.D6) 1875 Jan 14, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, French theologian who set up a native hospital in French Equatorial Africa in 1913, was born. (HN, 1/14/99) 1875 Mar 3, The Georges Bizet opera "Carmen" premiered in Paris. (AP, 3/3/98) 1875 Mar 7, Composer Maurice Ravel (d.1937) was born in Cibourne, France. (AP, 12/28/97)(AP, 3/7/98) 1875 Jul 16, The new French constitution is finalized. (HN, 7/16/98) 1875 Gabriel Guay exhibited his painting "The Awakening" at the Paris Salon. It featured a nude, life-size woman, just waking up. (SFEM, 4/11/99, p.30) 1875 Claude Monet painted "The Seine at Argenteuil." (SFC, 4/10/97, p.E1) 1875 The Jacquemart-Andre mansion in Paris was designed by Henri Parent. The building later became the Jacquemart-Andre Musee. (SFEC, 3/26/00, p.T12) 1876 Degas painted "Absinthe." (WSJ, 1/22/99, p.W8) 1876 Jean-Leon Gerome painted "Solomon's Wall, Jerusalem." (WSJ, 2/5/99, p.W12)



1876 Monet painted "Dans La Prairie." It was expected to sell for $16-20 million in 1999. (WSJ, 11/5/99, p.W16) 1876 Renoir painted "The Garden of the Rue Cortot" at what is now the Montmartre museum in Paris. He also did a portrait of Alfred Sisley about this time. (SFEC, 6/22/97, p.T11)(DPCP 1984) 1876 Construction of the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World), a gift to the US, began in France. The interior iron framework was designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel. The design by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi included 7 rays on her crown to represent the seven seas and continents. Her tablet was engraved with the date July 4, 1776 in Roman numerals. Broken shackles at her feet represented tyranny. (SFEC, 6/20/99, p.T10) 1877 Cezanne painted "Mme. Cezanne in a Red Armchair." (WSJ, 2/20/96, p.A-14) 1877 Claude Monet painted "Old St. Lazare Station, Paris." He did a series of these and captured the atmospheric effects of steam and light through the glass roof of the train shed. (DPCP 1984) 1877 Saint-Saens wrote his opera "Samson et Dalila." (WSJ, 2/20/98, p.A16) 1878 Gustave Caillebotte painted his impressionist "View of Rooftops (Snow). (SFC, 6/13/98, p.E1) 1878 William Adolphe Bouguereau debuted his painting "La Charite" at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. (WSJ, 3/24/00, p.W4) 1879 Cezanne, French painter, painted his "Self-Portrait." (WSJ, 9/28/95, p.A-16) 1879 Monet painted "Lavacourt in Winter." (SFC, 1/29/99, p.D6) 1879 Pissaro painted "Rabbit Warren at Pontoise, Snow." (SFC, 1/29/99, p.D6) 1879 Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted "Two Little Circus Girls," a picture of Francisca and Angelina Wartenberg, jugglers in the Spanish Cirque Fernande. (DPCP 1984)



1880 Jun 29, France annexed Tahiti. (HN, 6/29/98) 1880 Monet painted "Sunset on the Seine in Winter." (SFC, 1/29/99, p.D1) 1880 Renoir began his painting "Luncheon of the Boating Party," ["The Rower's Lunch"] the culmination of a decade of riverscapes. It depicted a scene at the Restaurant Fournaise on the banks of the Seine at a spot known as La Grenouillere (the frog pond). It was completed in 1881 and sold to Duncan Philips in 1923 for $125,000. (WSJ, 9/10/96, p.A16)(SFC, 10/30/96, p.E7)(DPCP 1984) 1880-1900 Rodin worked on his "Gates of Hell" over this period. The work was later exhibited inside the Cantor Arts Center of Stanford Univ., Ca. (SFC, 8/18/99, p.D5)(Ind, 4/4/00,13A) 1881 May 12, The Treaty of Bardo established Tunis [Tunisia] as a French protectorate. (SC, internet, 5/12/97)(HN, 5/12/98) 1881 Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted "On the Terrace," a picture of a young woman and a pink-cheeked child with the Seine in the background. (DPCP 1984) 1882 Apr 25, French commander Henri Riviere seized the citadel of Hanoi. Capt. Henri Reviere was later beheaded after he attempted to seize the coal deposits at Ha long Bay. The outraged French proceeded to colonize Vietnam. (HN, 4/25/98)(SFEC, 7/18/99, p.T4) 1882 Oct 29, Jean Giraudoux, French dramatist, novelist and diplomat, famous for his book "Tiger at the Gates," was born. (HN, 10/29/98) 1882 Claude Monet painted "The Cliff Walk (Pourville)." His series of seaside cliff scenes are among his most dramatic paintings. (DPCP 1984) 1882-1963 Georges Braque, French cubist painter, was born in Argenteuil, near Paris. He said of his work that: "The aim is not to reconstitute an anecdotal fact, but to constitute a pictorial fact." He was shot in the head during WW I and had his head drilled to relieve the pressure. His "Billiard Tables" series was painted between 1944 and 1949. (V.D.-H.K.p.359-360) (AHD, 1971, p.160)(WSJ, 5/7/97, p.A16) 1883 Claude Monet made a trip to Italy with Cezanne and Renoir and painted "The Monte Carlo Road." (WSJ, 8/26/97, p.A14)



1983 In France Claude Vivier (34), a French-Canadian composer, was found stabbed to death. A 19-year-old man was convicted of the murder. Vivier left behind 48 completed scores and part of a 49th. His 1976 "Siddartha" was a 30 minute orchestral piece written on commission from the CBC. (SFEC, 1/4/98, DB. p.31) 1883-1971 Coco Chanel, French fashion designer: "My friends, there are no friends." (AP, 7/26/99) 1884 Jun 23, A Chinese Army defeated the French at Bacle, Indochina. (HN, 6/23/98) 1884 Jul 4, The Statue of Liberty was presented to the United States in ceremonies at Paris, France. The 225-ton, 152-foot statue was a gift from France in commemoration of 100 years of American independence. Created by the French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the statue was installed on Bedloe Island (now Liberty Island) in New York harbor in 1885. It was dedicated on October 28, 1886. (IB, Internet, 12/7/98) 1884 Claude Monet painted "Bordighera." It was done on the French Riviera to which he returned after a visit there with Renoir in late 1883. The paintings were marked by bold, pure color in contrast to his earlier subdued pastels. (DPCP 1984) 1884 Berthe Morisot painted the impressionist work "En Bateau sur le Lac de Boulogne." (SFC, 2/14/98, p.A1) 1884-1886 Georges Seurat painted "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte." The work was heralded as a milestone of art theory. (DPCP 1984) 1884-1966 Georges Duhamel, French author: "If anyone tells you something strange about the world, something you had never heard before, do not laugh but listen attentively; make him repeat it, make him explain it; no doubt there is something there worth taking hold of." "It is always brave to say what everyone thinks." (AP, 4/20/97)(AP, 11/19/99) 1885 Jul 6, French scientist Louis Pasteur successfully tested an anti-rabies vaccine on a boy bitten by an infected dog. (AP, 7/6/97) 1885 Cezanne painted his watercolor of "Madame Cezanne with hydrangeas." (WSJ, 2/20/96, p.A-14)



1885 Emile Zola wrote "Germinal," a fictional account of a French mining strike. (WSJ, 10/7/97, p.A20) 1885 The opera "Le Cid" by Massenet had its premier in Paris. It included text from the playwright Corneille's "Le Cid." (WSJ, 11/18/99, p.A24) 1885 Victor Hugo (b.1802), French novelist and poet, died. In 1998 Graham Robb published the biography: "Victor Hugo." Hugo also did a number of drawings, later appreciated by Andre Breton and Max Ernst, and in 1914 Henri Focillon published the first critical study of them. In 1998 Pierre Georgel and Marie-Laure Prevost published "Shadows of a Hand: The Drawings of Victor Hugo." (WSJ, 2/10/98, p.A16)(HN, 2/26/98)(SFEC, 5/31/98, BR p.4) 1885-1957 Sacha Guitry, French director, actor and dramatist: "The little I know I owe to my ignorance." "You can pretend to be serious; but you can't pretend to be witty." (AP, 5/27/98)(AP, 2/27/99) 1886 Oct 28, The Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated by President Cleveland. It was designed by F.A. Bartholdi. It was a monument to republicanism and to the amity between the French and American nations. Later the poem "New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus was placed at the base. (WUD, 1994, p.1389)(WSJ, 7/26/96, p.A9)(THC, 4/10/97)(AP, 10/28/97) 1886 The last impressionist exhibition was held in France. (SFC, 10/22/96, p.E8) 1886 Jean-Leon Gerome painted "The First Kiss of the Sun." (WSJ, 2/5/99, p.W12) 1886 Pierre Loti, French naval officer and author, wrote "An Iceland Fisherman." (SFEC, 11/17/96, DB p.40) 1886-1888 Vincent Van Gogh made his Paris sojourn. (WSJ, 3/14/00, p.A28) 1886-1963 Robert Schuman, French statesman: "When I was a young man I vowed never to marry until I found the ideal woman. Well, I found her -- but, alas, she was waiting for the perfect man." (AP, 6/26/97) 1887 Van Gogh painted "The Courtesan." It was inspired by an 1820 work by the Japanese artist Keisai Eisen who pictured an intricately coifed woman that later appeared on the cover of a French magazine (SFC, 11/16/98, p.E3)(WSJ, 12/1/98, p.A20)



1887 Claude Monet painted "The Seine With the Pont de la Grande Jatte." (SFC, 1/18/99, p.B2) 1887 Odilon Redon (1840-1916), French painter and etcher, made his "Spider" lithograph. (WUD, 1994, p.1203)(SFEM, 6/29/97, p.4) 1887-1979 Nadia Boulanger, French music composer teacher. "Life is denied by lack of attention, whether it be to cleaning windows or trying to write a masterpiece." "Loving a child doesn't mean giving in to all his whims; to love him is to bring out the best in him, to teach him to love what is difficult." (AP, 3/26/97)(AP, 2/23/99) 1888 Vincent van Gogh painted the "Portrait of a Young Man in a Cap." The painting is up for auction and may fetch as much as $8 mil. In 1990 Robert Altman directed a film titled "Vincent and Theo" about Van Gogh and his brother. Van Gogh also painted his "Boats at Saintes-Maries," "The Bedroom" and "Self Portrait as an Artist" in this year. He cut his ear in this year with a razor during a quarrel with painter Paul Gauguin. (WSJ, 4/27/95, p.C-18)(WSJ, 11/10/95, p. A-10)(SFC, 4/13/96, p.E3)(SFC, 1/14/98, p.D3)(SFEC, 10/25/98, Z1 p.12) 1889 Mar 31, The Eiffel Tower officially opened to the public. Constructed of 7,000 tons of iron and steel, the 984-foot structure was designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel for the Paris Exhibition of 1889, commemorating the centennial of the French Revolution. The price for the Eiffel Tower was more than $1 million, but fees for the year 1889 alone nearly recouped the cost. Fifty-five years later, plans by Hitler to leave the tower and much of Paris a smoking ruin were foiled by an unlikely hero. After the Paris World Fair a church designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was dismantled and shipped to Santa Rosalia in Baja, Mexico. (SFEC, 10/20/96, Par, p.23)(SFEC, 11/10/96, p.T11)(AP, 3/30/97) (HNPD, 3/31/99) 1889 May 6, The Paris Exposition formally opened, featuring the just-completed Eiffel Tower. (AP, 5/6/97) 1889 May 30, The brassiere was invented in Paris. [see 1902] (HN, 5/30/98)(WSJ, 2/3/99, p.A1) 1889 Oct 6, The Moulin Rouge in Paris first opened its doors to the public. (AP, 10/6/97) 1889 The 700-seat Elysee Montmartre was built near Pigalle by Gustave Eiffel as a dance hall. (WSJ, 4/8/99, p.A16)



1890 cJun, Van Gogh painted his Portrait of Dr. Gachet. He described the painting in detail to his brother and sister. A 2nd portrait of Dr. Gachet, held by the Musee d'Orsay is a variant of the first and is suspected to be unfinished by Van Gogh and completed by someone else. (WSJ, 2/16/99, p.A20) 1890 Jul 29, Artist Vincent van Gogh died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers, France, while painting "Wheatfield with Crows." He spent his last 70 days in the care of Dr. Gachet and 78 paintings have been attributed to this period. Earlier in the year he painted his "Garden at Auvers." (WSJ, 2/8/96, p.A-12)(SFC, 5/26/96, Zone 1 p.2)(AP, 7/29/97)(WSJ, 2/16/99, p.A20) 1890 Nov 22, French President Charles de Gaulle (d.1970) was born in Lille, France. "Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so." (AP, 11/22/97)(AP, 11/22/98) 1890 Cezanne began his still-life painting "Still Life with a Ginger jar and Eggplants." (WSJ, 6/4/97, p.A16) 1890-1892 Cezanne painted his oil on canvas: "Card Players." It is part of the Dr. Barnes collection and on the Corbis CD. [see 1972-1951, Barnes] (Civil., Jul-Aug., '95, p.85) 1890-1912 In France a 151-km. private railroad was constructed from Nice to Digne above the River Var. It was brought under state control in 1933 and again privatized in 1972. (Hem., 1/97, p.116) 1891 (OTD) Apr 1, The London-Paris telephone connection opened.



1891 Claude Monet painted his impressionist "Grainstacks: Snow Effect." (SFC, 6/13/98, p.E1) 1891 Camille Pissarro painted "Two Young Peasant Women." It was later analyzed as an attempt to marry painting and anarchism. (SFEC, 3/21/99, BR p.8) 1892 Nov 16, King Behanzin of Dahomey (now Benin), led soldiers against the French. (HN, 11/16/98) 1892 Camille Flammarion of France explained the changing brightness of features on Mars to seasonal changes of yellow vegetation and shallow seas. (SFC, 11/29/96, p.A16)



1893 Claude Debussy completed his only opera: "Pelleas et Melisande." It was based on a symbolist drama by Maeterlinck. (SFEC,11/9/97, DB p.13) 1893 Camille Pissarro painted "Place du Havre, Paris." It was the first of four urban scenes of his lifetime and was painted from his hotel window across from the St. Lazare train station. (DPCP 1984) 1893 Claude Monet created his "water garden" at Giverney. (WSJ, 7/1/99, p.A21) 1894 Mar 16, The opera "Thais," composed by Jules Massenet, premiered in Paris. (AP, 3/16/00) 1894 Jul 22, The first automobile race took place between Paris and Rouen, France. (HN, 7/22/98) 1894 Oct 15, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish army officer [in France], was arrested for [allegedly] betraying military secrets to Germany. (HN, 10/15/98) 1894 Dec 22, French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was fraudulently convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. (Dreyfus was eventually vindicated.) [see 1906] (WSJ, 4/22/96, p.A-20)(AP, 12/22/97) 1894 Paul Gauguin painted "Breton Village in the Snow." (SFC, 1/29/99, p.D6) 1894 Le Douanier Rousseau painted "War, or the Ride of Discord." (WSJ, 2/3/00, p.A24) 1895 Jan 5, French Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, convicted of treason, was publicly stripped of his rank. (He was ultimately vindicated.) (AP, 1/5/98) 1895 Apr 23, Russia, France, and Germany forced Japan to return the Liaodong peninsula to China. (HN, 4/23/99) c1895 Degas painted "Jockeys." (SFEC, 6/21/98, BR p.8)



1896 Oct 7, Nicholas and Alexandra of Russia made a state visit with Pres. Felix Faure laid the cornerstone for the Pont Alexandre III. (WSJ, 6/26/96, p.A16) 1897 Aug 28, Charles Boyer, French actor of film and stage, was born. Films included "Algiers'' and "Gaslight.'' (RTH, 8/28/99) 1897 Dec 28, Edmond Rostand's play on Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655), French poet, was unveiled at the Theatre de la Porte-Saint-Martin in Paris. Cyrano's noted nose was an invention of the poet Theophile Gautier introduced in an 1844 book. (SFEC, 4/27/97, DB p.3) 1897 St. Theresa of Lisiex, known to her followers as The Little Flower, died. (SFC, 1/11/00, p.A15) 1898 Jan 13, Emile Zola's famous defense of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, "J'accuse," was published in Paris. (AP, 1/13/98) 1898 Jul 4, The French liner "La Bourgogne" collided with bark Cromartyshire, and 560 people died. (Maggio, 98) 1898 Dec 10, A treaty was signed in Paris, officially ending the Spanish-American War. (AP, 12/10/97) 1898 Dec 21, Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium. (AP, 12/21/97) 1898 In France the Michelin Tire company began using its tire-man logo. The first ad offered a toast with broken nails and glass and told consumers that the Michelin tire "drinks up obstacles." (SFC, 3/19/98, p.A3)(SFEC, 3/22/98, p.T3) 1898-1900 Cezanne painted his sketchy red-ochre study "In the Quarry of Bibemus" and his lush green and linear "Woodland Scene." (WSJ, 2/8/96, p.A-12) 1899 Mar 27, The first international radio transmission between England and France was achieved by the Italian inventor G. Marconi. (HN, 3/27/99) 1899 Jun 20, Jean Moulin, French Resistance fighter against Nazi Germany, was born. (HN, 6/20/98)



1899-1900 Claude Monet painted his first "Lily Pond" series. (WSJ, 7/1/99, p.A21) 1900 Apr 14, A World Exposition, the Great Exposition, opened in Paris. For a few months 210 temporary pavilions from different countries and architectural styles lined the Seine. The Exposition Universale included the Exposition Decennale, an art show of painting and sculpture from the previous decade. (V.D.-H.K.p.264) (HN, 4/14/98)(WSJ, 2/16/00, p.A14) 1900 Sep 19, President Loubet of France pardoned Jewish army captain Alfred Dreyfus, twice court-martialed and wrongly convicted of spying for Germany. (HN, 9/19/98) 1900 Nov 30, French government denounced British, declaring sympathy for the Boers. (HN, 11/30/98) 1900 Nov 30, Irish author Oscar Wilde (b.1856) died in Paris. (V.D.-H.K.p.279)(AP, 11/30/97) 1900 Pierre Bonnard painted "Siesta." (WSJ, 6/24/98, p.A16) 1900 Gustave Charpentier composed his opera "Louise," about a Parisien seamstress. (SFC, 9/15/99, p.B1) 1900-1945 Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French author and aviator. In 1970 Curtis Cate published the biography: "Antoine de Saint-Exupery." (WUD, 1994, p.1261)(SFEC, 6/15/97, p.A2) 1901 Jan 23, First female intern was accepted at a Paris hospital. (HN, 1/23/99) 1901-1976 Andre Malraux, French author. His work included "Man's Fate" (La Condition Humaine), "The Conquerors" (about a 1925 uprising in Canton), and "The Royal Way." He worked as a journalist in Indochina against a corrupt French colonial regime. In 1997 Curtis Cate wrote the biography "Andre Malraux." (WSJ, 5/5/97, p.A16) 1902 Jan 4, The French offered to sell their Nicaraguan Canal rights to the U.S. (HN, 1/4/99) 1902 Jan 19, The magazine "L'Auto" announced the new Tour de France. (HN, 1/19/99)



1902 Feb 9, Doctor Doyen of Paris, performed a successful operation on Siamese twins from the Barnum and Bailey Circus. (HN, 2/9/97) 1902 Feb 19, Smallpox vaccination became obligatory in France. (HN, 2/19/98) 1902 Mar 20, France and Russia acknowledged the Anglo-Japanese alliance, but asserted their right to protect their interests in China and Korea. (HN, 3/20/98) 1902 Apr 20, Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the radioactive element radium. (AP, 4/20/97) 1902 Nov 24, The first Congress of Professional Photographers convened in Paris. (HN, 11/24/98) 1902 The French film "Le Voyage Dans La Lune" (Voyage to the Moon) was a 14minute silent film directed by Georges Melies. It displayed early efforts in trick photography to show a group of scientists traveling to the moon after being shot from a giant cannon. (WSJ, 3/19/98, p.R4) 1902 Charles R. Debevoise invented the brassiere, but the market rejected it. No early bra did well until elastic came out in 1913. [see May 30, 1889] (SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.10) 1902-1985 Fernand Braudel (b.Aug 24, d.Nov 28 at 83), French historian and educator. He was one of the most important historiographers of the 20th century: "History may be divided into three movements: what moves rapidly, what moves slowly and what appears not to move at all." (AP, 9/5/97)(DT internet 11/28/97) 1903 Mar 20, Henri Matisse exhibited at the Salon des Independants. (HN, 3/20/98) 1903 Apr 6, French Army Nationalists were revealed for forging documents to guarantee a conviction for Alfred Dryfus, an officer accused of giving plans for France's defense to Germany. (HN, 4/6/99) 1903 Jun 7, Professor Curie revealed the discovery of Polonium. (HN, 6/7/98)



1903 Nov 12, The Lebaudy brothers of France set an air-travel distance record of 34 miles in a dirigible. (HN, 11/12/98) 1903 Dec 10, The Nobel Prize for physics was awarded to Pierre and Marie Curie and fellow physicist Henri Becquerel for their work with radioactivity. Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, had coined the term radioactivity. Working together after their marriage in 1895, the Curies made several significant discoveries. They showed that the elements uranium and thorium emitted radiation that Becquerel had detected in uranium and had found to be similar to X-rays. They also found that radioactivity caused particles to be electrically charged, and they discovered two new elements, polonium and radium. Their daughter Irène, later a famed scientist in her own right, was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for the synthesis of new radioactive elements. (HNPD, 12/10/98) 1903 The Tour de France began with 60 cyclists competing in a 2,500 kilometer, 19-day race. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34) 1903-1908 Claude Monet worked on his 2nd series of water lily paintings. (WSJ, 7/1/99, p.A21) 1904 Nov 21, Motorized omnibuses replaced horse-drawn cars in Paris. (HN, 11/21/98) 1904 Paul Cezanne, French painter, declared that he wanted "to do Poussin over from nature," by which he meant that he hoped to transport Poussin's ancient gods and lucid geometries into a breezy impressionist outdoors. Cezanne began his painting "Nature Morte: Rideau a Fleur et Fruits," (Still Life with Flowered Curtain and Fruit). In 1997 it sold for $50 million to Ronald Lauder, chairman of Estee Lauder Int'l. (WSJ, 2/26/96, p.A-10)(WSJ, 1/31/97, p.B1) 1904 Matisse painted his pointillist "Luxe, Calme et Volupte." (WSJ, 12/8/99, p.A20) 1904 Claude Monet painted "Water Lilies." The work was acquired by art-dealer Paul Rosenberg and then stolen by the Nazis and put into the collection of Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. After the war it reverted to the French government. In 1998 the Rosenberg family again laid claim. (SFC, 12/1/98, p.A2) 1905 Feb 1, Germany contested French rule in Morocco. (HN, 2/1/99) 1905 Mar 11, The Parisian subway was officially inaugurated. (HN, 3/11/98)



1905 Apr 1, Berlin and Paris were linked by telephone. (HN, 4/1/98) 1905 Jun 21, Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and existentialist whose works include "The Road to Freedom," was born. (HN, 6/21/98) 1905 The Gallery VII Salon d'Automne in France featured the Fauves. It featured works by Matisse, the acknowledged leader, along with Andre Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck and others. Louis Vauxelles described 2 classic marble sculptures as "Donatello chez les fauves" (D. among the wild beasts). (WSJ, 12/8/99, p.A20) 1905 Matisse painted his "Femme au Chapeau," (Woman with the Hat). It later became part of the Elise S. Haas collection bequeathed to the San Francisco MOMA. (SF E&C, 1/15/1995, SFE Mag. p.21) 1906 Apr 13, Samuel Beckett (d.1989), Irish (French) playwright, Nobel Prize winner in 1969, (Waiting for Godot), was born. He settled in France and wrote in French and then translated to English. Sometimes he reversed the process. His work included "Act Without Words" (1956), "Happy Days" (1960-61), "Rough for Theater II" (1976), "Catastrophe" (1982) and "What's There" (1983). Also the prose trilogy "Molloy," "Malone Dies" and "The Unnamable." In 1996 James Knowlson wrote his study of Beckett: "Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett." (V.D.-H.K.p.369)(SFEC, 10/27/96, BR p.5)(HN, 4/13/98) 1906 Jul 21, French Captain Alfred Dreyfus was vindicated of his earlier court-martial for spying for Germany. (HN, 7/21/98) 1906 Aug 11, In France, Eugene Lauste received the first patent for a talking film. (HN, 8/10/98) 1906 Claude Monet painted "Water Lilies." His last great series was devoted to the water lilies of the pond in his Japanese garden in Giverney. This series of paintings lasted to 1916 and became increasingly abstract. (DPCP 1984) 1906 Auguste Rodin began his sculpture "Large Left Clenched Hand With Figure." (WSJ, 4/1/97, p.A16) 1906 The French film "Madame Has Her Cravings" was a comedy by Guy-Blache, an early female filmmaker. (SFC, 5/26/98, p.D5)



1906 Paul Cezanne, French painter, died. (SFC, 5/27/96, p.B8) 1907 Dec 2, Spain and France agreed to enforce Moroccan measures adopted in 1906. (HN, 12/2/98) 1907 The bowling game of petanque or boule assumed its current form after possible origins in ancient Greece or Egypt. Similar to boccie ball it is played on a dirt court with baseball sized steel balls. In 1998 it was seeking Olympic recognition. (WSJ, 1/5/98, p.20) 1908 Jan 12, A wireless message was sent long-distance for the first time from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. (HN, 1/12/99) 1908 Mar 21, Frenchman Henri Farman carried a passenger in a bi-plane for the first time. (HN, 3/21/98) 1908 Nov 28, Claude Levi-Strauss, French anthropologist, was born. (HN, 11/28/98) 1908 Rene Lalique was making glass perfume bottles for Francois Coty. (SFC, 3/26/97, z1 p.7) 1909 Feb 9, France agreed to recognize German economic interests in Morocco in exchange for political supremacy. (HN, 2/9/97) 1909 Jul 25, French aviator Louis Blériot made the first crossing of the English Channel from Calais to Dover in a powered aircraft on, winning a £1,000 prize offered by the London Daily Mail. Piloting his Type XI monoplane at an average of 39 miles per hour, Blériot made the trip of 23.2 miles in just under 36 minutes [in 37 minutes]. (AP, 7/25/97)(HNPD, 7/25/98) 1909 The Ballet Russes of Serge Diaghilev exploded onto the stage of the Chatelet in Paris. (SFC, 12/27/99, p.E3) 1909 In France the physicist Georges Claude perfected the neon tube and patented a long lasting electrode that he developed for it. 2 English chemists had discovered neon in 1898. (G&M, 7/31/97, p.A20)(SFEC, 5/23/99, p.B7)



1909-1943 Simone Weil, French philosopher: "All sins are attempts to fill voids." "Man alone can enslave man." (AP, 12/10/97)(AP, 8/23/98) 1910 Mar 8, Baroness de Laroche became the first women to obtain a pilot's license in France. (HN, 3/8/98) 1910 Mar 28, The first seaplane took off from water at Martinques, France. (HN, 3/28/98) 1910 Jun 11, Jacques Cousteau (d.1997), pioneer sea explorer, was born in Saint-Andrede-Cubzac, France. He invented the aqualung and wrote "The Living Sea." (SFC, 6/26/97, p.A7)(HN, 6/11/99) 1910 Sep 5, Marie Curie demonstrated the transformation of radium ore to metal at the Academy of Sciences in France. (HN, 9/5/98) 1910 Oct 18, M. Baudry was the first to fly a dirigible across the English Channel--from La Motte-Breil to Wormwood Scrubbs. (HN, 10/18/98) 1910 Matisse painted "La Danse." "The Dance II" later ended up at the Hermitage. (WSJ, 2/16/99, p.A20)(WSJ, 12/8/99, p.A20) 1910 Jean Genet, playwright and novelist, was born. In 1993 Edmund White published "Jean Genet: A Life." (WUD, 1994, p.590)(SFEC, 10/5/97, Z1 p.3) 1910 Paris was menaced by a great flood. "The streets were like rivers, the squares, like great lakes." Severe flooding ravaged Monet's pond at Giverny. (SFEC, 8/25/96, BR p.5)(SFEC, 9/21/97, BR p.4)(WSJ, 7/1/99, p.A21) 1910 Le Divan bookstore was founded in the Left Bank of Paris. It was put up for sale in 1996 by its owners, the Gallimard publishing house. (SFEC, 10/20/96, T9) 1910 Coco Chanel began her career as a milliner about this time, (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R40) 1910 In France a hairdresser devised the permanent wave for hair. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)



1911 Apr 12, Pierre Prier completed the first non-stop London-Paris flight in three hours and 56 minutes. (HN, 4/12/99) 1911 Jul 5, George Pompidou, Prime Minister of France, 1968, was born. (HN, 7/5/98) 1911 Aug 22, It was announced in Paris that Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa had been stolen from the Louvre Museum the night before. It had hung there for more than 100 years.(The painting turned up two years later, in Italy.) (AP, 8/22/97)(HN, 8/22/98) 1911 Debussy composed "Trois Ballades de Francois Villon" set to poems by the poet. (SFEC, 3/28/99, DB p.9) 1911 The bar in Paris at 5 Rue Dannou, later named Harry's, was founded. (SFC, 3/28/98, p.B12) 1912 Mar 4, The French council of war unanimously voted a mandatory three-year military service. (HN, 3/4/98) 1912 Mar 7, French aviator, Heri Seimet flew non-stop from London to Paris in three hours. (HN, 3/7/98) 1912 Sep 7, French aviator Roland Garros set an altitude record of 13,200 feet. (HN, 9/7/98) 1912 Nov 3, The first all metal plane was flown near Issy, France, by pilots Ponche and Prinard. (HN, 11/3/98) 1912 Nov 24, Austria denounced Serbian gains in the Balkans; Russia and France backed Serbia while Italy and Germany backed Austria. (HN, 11/24/98) 1912 The Archbishop of Paris stated that "Christians must not tango." (SFEC,11/30/97, Z1 p.3) 1912 Helena Rubinstein, following her success in Australia and London opened a beauty salon in Paris. (SFEM, 8/23/98, p.29)



1913 Nov 7, Albert Camus (d.1960), French philosopher, novelist, and dramatist best known for his book "The Stranger," was born on an Algerian farm. (WSJ, 12/12/97, p.A16) (HN, 11/7/98) 1913 Nov 28, Heavyweight Jack Johnson KO'd Andre Spaul in Paris. (DT internet 11/28/97) 1913 The avant-garde of pre-WW I Paris was chronicled in 1958 by Roger Shattuck's "The Banquet Years." (WSJ, 9/18/98, p.W8) 1913 Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel opened a milliner's shop [in Paris] with funds from her lover. (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34) 1913 Camille Flammarion, astronomer, proposed a sundial for the Place de la Concorde. [see June 21, 1999] (WSJ, 10/26/99, p.A24) 1914 Mar 4, Doctor Fillatre of Paris, France successfully separated Siamese twins. (HN, 3/4/98) 1914 Aug 3, Germany declared war on France. (AP, 8/3/97) 1914 Aug 19, The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) landed in France. (HN, 8/19/98) 1914 Aug 22, Some 27,000 soldiers died in the bloodiest battle of French history. (SFEC, 9/28/97, Z1 p.2) 1914 Aug 30, Pilots from Germany bombed Paris. (SFC, 8/24/96, p.E3) 1914 Aug, The British Flying Corps (RFC) was sent to France to support the British Expeditionary Corps. (AH, 1/97) 1914 Sep 3, The French capital was moved from Paris to Bordeaux as the Battle of the Marne began. (HN, 9/3/98) 1914 Sep 5, The First Battle of the Marne began during World War I. The German First Army was led by Gen. Alexander von Kluck. (AP, 9/5/97)(WSJ, 12/31/99, p.A10)



1914 Sep 10, The six-day Battle of the Marne ended, and the German advance into France was stopped. 20th century history turned on this pivotal event. (HN, 9/10/98)(WSJ, 12/31/99, p.A10) 1914 Sep 24, In the Alsace-Lorraine area between France and Germany, the German Army captured St. Mihiel. (HN, 9/24/98) 1914 Nov 5, The French and British declared war on Turkey. (HN, 11/5/98) c1914 Edith Wharton authored "French Ways and Their Meaning." She argue in the book for American Intervention in WW I. (SFEM, 3/12/00, p.50) 1915 Jan 14, The French abandoned five miles of trenches to the Germans near Soissons. (HN, 1/14/99) 1915 Feb 19, British and French warships began their attacks on the Turkish forts at the mouth of the Dardenelles, in an abortive expedition to force the straits of Gallipoli. (HN, 2/19/99) 1915 Mar 13, The Germans repelled a British Expeditionary Force attack at the battle of Neuve Chapelle in France. (HN, 3/13/99) 1915 Mar 20, The French called off the Champagne offensive on the Western Front. (HN, 3/20/98) 1915 Mar 22, A German Zeppelin made a night raid on Paris railway stations. (HN, 3/22/97) 1915 May 9, German and French forces fought the Battle of Artois. (HN, 5/9/98) 1915 Apr 22, Germans made the first use of poison gas in World War I at the Second Battle Ypres. Chlorine gas was used along 4 miles of the French line at Ypres. (NH, 10/98, p.18)(HN, 4/22/99) 1915 Jun 21, Germany used poison gas for the first time in warfare in the Argonne Forest. (HN, 6/21/98) 1915 Jun 30, The Second Battle Artois ended as the French failed to take Vimy Ridge. (HN, 6/30/98)



1915 Sep 8, Germany began a new offensive in Argonne on the Western Front. (HN, 9/8/98) 1915 Sep 25, An allied offensive was launched in France against the German Army. (HN, 9/25/98) 1915 Dec 19, Edith Piaf, internationally famous French cabaret singer, was born. She is best remembered for her songs "La Vie en rose" and "Non, je ne regrette rein." (HN, 12/19/99) 1915 The government banned absinthe, the "Green Goddess," which had become renowned for causing convulsions, hallucinations and psychosis. (WSJ, 1/22/99, p.W8) 1915-1916 The 10-part silent serial "Les Vampires" by Louis Feuillade was produced. (SFC, 8/8/97, p.D3) 1916 Jan 2, The U.S. instructed Ambassador Sharp to tell the Entente in Paris that America would reject the German peace offer. (HN, 1/2/99) 1916 Feb 21, The World War I Battle of Verdun began in France. (AP, 2/21/98) 1916 Feb 26, General Henri Philippe Petain took command of the French forces at Verdun. A line of bayonets protruding from the earth still testifies to French valor at Verdun in World War I. (HN, 2/26/98) 1916 Mar 6, The Allies recaptured Fort Douamont in France. (HN, 3/6/98) 1916 Mar 7, French Defense Minister Joseph Gallieni resigned from his position. (HN, 3/7/98) 1916 Jul 4, Poet Alan Seeger died in action at Befloy-en-Santerre. Born in New York City in 1888, Seeger went to Paris in 1912 and joined the French Foreign legion at the outbreak of WWI. He was killed in the Battle of the Somme. He wrote the lines: I have a rendezvous with death / At some disputed barricade..." (SFEC, 3/16/97, z1 p.2)(HNQ, 8/23/98) 1916 Aug 12, In Paris Jean Cocteau took pictures of Pablo Picasso, poet Max Jacob and painter Amedeo Modigliani and other friends as they met for lunch and passed the afternoon. It all came out in the 1997 book by Billy Kluver: A Day With Picasso." (SFC,11/18/97, p.E1)



1916 Oct 26, French leader Francois Mitterrand, was born. (HN, 10/26/98) 1916 Dec 3, French commander Joffre was dismissed after his failure at the Somme. Nivelle became the new French commander-in-chief. (HN, 12/3/98) 1916 Dec 15, The French defeated the Germans in the World War I Battle of Verdun. [see Dec 18] (AP, 12/15/97) 1916 Dec 18, The Battle of Verdun ended with the French and Germans each having suffered more than 330,000 killed and wounded in 10 months. [see Dec 15] (HN, 12/18/98) 1916 Eric Satie composed "Trois melodies." (SFC,11/14/97, p.C5) 1917 Dec 12, A train disaster killed 543 people in Modane, France. (SFC, 6/4/98, p.A15) 1917 Aug 14, China declared war on Germany and Austria during World War I. (AP, 8/14/97) 1917 Jun 7, British Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig launched his assault in Flanders to take German pressure off his French allies. For months, troops of the British Expeditionary Force fought a series of pointless battles in a nightmarish landscape of knee-deep shell holes filled with mud and blasted, skeletal trees. When the campaign finally ground to a halt on November 10, 1917, the BEF had suffered losses of 300,000 men and German losses were around 200,000--for a total gain of four miles. (HNPD, 6/7/99) 1917 Jun 26, General John "Black Jack" Pershing arrived in France with the first troops of the American Expeditionary Force. (AP, 6/26/97)(HN, 6/26/98) 1917 Jul 4, During a ceremony in Paris honoring the French hero of the American Revolution, U.S. Lt. Col. Charles E. Stanton declared, "Lafayette, we are here!" (AP, 7/4/97) 1917 Oct 14, Mata Hari, a Paris dancer, was executed by the French after being convicted of passing military secrets to the Germans. [see Oct 15] (HN, 10/14/98) 1917 Oct 15, Mata Hari, the woman whose name has become synonymous with a seductive female spy, was executed by the French outside Paris on charges of spying for



the Germans during World War I. Born in 1876 the daughter of a prosperous Dutch merchant, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle married a colonial army officer named MacLeod in 1895. The couple lived for five years in Java and Sumatra before the marriage failed. By 1905, Mrs. MacLeod was calling herself Mata Hari--said to be Malay for "eye of the day"--and creating a sensation as an exotic East Indian dancer in Europe. Among her many lovers were military officers and, although the facts surrounding her espionage activities are still unclear, Mata Hari was arrested by the French as a German spy in February 1917. After a two-day trial before a military court, Mata Hari was sentenced to death for espionage. [see Oct 14] (WSJ, 1/16/97, p.A16)(AP, 10/15/97)(HNPD, 10/15/98) 1917 Oct 19, The first doughnut was fried by Salvation Army volunteer women for American troops in France during World War I. (HN, 10/19/98) 1917 Oct 21, Members of the First Division of the U.S. Army training in Luneville, France, became the first Americans to see action on the front lines of World War I. The first U.S. troops entered the front lines at Sommervillier under French command. (AP, 10/21/98)(HN, 10/21/98) 1917 Nov 10, The assault on Flanders finally ground to a halt. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had suffered losses of 300,000 men and German losses were around 200,000--for a total gain of four miles and the occupation of Passchendaele. (HN, 6/7/98)(HNQ, 11/2/98) 1917 Nov 17, The French Sculptor Rodin froze to death in an unheated attic in Meudon, France. He had applied to the government for quarters as warm as those wherein his statues were stored, but the government turned him down. His studio was called La Villa des Brillants. His work included several versions of a "Monument to Victor Hugo," "The Kiss," "The Burghers of Calais" and "The Thinker." His famous "Balzac" wasn't cast in bronze until 1939. The film "Camille Claudel" told the story of Rodin's mistress, a brilliant sculptress who went mad after their love affair. (SFC, 12/4/94, p. S-8)(SFEC, 8/25/96, p.T10) (AP, 11/17/97) 1917 Nov, Georges Clemenceau became premier of France at the age of 76 and appointed himself as minister of war as well as chief of state. For his contribution to the victory of the Allies in World War I, premier Clemenceau was referred to as the "Father of Victory." A physician, journalist, author and statesman, Clemenceau was an ardent upholder of the French Third Republic. He strove to create an indomitable "will to victory" and proclaimed "To be entirely in unity with the soldier, to live, to suffer, to fight with him." Clemenceau, declared he would wage war "to the last quarter hour, for the last quarter hour will be ours." Born on September 28,1841, Clemenceau died on November 24, 1929. (HNQ, 3/23/99)



1917 In France Marcel Duchamp christened a supine urinal as a work of art, "Fountain," and signed it with a fictitious name. The original was lost but he authorized an edition of 8 replicas in 1964. (SFC, 6/5/98, p.A17) 1917 Egon Schiele, Vienese artist, made his "Kneeling Girl Propped on Her Elbows." (WSJ, 11/19/97, p.A20) 1917 Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas (b1834), French impressionist painter died. (WSJ, 10/2/96, p.B5) 1918 Jan 29, The Supreme Allied Council met at Versailles. (HN, 1/29/99) 1918 Mar 21, During World War I, Germany launched the Somme 'Michael' Offensive in France, hoping to break through the Allied line before American reinforcements could arrive. It is better remembered as the First Battle of the Somme. (WUD, 1994, p.1356)(AP, 3/21/97)(HN, 3/21/99) 1918 Mar 25, French composer Claude Debussy died in Paris. (AP, 3/25/97) 1918 Mar 26, On the Western Front during World War I the Germans took the French towns Noyon, Roye and Lihons. (HN, 3/25/98) 1918 Mar-Jul 1919, The art collection of Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas, more than 500 paintings and 5,000 prints, was auctioned off in Paris. (WSJ, 10/21/97, p.A20) 1918 Apr 4, Battle of Somme [France], an offensive by the British against the German Army ended. (HN, 4/4/99) 1918 May 15, Pfc. Henry Johnson and Pfc. Needham Roberts received the Croix de Guerre for their services in World War I. They were the first Americans to win France's highest military medal. (HN, 5/15/99) 1918 May, The German army staged a surprise offensive and rolled into the Marne Valley through the center of the French 6th Army. The Germans were held at bay by some 9,000 US Marines of the 5th and 6th Regiments of the 4th Brigade. (SFC, 6/6/97, p.A26)



1918 Jun 4, French and American troops halted Germany's offensive at Chateau-Thierry, France. (HN, 6/4/98) 1918 Jun 6, In France the US Marines counter-attacked the Germans and pushed them back to the woods at Bois de Belleau. U.S. Marines were the "first to fight" at the Battle of Belleau Wood. (SFC, 6/6/97, p.A26) (HN, 6/6/98) 1918 Jun 12, First airplane bombing raid by an American unit occurred on World War I's Western Front in France. (HN, 6/12/98) 1918 Jun 26, After a brief respite, the Germans began firing their huge 420 mm howitzer "Big Bertha" at Paris. (HN, 6/26/98) 1918 Jun 28, The US Marines took the Bois de Belleau. (SFC, 6/6/97, p.A26) 1918 Jul 15, The Second Battle of the Marne began during World War I. (AP, 7/15/97) 1918 Sep 12, During World War I, U.S. forces led by Gen. John J. Pershing launched an attack on the German-occupied St. Mihiel salient north of Verdun, France. (AP, 9/12/97) 1918 Sep 12, British troops retook Havincourt, Moeuvres, and Trescault along the Western Front. (HN, 9/12/98) 1918 Sep 13, U.S. and French forces took St. Mihiel, France, in America's first action as a standing army. (HN, 9/13/98) 1918 Oct 8, US Sgt. Alvin C. York almost single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and captured 132 in the Argonne Forest in France. (AP, 10/8/97) 1918 Nov 21, The last German troops left Alsace-Lorraine, France. (HN, 11/21/98) 1918 Dec 13, President Wilson arrived in France, becoming the first chief executive to visit Europe while in office. (AP, 12/13/97)



1918 In France the Meuse-Argonne offensive action was made. A portion of the U.S. 77th Division in World War I was encircled by the Germans during the 1918 MeuseArgonne offensive of World War I and called the "lost battalion.". The unit managed to hold off its attackers until relief finally arrived. (SFC, 1/26/98, p.A17) 1919 Jan 18, The World War I Peace Congress opened in Versailles, France. (AP, 1/18/98) 1919 Feb 15, The American Legion was organized in Paris. (440 Int'l., 2/15/99) 1919 Feb 19, The First Pan African Congress met in Paris, France. (HN, 2/19/99) 1919 Mar 8, Reports from Paris indicated that 6,000 American men had married French women in the past year. (HN, 3/8/98) 1919 Mar 14, Emile Cottin was condemned to death for the attempt on the life of Clemenceau. (HN, 3/14/98) 1919 Mar 22, The first international airline service was inaugurated on a weekly schedule between Paris and Brussels. (AP, 3/22/99) 1919 Mar 25, The Paris Peace Commission adopted a plan to protect nations from the influx of foreign labor. (HN, 3/24/98) 1919 Jun 28, The Treaty of Versailles was signed in France, ending World War I. World War I began in 1914 and ended on this date. (HFA, '96, p.32)(AP, 6/28/97) 1919 Nov 19, The Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles by a vote of 55 in favor to 39 against, short of the two-thirds majority needed for ratification. (AP, 11/19/97) 1919 Nov 30, Women cast votes for the first time in French legislative elections. (HN, 11/30/98) 1919 At the Folies Bergere women performed totally nude on stage for the first time in the modern Western World. (SFEC, 1/10/99, Z1 p.8)



c1919 Jose Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera, Mexican painters in Paris, decided that the Mexican revolution must be expressed in a public art that all could understand. (SFEC, 11/8/98, p.T5) 1920 Jan 3, The last of the U.S. troops quit France. (HN, 1/3/99) 1920 May 16, Joan of Arc was canonized in Rome. (AP, 5/16/97)(HN, 5/16/98) 1920 Dec 30, Ho Chi Minh helped found the Communist Party of France on December 30, 1920, while a student there. Known then as Nguyen Ai Quoc, Ho went on to Moscow in 1923 for training in revolutionary strategy by the Communist International. After several years in the Soviet Union and China, Ho returned to Vietnam to lead his nation's revolutionary movement. (HNQ, 4/13/99) 1920 Sara (b.1883) and Gerald Murphy (d.1964) rented a floor of the Hotel du Cap on the French Riviera for the summer while their villa was being built, and invited their friends, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso, Marlene Dietrich, and the Windsors. Hemingway's book, "A Moveable Feast," was a memoir on the Murphys. Fitzgerald's characters of Dick and Nicole Diver in "Tender Is the Night" was based on the Murphys. In 1962 Calvin Thomas published "Living Well Is the Best Revenge," based on the Murphys. In 1983 Honoria Murphy published a personal memoir of her parents "Sara and Gerald." In 1998 Amanda Vail published "Everybody Was So Young: Gerald and Sara Murphy-- A Lost Generation Love Story." (CNT, Nov.,1994, p.219)(SFEC, 8/9/98, BR 9 p.9) 1920 The French film "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" was directed by Germaine Dulac. (SFC, 5/26/98, p.D5) 1920 Emile Coue (1857-1926), French pharmacist, devised the mantra "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better" to promote his theory of self-improvement through auto-suggestion. (NH, 7/98, p.20) 1920-1925 In Paris, The Swedish Ballet, founded by Rolf de Mare, brought together painters, filmmakers, actors, dancers and composers in Paris. Designs by Ferdnand Leger and Giorgio de Chirico, music by Eric Satie and Cole Porter, and film by Rene Clair marked the performances. (SFC, 6/20/96, p.D1) Go to 1921 France 1921-1967



Return to algis.com 1921 Jan 5, Wagner's "Die Walkyrie" opened in Paris. This was the first German opera performed in Paris since the beginning of WWI. (HN, 1/5/99) 1921 Mar 8, French troops occupied Dusseldorf. (HN, 3/8/98) 1921 The Colombe d'Or (Golden Dove) north of Nice began life as a restaurant called "A Robinson" under Paul and Baptistine Roux. The restaurant changed its name and was converted to a hotel in 1931 with the sign "lodgings for men, horses, and painters." (SFEC, 3/29/98, p.T10) c1921 The unknown soldier of France was buried beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. (SFC, 5/27/96, p.B8) 1921-1924 The number of Americans in Paris swelled from 6,000 to 30,000. (SFEC, 8/9/98, BR 9 p.9) 1922 In Pauillac Baron Philippe de Rothschild took over the Bordeaux region vineyard that had been initially purchased by his great-grandfather. He initiated bottling all production at the chateau and commissioned the architect, Charles Siclis, to build the famous "Grand Chai," as the centerpiece building. (SFEC, 2/1/98, p.T4) 1922 Marcel Proust (b.1871), French writer died. His masterpiece was "Remembrance of Things Past." In 1998 it was turned into a comic book series. In 1998 Alain de Botton published the whimsical "How Proust Can Save Your Life." In 1999 Edmund White wrote the biography "Marcel Proust." The major biography by John Yves Taddie was scheduled to appear in English in 1999. (SFC, 9/16/98, p.A10)(SFEC, 1/17/99, BR p.3) 1923 Jan 4, The Paris Conference on war reparations hit a deadlock as the French insisted on the hard line and the British insisted on Reconstruction. (HN, 1/4/99) 1923 Jan 11, The French entered Essen in the Ruhr. They were there to extract Germany's resources as war payment. (HN, 1/11/99) 1923 Jan 19, The French announced the invention of a new gun with a range of 56 miles. (HN, 1/19/99)



1923 Feb 4, French troops took Offenburg, Appenweier and Buhl in the Ruhr as a part of the agreement ending World War I. (HN, 2/4/99) 1923 Mar 22, Marcel Marceau, French mime, was born. "I do not get my ideas from people on the street. If you look at faces on the street, what do you see? Nothing. Just boredom." He devised over 100 pantomimes, including The Creation of the World. (HN, 3/22/97)(AP, 3/22/99) 1923 Jun 13, The French set a trade barrier between the occupied Ruhr and the rest of Germany. (HN, 6/13/98) 1923 Jun 20, France announced it would seize the Rhineland to assist Germany in paying her war debts. (HN, 6/20/98) 1923 Harry MacElhone (d.1958) bought a bar in Paris at 5 rue Dannou behind the opera and named it Harry's New York Bar. It later became a hangout for the "Lost Generation." His son, Andrew, (1923-1996) took over 1958. Andrew's son Duncan (d.1998 at 44) took over in 1989. Cocktails such as the French 75 (named after a WW I artillery piece), the Bloody Mary and the Side Car were invented there. (SFC, 9/20/96, p.A22)(SFC, 3/28/98, p.B12) 1923 Andre Malraux, while doing archeological research in Cambodia, was arrested for dislodging 7 heads from a temple with a handsaw, a chisel and crowbar. (WSJ, 7/3/97, p.A9) 1924 Roland Petit, premier choreographer, was born. (SFC, 12/28/99, p.C4) 1924 In Paris the Ile St.-Louis made an unsuccessful attempt to secede from Paris and France and issued its own passports. (SFEC, 6/22/97, p.T8) 1924 E.M. Antoniadi of France described planet-wide dust storms on Mars. (SFC, 11/29/96, p.A17) 1925 Jun 16, France accepted a German proposal for a security pact. (HN, 6/16/98) 1925 Jun 22, France and Spain agreed to join forces against Abd el Krim in Morocco. (HN, 6/22/98) 1925 Pierre Bonnard painted "After the Meal." (SFEC, 8/2/98, BR p.9)



1925 The art-deco style was formally introduced by Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann at the Paris Design Exposition. The expo was called Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes (WSJ, 10/24/97, p.B18)(SFC, 4/18/98, p.C3) 1926 Jun 26, A memorial to the first U.S. troops in France was unveiled at St. Nazaire. (HN, 6/26/98) 1926 Matisse painted "Odalisque." He produced more than 50 harem nudes between 1919 and 1929, a period where he spent winters by the seaside in Nice. (WSJ, 12/11/97, p.A21) 1927 Sep 14, Modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan died in Nice, France, when her scarf became entangled in a wheel of her sports car. (AP, 9/14/97) 1927 The La Samaritaine department store in Paris was constructed. It replaced an earlier building built in 1905. (SFEM, 3/12/00, p.) 1927 The French launched a major military campaign in Syria to suppress a revolt by the Druze, which began in 1925 under the leadership of Sultan al-Atrash. A large French force sent against them was defeated and the revolt spread into the Druze portions of Lebanon. When the insurgents gained a foothold in Damascus, the French bombarded the city. (HNQ, 5/25/99) 1928 Feb 7, The United States signed an arbitration treaty with France. (HN, 2/7/99) 1928 Jun 20, Jean-Marie Le-Pen, leader of the National Front party in France, was born. (HN, 6/20/98) 1928 Aug 27, The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in Paris, outlawing war and providing for the peaceful settlement of disputes. (AP, 8/27/97) 1928 Nov 22, "Bolero" by Maurice Ravel made its debut in Paris. (AP, 11/22/97) 1929 Feb 1, Weightlifter, Charles Rigoulet of France, achieved the first 400 pound 'clean and jerk' as he lifted 402-1/2 pounds. (440 Int'l, 2/1/1999) 1929 Jean Cocteau wrote his novel "Les Enfants Terribles" while in a sanatorium trying to shake his opium habit. He narrated the 1950 film version. In 1997 it was made into an



opera by Philip Glass. (WSJ, 11/26/96, p.A16)(SFC, 10/12/97, DB p.40) 1930 Apr 30, The Soviet Union proposed military alliance with France and Great Britain. (HN, 4/30/98) 1930 Jun 30, France pulled its troops out of Germany's Rhineland. (HN, 6/30/98) 1931 Pierre Bonnard painted his Self-Portrait, "The Boxer" and "Still Life in front of a Window." (WSJ, 2/8/96, p.A-12)(WSJ, 6/24/98, p.A16) 1932 Mar 12, The so-called "Swedish Match King," Ivar Kreuger, committed suicide in Paris, leaving behind a financial empire that turned out to be worthless. (AP, 3/12/99) 1932 Nov 28, France & USSR signed not-attack treaty. (DT internet 11/28/97) 1932 Nov 29, Jacques Chirac was born. (WP, 6/29/96, p.A20) 1932 Picasso painted "The Mirror." In 1989 it sold for $26.4 mil. and in 1995 for $20 mil. He also painted "Bather With a Beach Ball" now at New York's MOMA. His work "The Dream" sold for $48.4 mil in 1997. (WSJ, 11/21/95, p.A-12) (SFC, 6/4/96, p.E5)(WSJ, 11/25/97, p.A20) 1932 Paul Ricard (1909-1997) mixed liquorice, aniseed and star aniseed to make the aperitif that he called Ricard pastis. His brand became a market leader and he became one of the country's richest and most influential men. (SFC,11/8/97, p.A22) 1933 Jun 19, France granted Leon Trotsky political asylum. (HN, 6/19/98) 1933 Dec, In France the financial scandal known as the Stavisky Affair triggered rightwing agitation that caused a major crisis for the government. In December 1933 the bonds issued by the credit organization of financier Alexandre Stavisky were found to be worthless and in January 1934 Stavisky was found dead. Although ruled a suicide, the French right wing claimed Stavisky had been killed to cover up the involvement of government officials in the scandal. [see Feb 6, 1934] (HNQ, 4/20/99)



1933 Stephane Grappelli, jazz violinist, and Django Reinhardt, Gypsy guitarist, began playing with bassist Louis Vola at the Hotel Claridges in Paris and went on to form formed the Hot Club Quintet. (SFC, 12/2/97, p.A22) 1934 Feb 6, Anti-republican and Fascist forces seized upon the Stavisky scandal and instigated anti-government demonstrations, culminating in the February 6, 1934 riot in front of the Chamber of Deputies in which 15 were killed. (HNQ, 4/20/99) 1934 Oct 9, In Marseilles, a Macedonian revolutionary associated with Croat terrorists in Hungary assassinated King Alexander of Yugoslavia and French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou. The two had been on a tour of European capitals in quest of an alliance against Nazi Germany. The assassinations brought the threat of war between Yugoslavia and Hungary, but confrontation was prevented by the League of Nations. 2 newsreel cameramen captured the assassination on film (HN, 10/9/98)(WSJ, 5/20/99, p.A8) 1934 The film "Affaires Publique" was the first directed by Robert Bresson. (SFC, 12/22/99, p.A27) 1935 Mar 23, France, Italy and Britain agreed to present a unified front in response to Germany. (HN, 3/23/98) 1935 Nov 3, Left-wing groups in France formed the Socialist and Republican Union. (HN, 11/3/98) 1935 Jacques Pepin was born in Bourg-en-Bresse to the proprietors of the restaurant called Le Pelican. (SFC, 10/20/99, Z1p.4) 1935 Piet Mondrian made his abstract "Composition No. 3. White-Yellow." It was first painted in Paris and then repainted in New York City in 1942. (SFC, 6/5/98, p.A17) 1935 France passed a set of laws known as Appellation d'Origine Controlee (controlled place of origin). The AOC laws were meant to protect growers and properly identify a wine's origin. They were not intended as an indicator of quality. (SFC, 1/8/97, zz-1 p.4) 1936 Mar 25, Britain, the U.S. and France signed a naval accord in London. (HN, 3/24/98)



1936 The first comprehensive catalogue of Cezanne's work was published in Paris by Italian scholar Lionello Venturi. (WSJ, 2/10/96, p.A16) 1936-1937 Leon Blum, a socialist intellectual, was the head of the Popular Front government. The 1999 book "Burden of Responsibility" by Tony Judt included an analysis of Blum. (WSJ, 1/28/99, p.A16) 1937 Dec 28, Composer Maurice Ravel died in Paris. (AP, 12/28/97) 1937 Bronislava Nijinska created her legendary "Chopin Concerto Ballet" for the Paris Int'l. Expo. (SFC, 7/30/97, p.E5) 1937 The French film "Yoshiwara" was set in Japan and directed by Max Ophuls. (SFEC, 9/5/99, DB p.50) 1937 The Eiffel Tower was embroidered with 10,000 meters of pink, blue and green neon to celebrate an int'l. exposition. (G&M, 7/31/97, p.A20) 1938 Jul 4, France-Turkish friendship treaty. (Maggio, 98) 1938 Sep 30, At a Munich conference British, French, German and Italian leaders agreed to the cession of Sudetenland, inhabited by a German-speaking minority, from Czechoslovakia to Germany. British prime minister Neville Chamberlain gained a brief peace agreement from Hitler at Munich. Some mark this "appeasement policy" as the decisive event of the century. Chamberlain predicted "peace in our time." French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier was very depressed from the meeting. (WUD, 1994, p.1682)(SFC, 6/9/96, Zone 1 p.5)(SFC, 6/16/96, Zone1 p.6) (TL,1988,p.111)(AP, 9/30/97)(WSJ, 6/8/98, p.A21)(HN, 9/30/98) 1938 Dec 6, France and Germany signed a treaty of friendship. (HN, 12/6/98) 1938 Dec 17, Italy declared the 1935 pact with France invalid, because ratification's had not been exchanged. France denied the argument. (HN, 12/17/98) 1938 Dec 28, France ordered the doubling of forces in Somaliland; two warships were sent. (HN, 12/28/98)



1938 Man Ray created an imaginary portrait of the Marquis de Sade. (SFEC, 7/25/99, BR p.3) 1938 Marcel Carne (1906-1990), French film director, shot his first masterpiece, "Hotel du Nord." His style became known as "poetic realism." (SFC, 11/1/96, p.A28) 1939 Jan 21, Picasso painted two pictures, both titled "Reclining Woman with Book." In one Marie-Theresa Walter is pictured in a smooth S-curve, in the other Dora Maar (born as Theodora Markovitch d.1997 at 89) is broken into jagged forms. Maar was a painter and photographer and struggled to develop her own ambitions, but failed and spent much of her life as a recluse. (WSJ, 4/26/96, p.A-13)(SFC, 7/26/97, p.A24) 1939 Jan 27, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved the sale of U.S. war planes to France. (HN, 1/27/99) 1939 Feb 10, Japanese occupied the island of Hainan in French Indochina. (HN, 2/10/97) 1939 Mar 31, Britain and France agreed to support Poland if Germany threatened to invade. Seven French islands were annexed by Japan. (HN, 3/31/98) 1939 Sep 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany, two days after the Nazi invasion of Poland. After Germany ignored Great Britain's ultimatum to stop the invasion of Poland, Great Britain declares war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II in Europe. (AP, 9/3/97)(HN, 9/3/98) 1939 Sep 7, In response to the German invasion of Poland a week earlier, France invaded its neighbor Germany. In Operation Saar, French forces marched into the Cadenbronn and Wendt Forest near Saarrucken. The French met little or no opposition as they drove five miles into Germany. The sluggish advance was hindered by low troop morale and lack of support. The Soviet Union's invasion of Poland from the east on September 17 prompted the French withdrawal to the Maginot Line in anticipation of a German counterattack. The only French offensive of WWII lasted 14 days. (HNQ, 7/9/99) 1939 Sep 30, The French Army was called back into France from it's invasion of Germany. The attack, code named Operation Saar, only penetrated five miles. (HN, 9/30/99) 1939 Pierre Bonnard painted "The Garden." (WSJ, 6/24/98, p.A16)



1939 Nathalie Sarraute published her book of 24 sketches called "Tropisms." (SFC, 10/21/99, p.A25) 1940 Mar 25, The U.S. agreed to give Britain and France access to all American warplanes. (HN, 3/24/98) 1940 Apr 15, French and British troops landed at Narvik, Norway. (HN, 4/15/98) 1940 May 12, The Nazi blitz conquest of France began with the crossing at the Muese River. (SC, internet, 5/12/97)(HN, 5/12/98) 1940 May 17, Germany occupied Brussels, Belgium, and began the invasion of France. [see May 12] (AP, 5/17/97)(HN, 5/17/98) 1940 May 21, British tank forces attacked General Erwin Rommel's 7th Panzer Division at Arras, slowing his blitzkrieg of France. (HN, 5/21/99) 1940 May, The Germans made their panzer attack across the Ardennes. (DrEE, 10/26/96, p.4) 1940 May 26, The evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, during World War II began. (AP, 5/26/97) 1940 Jun 3, The German Luftwaffe hit Paris with 1,100 bombs. (HN, 6/3/98) 1940 Jun 4, The [British] Allied military evacuation of 300,000 troops from Dunkirk, France, ended. (AP, 6/4/97)(HN, 6/4/98) 1940 Jun 5, The Battle of France began during World War II. The German army began its offensive on Southern France. (AP, 6/5/97)(HN, 6/5/99) 1940 Jun 10, Italy declared war on France and Britain; Canada declared war on Italy. (AP, 6/10/97) 1940 Jun 13, Paris was evacuated before the German advance on the city. (HN, 6/13/98)



1940 Jun 15, The French fortress of Verdun was captured by Germans. (HN, 6/15/98) 1940 Jun 16, French Chief of State, Henri Petain, asked for an armistice with Germany. [see Jun 17] (HN, 6/16/98) 1940 Jun 17, France asked Germany for terms of surrender in World War II. (AP, 6/17/97) 1940 Jun 18, Charles de Gaulle, future president of France, broadcast to his nation from London, urging it to rally to him and fight Hitler's invading army. (AP, 6/18/99) 1940 Jun 22, During World War II, Adolf Hitler gained a stunning victory as France was forced to sign an armistice eight days after German forces overran Paris. France and Germany signed an armistice at Compiegne, on terms dictated by the Nazis. Alsace again became part of Germany. (AP, 6/22/97)(HN, 6/22/98)(SFEC, 1/31/99, p.T4) 1940 Jun 24, France signed an armistice with Italy after the axis country attacked a portion of southern France during Germany's blitzkrieg. (AP, 6/24/97)(HN, 6/24/99) 1940 Jun, The Germans began to loot the artwork of Paris and more than 70,000 residences were plundered. A lot of artwork was sold to the Emil Buhrle Foundation in Switzerland, the largest buyer of confiscated French art. The story is told by Hector Feliciano in his 1997 book: "The Lost Museum." The best book on the fate of European art in WW II was reported to be "The Rape of Europa" by Lynn Nicholas. (SFEC, 7/6/97, BR p.7) 1940 Jul 5, During World War II, Britain and Marshal Henri Petain's Vichy government in France broke diplomatic relations. (AP, 7/5/97)(HN, 7/5/98) 1940 Aug, Jacques Robert (d.1998 at 83) joined the French Resistance. He set up the Resistance group named Phratrie in 1942. In 1943 he was arrested in Nice, but escaped to London. He parachuted back to France to lead guerrilla operations in 1944 during the Normandy invasion. (SFC, 2/18/98, p.A18) 1940 Sep 3, In France more than 700,000 books were seized from bookshops and destroyed. The "Otto lists," or liste Otto, were comprised of books banned by the German occupying authorities in Vichy France. By September, 1940, 1,060 titles were on the list. The list aimed to ban anti-German, antifascist, pro-Marxists books, works by Jewish



authors and British and American books. (HNQ, 8/16/98) 1940 Autumn, Maurice Schumann (d.1998 at 86), "the voice of France," began wartime broadcasting "The French Speak to the French" from London as the official spokesman for Gen'l. de Gaulle. (SFC, 2/11/98, p.A24) 1940 Oct 3, A law was passed that placed great restrictions on French Jews. (SFC, 10/2/97, p.A9) 1940 The French film "From Mayerling to Serajevo" starred John Cabot Lodge as Archduke Ferdinand and Edwige Feuillere as Czech Countess Sophie Chotek. It was directed by Max Ophuls. (SFEC, 9/5/99, DB p.50) 1940 In France Aristides de Sousa Mendes (d.1954), a Portuguese diplomat posted in Bordeaux, issued 30,000 visas to Jews and 20,000 to other refugees against the instructions of his government. (SFC, 9/7/96, p.A13)(SFC, 9/9/96, p.A16) 1940 Francois Lehideux (d.1998 at 95), the minister of industrial production, agreed that Renault would furnish parts to the German army, repair tanks and provide technical assistance in the war effort. He was arrested and jailed after liberation, but was freed in 1946. He went on to head Ford of France until 1953. (SFC, 6/26/98, p.D4) 1940 The cave at Lascaux, containing paintings from the last ice age, was found in the Dordogne region. (SFEC, 5/30/99, p.T4) 1940-1944 The period of German occupation. In 1998 Ian Ousby published "Occupation: The Ordeal of France 1940-1944." (SFEC, 8/16/98, Par p.8) 1941 Jan 28, French General Charles DeGaulle's Free French forces sacked south Libya oasis. (HN, 1/28/99) 1941 Mar 10, Vichy France threatened to use its navy if Britain would not allow food to reach France. (HN, 3/10/98) 1941 May 14, French Admiral Francois Darlan, leader of the armed forces of Vichy France, broadcast to the citizens that only within the confines of the Third Reich can



France thrive. (HN, 5/14/99) 1941 Jul 14, Vichy French Foreign Legionaries signed an armistice in Damascus, allowing them to join the Free French Foreign Legion. (HN, 7/14/99) 1941 Jul 21, France accepted Japan's demand for military control of Indochina. (HN, 7/21/98) 1941 Aug 12, French Marshal Henri Philippe Petain announced full French collaboration with Nazi Germany. (HN, 8/12/98) 1941 Dec 25, Free French occupied the French Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon off the Canadian coast. (HN, 12/25/98) 1942 Feb 27, British Commandos raided a German radar station at Bruneval on the French coast. The warrior spies of the Abwehr, Germany's intelligence agency, were the Brandenburg commandos. (HN, 2/27/98) 1942 Mar 3, The RAF raided the industrial suburbs of Paris. (HN, 3/3/99) 1942 Mar 27, The British raided the Nazi submarine base at St. Nazaire, France. (HN, 3/27/98) 1942 Mar 28, During World War II, British naval forces raided the Nazi-occupied French port of St. Nazaire. British Bomber Command launched an attack on the German city of Lubeck. (AP, 3/28/97) (HN, 3/28/98) 1942 Apr 20, Pierre Laval, the premier of Vichy France, in a radio broadcast, established a policy of "true reconciliation with Germany." (HN, 4/20/99) 1942 Jul, The first large-scale roundups of Jews began under protests by only a halfdozen Catholic church leaders. (SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A22) 1942 Aug 11, During World War II, Vichy government official Pierre Laval publicly declared that "the hour of liberation for France is the hour when Germany wins the war." (AP, 8/11/99)



1942 Aug 19, About 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launched a disastrous raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France, suffering about 50 percent casualties. (AP, 8/19/97)(HN, 8/19/98) 1942 Sep 20, In France a shipment of 1,000 French and foreign Jews, including 163 children, was arranged by Vichy administrator Michel Junot. They were sent to Drancy, north of Paris, and then to Auschwitz. (SFC, 2/1/97, p.A14) 1942 Nov 10, Admiral Jean Darlan ordered French forces in North Africa to cease resistance to the Anglo-American forces. Admiral Jean Francois Darlan, leader of the armed forces of Vichy France, was assassinated in Algiers in 1942. (HN, 11/10/98) 1942 Nov 27, During World War II, the French navy at Toulon scuttled its ships and submarines to keep them out of the hands of the Nazis. (AP, 11/27/97) 1942 Dec 18, Hitler met with Mussolini and Pierre Laval. (HN, 12/18/98) 1942 Jean Anouilh wrote his play "Antigone." It was staged in Paris in 1944 during the German occupation. (SFC, 9/27/96, p.C6)(WSJ, 8/12/98, p.A13) 1942 Albert Camus wrote "The Stranger" and "The Myth of Sisyphus." He established himself as a spokesman for a philosophy of the absurd along with Jean-Paul Sartre. (WSJ, 12/12/97, p.A16) 1942 Marcel Carne (1906-1990), French film director, made "Night Visitors" (Les Visiteurs du Soir). (SFC, 11/1/96, p.A28) 1942 In France the Nazis banned English language films. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" was the last English-language film shown. (WSJ, 5/20/97, p.A18) 1942 Admiral Jean Francois Darlan, leader of the armed forces of Vichy France, was assassinated in Algiers. (HN, 6/16/98)(HN, 7/5/98) 1942-1944 Maurice Papon served as the Vichy police supervisor in Bordeaux [the deputy prefect in Gironde]. He was later charged with the arrest and deportation of 1,690 French Jews. Under the Vichy regime some 75,000 (76,000) were deported to Nazi death camps. Rene Bousquet was the national Vichy police chief. (SFC, 1/24/97, p.A15)(WSJ, 10/1/97, p.A1)(SFC, 4/3/98, p.B2)



1943 Jan 8, The British handed Madagascar over to the Free French. (HN, 1/8/99) 1943 Jan 13, General Leclerc's Free French forces merged with the British under Montgomery in Libya. (HN, 1/13/99) 1943 Jan 14, Roosevelt, Churchill, and DeGaulle met at Casablanca to discuss the direction of the war. (AP, 1/14/98) (HN, 1/14/99) 1943 Jan 14, Italian occupation authorities refused to deport any Jews living on their territories in France. (HN, 1/14/99) 1943 Aug 25, Lt. Andre Devigny (d.1999 at 82) escaped from a German prison in Lyon. He was sentenced to be executed on Aug 28 for assassinating the head of the Fascist Italian secret police. He was captured the next day and escaped again by diving into the Rhone River. In 1957 Robert Bresson made the film "A Man Escaped" based on his story. (SFC, 2/19/99, p.E2) 1943 Aug 26, The United States recognizes the French Committee of National Liberation. (HN, 8/26/99) 1943 Jean-Paul Sartre wrote his best play "The Flies." It was based on an ancient myth. (WSJ, 8/12/98, p.A13) 1943 Sabina Zlatin (1907-1996) opened a home in Izieu to help Jewish children threatened by Nazi capture. She managed to smuggle about a 100 children to freedom before being ruthlessly shutdown. [see 4/6/44.] (SFC, 9/24/96, p.B2) 1943 Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan used a modified gas feeder valve as an oxygen regulator for the "aqua lung." (SFC, 6/26/97, p.A7) 1944 Mar 27, One-thousand Jews left Drancy, France for the Auschwitz concentration camp. (HN, 3/27/98) 1944 Mar, In the Alps town of Voiron 17 Jewish children were seized, sent to Drancy and then to Auschwitz. (SFC, 10/2/97, p.A9)



1944 Apr 31, The 8th and 9th US Army Air Forces and Royal Air Force Bomber Command began to fly sorties into France and the Low Countries in preparation for the Allied Expeditionary Force landing on Jun 6. (SDUT, 6/6/97, p.B9) 1944 May, In Paris the play "No Exit" by Jean-Paul Sartre was first produced. It depicts the dawning realization by 3 people that they are in hell and are each other's punishment. (WSJ, 8/12/98, p.A13) 1944 Jun 6, D-Day, a million Allied troops moved onto the Normandy beaches in three weeks. Operations "Neptune" and "Overlord" put forces on the beaches and supplies aimed at the liberation of Europe and the conquest of Germany. (TMC, 1994, p.1944)(SDUT, 6/6/97, p.B9) 1944 Jun 27, During World War II, American forces completed their capture of the French port of Cherbourg from the Germans. (AP, 6/27/97) 1944 Jul, In the wake of fighting at Vercors, 300 Nazi troops moved into the Catholic village of Prelenfrey and demanded the names of Jews hiding in the area. The soldiers at gunpoint interrogated 32 local men, but no information was revealed. (SFC, 6/23/96, p.T8) 1944 Aug 2, The US 383rd Squadron assigned to Honnington, England, executed an air raid on a German ammunition train at Remy, France. Lt. Houston Lee Braley Jr. was killed in his downed P-51. (SFC, 11/11/96, p.A1,18) 1944 Aug 15, During World War II, Allied forces landed in southern France. (AP, 8/15/97) 1944 Aug 25, During World War II, Paris was liberated by Allied forces after four years of Nazi occupation. (AP, 8/25/97) 1944 Aug 29, 15,000 American troops marched down the Champs Elysees in Paris as the French capital continued to celebrate its liberation from the Nazis. (AP, 8/29/97) 1944 Jun 6, D-Day, a million Allied troops moved onto the Normandy beaches in three weeks. Operations "Neptune" and "Overlord" put forces on the beaches and supplies aimed at the liberation of Europe and the conquest of Germany. Operation Overlord landed 400,000 Allied American, British, and Canadian troops on the beaches of Normandy, France. The code names for the beaches used by the British for the D-day invasion of Normandy were Sword and Gold. The American invasion beaches were code named Omaha and Utah. Juno was the name used for the Canadian beach. More than



6,000 trucks of the Red Ball Express kept gasoline and other vital supplies rolling in as American troops and tanks pushed the Germans back toward their homeland. (TMC, 1994, p.1944)(SDUT, 6/6/97, p.B9)(HN, 6/6/98)(HNQ, 8/13/98) 1944 Jun 10, The U.S. VII and V corps, advancing from Normandy's Utah and Omaha beaches, respectively, linked-up and began moving inland. (HN, 6/10/98) 1944 Jun 17, French troops landed on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean. (HN, 6/17/98) 1944 Jun 18, The U.S. First Army broker through the German lines on the Cotentin Peninsula and cut off the German held port of Cherbourg. (HN, 6/18/98) 1944 Jun 27, During World War II, American forces completed their capture of the French port of Cherbourg from the Germans. (AP, 6/27/97) (HN, 6/27/98) 1944 Jul 3, The U.S. First Army opened a general offensive to break out of the hedgerow area of Normandy, France. (HN, 7/3/98) 1944 Jul 17, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel was wounded when an Allied fighter strafes his staff car in France. (HN, 7/17/98) 1944 Jul 18, U.S. troops capture Saint-Lo, France, ending the battle of the hedgerows. (HN, 7/18/98) 1944 Aug 7, German forces launched a major counter attack against U.S. forces near Mortain, France. (HN, 8/7/98) 1944 Aug 15, American, British and French forces landed on the southern coast of France, between Toulon and Cannes, in Operation Dragoon. (AP, 8/15/97)(HN, 8/15/98) 1944 Aug 17, The mayor of Paris, Pierre Charles Tattinger, met with the German commander Dietrich von Choltitz to protest the explosives being deployed throughout the city. (HN, 8/17/98) 1944 Aug 19, In an effort to prevent a communist uprising in Paris, Charles DeGaulle began attacking German forces all around the city. (HN, 8/19/98)



1944 Aug 20, United States and British forces closed the pincers on German units in the Falaise-Argentan pocket in France. (HN, 8/20/98) 1944 Aug 23, German SS engineers began placing explosive charges around the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Adolf Hitler had decreed that Paris should be left a smoking ruin, but Dietrich von Choltitz thought better of his Fuehrer's order. (HN, 8/23/98) 1944 Aug 24, Allied troops led by French General Jacques Leclerc marched into Paris liberating the city from the Germans who had occupied it since June 1940. Although ordered by Adolf Hitler to leave Paris a smoldering ruin, Paris' military governor Major General Dietrich von Cholitz lied to his superiors and left the city's landmarks intact. (HNPD, 8/25/98) 1944 Aug 25, By noon of August 25, the French tricolor was again flying over the French capital. Crowds of jubilant Parisians, some of whom are shown here celebrating before the Arc de Triomphe that evening, rejoiced in their freedom. Paris was liberated from German occupation by Free French Forces under General Jacques LeClerc. (AP, 8/25/97)(HNPD, 8/25/98)(HN, 8/25/98) 1944 Aug 28, German forces in Toulon and Marseilles, France, surrendered to the Allies. (HN, 8/28/98) 1944 Sep 3, The U.S. Seventh Army captured Lyons, France. (HN, 9/3/98) 1944 Sep 5, Germany launched its first V-2 missile at Paris, France. (HN, 9/5/98) 1944 Sep 21, U.S. troops of the 7th Army, invading Southern France, crossed the Meuse River. (HN, 9/21/98) 1944 Nov, The allies attacked Fort Jeanne d'Arc at Metz, France. Robert E. Gajdusek was wounded and captured and later wrote his memoir in 1998: "Resurrection, A War Journey." (SFEC, 1/11/98, BR p.7) 1944 Robert Bresson's film "Les Dames du Bois" de Boulogne featured Maria Casares (1922-1996). 1944-1946 Gen'l. de Gaulle took over leadership of the government after leading the French Resistance. He quit after 2 years for having too little power. (WSJ, 9/3/98, p.A6)



1944-1956 The French intellectuals of this period were later discussed in the 1992 book "Past Perfect" by Tony Judt. (WSJ, 1/28/99, p.A16) 1945 Jan 1, France was admitted to the United Nations. (AP, 1/1/98) 1945 Feb 5, American and French troops destroyed German forces in the Colmar Pocket in France. (HN, 2/5/99) 1945 Mar, Marcel Carne (1906-1990), French film director, premiered "The Children of Paradise" (Les Enfants du Paradis). The 3 1/2 hr. film starred Jean-Louis Barrault and Arletty and centered on the life of 19th century mime Jean-Baptiste Debureau. The epic film classic was a singular evocation of show biz in the time of Balzac. Maria Casares (1922-1996) achieved stardom for her 1943 role in "Les Enfants du Paradis." (SFC, 11/1/96, p.A28) (WSJ, 10/20/95, p. A-12)(SFC, 11/25/96, p.B2) 1945 Apr 26, Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, the head of France's Vichy government during World War II, was arrested. (AP, 4/26/98) 1945 Jul 23, Marshal Henri Philippe Petain was put on trial and charged with betraying France in World War II. (AP, 7/23/97) 1945 Oct 15, The former Vichy French Premier Pierre Laval was executed by a firing squad for his wartime collaboration with the Germans. (AP, 10/15/97)(HN, 10/15/98) 1945 Oct 21, Women in France were allowed to vote for the first time. (AP, 10/21/99) 1945 Nov 13, Charles de Gaulle was elected president of France. (HN, 11/13/98) 1945 Dec 13, France and Britain agreed to quit Syria and Lebanon. (HN, 12/13/98) 1945 Pierre Bonnard painted his "Large Landscape, South of France (Le Cannet)." (WSJ, 6/24/98, p.A16) 1945 The magazine Point de Vue was founded as a general-interest publication. By the 1960s its coverage was directed to royalty. (WSJ, 1/30/97, p.A16)



1946 Jan 20, France's Charles DeGaulle handed in his resignation. (HN, 1/20/99) 1946 Apr 17, The last French troops left Syria. (HN, 4/17/98) 1946 May 11, The first packages from the relief agency CARE (Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe) arrived in Europe, at Le Havre, France. (AP, 5/11/97) 1946 Jun 25, Ho Chi Minh traveled to France for talks on Vietnamese independence. (HN, 6/25/98) 1946 Jul 5, The bikini bathing suit, created by Louis Reard, made its debut during a fashion show at the Molitor Pool in Paris. Model Micheline Bernardini wore the skimpy two-piece outfit. [Its name seems to correlate with the July 1 American atom bomb test on Bikini Atoll.] (SFC, 7/5/96, p.D17) (TMC, 1994, p.1946)(AP, 7/5/97) 1946 Sep, Britain, France and the United States set up the Tripartite Gold Commission to oversee the return of some $4 billion in gold plundered by the Nazis from European treasuries. The commission closed in 1998. (SFC, 9/10/98, p.C2) 1946 Nov 15, The 17th Paris Air Show opened at the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysees. It is the first show of this kind since 1938. (HN, 11/15/98) 1946 Dec 15, Vietnam leader Ho Chi Minh sent a note to the new French Premier, Leon Blum, asking for peace talks. (HN, 12/15/98) 1946 Dec 20, Viet Minh and French forces fought fiercely in the Annamite section of Hanoi. (HN, 12/20/98) 1946 Dec 28, The French declared martial law in Vietnam. (HN, 12/28/98) 1946 The French film "Beauty and the Beast" with Jean Marais (d.1998 at 84) was directed by Jean Cocteau (d.1963). (SFC, 4/15/97, p.B1)(SFC, 11/10/98, p.A24) 1947 Jan 9, French General Leclerc broke off all talks with Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh. (HN, 1/9/98)



1947 Jan 19, The French opened a drive on Hue, Indochina. (HN, 1/19/99) 1947 Feb 28, Britain and France signed a 50-year pact to curb Germany. (HN, 2/28/98) 1947 Mar 4, France and Britain signed an alliance treaty. (HN, 3/4/98) 1947 Mar 5, Communist leader Maurice Thorez declared support for the French sovereignty over Vietnam. (HN, 3/5/98) 1947 Oct 7, French troops in Indochina launched Operation Lea, to capture Viet Mith positions near the Chinese border. (HN, 10/7/98) 1947 Nov 26, France expelled 19 Soviet citizens, charging intervention in internal affairs. (HN, 11/26/98) 1947 Raymond Queneau (d.1976), Parisian surrealist, published "Exercises in Style." (SFEC, 8/2/98, BR p.4) 1947 The French film "Jour de Fete" by Jacques Tati was shot on experimental color stock. (SFEC, 4/13/97, DB p.41) 1947 Charles de Gaulle's party "Rally for the French People" was founded. (SFC, 3/20/97, p.A24) 1948 July 12, The Marshall Plan Conference convened in Paris. It was attended by 16 European nations and established the Committee for European Economic Cooperation. (HNQ, 9/28/99) 1948 Dec 15, The French brought the first nuclear reactor into service. (HN, 12/15/98) 1948 Nathalie Sarraute published her first novel, "Portrait of a Man Unknown." (SFC, 10/21/99, p.A25) 1948 Julia Child enrolled in the Cordon Bleu Cooking School in Paris. (SFC, 10/20/99, Z1p.4)



1948 Maurice Papon was the top French official in Corsica and authorized American planes loaded with weapons bound for Israel to land on the island. (SFC,10/22/97, p.A10) 1948 The cave at Lascaux was opened to the public. (SFEC, 5/30/99, p.T5) 1949 Dec 10, 150,000 French troops massed at the border in Vietnam to prevent a Chinese invasion. (HN, 12/10/98) 1949 Dec 30, France transferred sovereignty to Vietnam (Indo-China). (EWH, 1968, p.1171) 1949 Anatole Dauman (d.1998 at 73) of Poland founded Argos Films. (SFC, 4/9/98, p.C14) 1949 The Statute of Council of Europe was established in Strasbourg, France, to promote democracy and human rights in Europe. The organization numbered 41 nations in 2000 but had little real power. (TOH, 1982, p.1949)(SFC, 4/7/00, p.A14) 1950 Jan 31, Paris protested the Soviet recognition of Ho Chi Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam. (HN, 1/31/99) 1950 Feb 28, The French Assembly in Paris decided to limit the sale of Coca-Cola. (HN, 2/28/98) 1950 Dec 17, French named Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny to command their troops in Vietnam. (HN, 12/17/98) 1950 The French film "Diary of a Country Priest" was directed by Robert Bresson. (SFEC, 4/13/97, DB p.44) 1950 The French film "Les Enfants Terribles" was narrated by Jean Cocteau and based on his 1929 novel. (SFC, 10/12/97, DB p.40) 1950 A law forbidding pretenders to the throne into the country was rescinded. (SFEC, 6/20/99, p.C5) 1950s Reporter Stanley Karnow published his book "Paris in the Fifties" in 1997. (SFC,11/25/97, p.E5)



c1950s In France Guy Debord and the Situationists staged disruptive events and practiced "detournement," or cut-up art. (SFC, 8/8/98, p.E1) 1951 Mar 15, General de Lattre demanded that Paris send him more troops for the fight in Vietnam. (HN, 3/15/98) 1951 Jun 9, After several unsuccessful attacks on French colonial troops, North Vietnam's General Giap ordered Viet Minh to withdraw from the Red River Delta. (HN 6/9/98) 1951 Nov 1, The Algerian National Liberation Front began guerrilla warfare against the French. (HN, 11/1/98) 1951 Albert Camus wrote "The Rebel." The book asserted a revolt against absurd nonsense and against commitments indifferent to the suffering that revolutionary steamrollers caused. (WSJ, 12/12/97, p.A16) 1951 The film "Journal d'un Cure de Campagne" (Diary of a Country Priest) was directed by Robert Bresson. It was based on a book by Georges Bernanos. (SFC, 12/22/99, p.A27) 1952 Jan 4, The French Army in Indochina launched Operation Nenuphar in hopes of ejecting a Viet Minh division from the Ba Tai forest. (HN, 1/4/00) 1952 Jan 7, French forces in Indochina launch Operation Violette in an effort to push Viet Minh forces away from the town of Ba Vi. (HN, 1/7/00) 1952 Jan 12, The Viet Minh cut the supply lines to the French forces in Hoa Bihn, Vietnam. (HN, 1/12/99) 1952 Feb 22, French forces evacuated Hoa Binh in Indochina. (HN, 2/22/99) 1952 Feb 24, The French evacuated Hoa Binh in Vietnam in order to mass for the Tonkin Delta drive. (HN, 2/24/99) 1952 Feb 25, French colonial forces evacuated Hoa Binh in Indochina. (HN, 2/25/99)



1952 Mar 25, The U.S., Britain, and France rejected the Soviet proposal for an armed, reunified, neutral Germany. (HN, 3/24/98) 1952 Oct 29, French forces launched Operation Lorraine against Viet Minh supply bases in Indochina. (HN, 10/7/99) 1952 Roger Frison-Roche (d.1999 at 93), mountaineer, explorer and writer, published his novel "The Big Crevice" and "The Lost Trail of the Sahara," which was later translated into English by Paul Bowles. (SFC, 12/27/99, p.C5) 1952 Francois Mauriac (b.1885), novelist, won the Nobel Prize in literature. (WUD, 1994, p.886)(WSJ, 9/3/98, p.A6) 1952 The film "Le Plaisir" was directed by Max Ophuls and was based on 3 stories by Guy de Maupassant. (SFEC, 9/5/99, DB p.50) 1953 Feb 9, The French destroyed six Viet Minh war factories hidden in the jungles of Vietnam. (HN, 2/9/97) 1953 Feb 25, General de Gaulle condemned the European Defense Community. (HN, 2/25/98) 1953 Mar 26, Eisenhower offered increased aid in Vietnam to France. (HN, 3/25/98) 1953 Apr 28, French troops evacuated northern Laos. (HN, 4/28/98) 1953 Simone de Bouvier (Beauvoir) published a British edition of "America Day by Day," a journal of her travels in America from 1947. Her trip also began a relationship with Nelson Algren. In 1999 the book "A Transatlantic Love Affair" Letters to Nelson Algren" was published. (WSJ, 1/18/98, p.A16)(SFEC, 2/28/99, BR p.4) 1953 Nathalie Sarraute published her 2nd novel, "Martereau." (SFC, 10/21/99, p.A25) 1953 André Gide (b.1869), French author, died. His novels included "The Immoralist," "Straight Is the Gate," "Lafcadio's Adventures," and "The Counterfeiters." In 1999 Alan Sheridan published the biography "André Gide: A Life in the Present." (WSJ, 4/6/99, p.A24)



1954 May 7, The Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended after 55 days with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces and the US began to get involved. Vietnamese insurgents expelled the French but the country was divided into a communist north and a pro-US south. In the 8 years of the French Indochina War some 52,000 French soldiers were killed. Vietnam was soon partitioned between a regime in Hanoi led by Ho Chi Minh and an anti-Communist regime in Saigon under Ngo Dinh Diem. (TMC, 1994, p.1954)(TL, 1988, p.114)(SFC, 12/27/96, p.A24)(SFC, 2/22/96, p.B3)(AP, 5/7/97) 1954 Mar 8, France and Vietnam opened talks in Paris on a treaty to form the Indochinese state. (HN, 3/8/98) 1954 Jun 4, French Premier Joseph Laniel and Vietnamese Premier Buu Loc initialed treaties in Paris according "complete independence" to Vietnam. (AP, 6/4/97) 1954 Jun 28, French troops began to pull out of Vietnam's Tonkin Province. (HN, 6/28/98) 1954 Jul 21, At Geneva France surrendered North Vietnam to the Communists. The French signed an armistice with the Viet Minh that ended the war but divided Vietnam into two countries. (AP, 7/21/97)(HN, 7/21/98)(OGA, Internet, 11/24/98) 1954 Jul 23, The Indochina settlement was approved by France's National Assembly. (AP, 7/23/97) 1954 Oct 22, West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The country had no standing army. [see Oct 23] (AP, 10/22/97)(SFC, 4/22/98, p.A8) 1954 Oct 23, In Paris, an agreement was signed providing for West German sovereignty and permitting West Germany to rearm and enter NATO and the Western European Union. [see Oct 22] (HN, 10/23/98) 1954 Nov 1, The western African nation of Algeria began its rebellion against French rule. (AP, 11/1/97) 1954 Sidonie Gabirelle Colette (b.1873), French actress, librettist, novelist and critic, died. Her novels included "Le Ble en herbe" (The Ripening Seed) and "Julie de Carneilhan (1941). In 1999 Judith Thurman authored "Secrets of the Flesh," a biography of Colette. (WSJ, 10/14/99, p.A24)



1954 Henri Matisse (b.1869), French painter, died. In 1998 Hilary Spurling published "The Unknown Matisse," a work that covered the years 1869-1908. A end volume was planned. In 1999 John Russell published "Matisse: Father and Son" and John O'Brian published "Ruthless Hedonism: The American Reception of Matisse." (WSJ, 7/5/96, p.A5)(WSJ, 10/27/98, p.A20)(SFEC, 8/8/99, BR p.6) 1955 Sep 8, The United States, Australia, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Thailand signed the mutual defense treaty that established the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). (HN, 9/8/98) 1955 Jean-Pierre Melville directed his classic noir thriller "Bob le Flambeur." (SFC, 2/28/97, p.D3) 1956 Mar 2, France granted independence to Morocco. A protocol on Moroccan independence was signed in Paris. (HN, 3/2/99)(EWH, 1968, p.1244) 1956 Oct 14, British and French officials met as Israel was about to attack Egypt. Anthony Nutting (d.1999 at 79), a deputy foreign secretary, learned that Prime Minister Anthony Eden had agreed with the French that once fighting began, they would send in paratroopers under the guise to separate the fighting factions, but would actually su pport Israel, seize the canal and undermine Nasser. Nutting resigned when British planes took to the air Oct 31. (SFC, 2/26/99, p.A25)(AP, 2/26/99) 1956 Nov 5, Britain and France started landing troops in Egypt during fighting between Egyptian and Israeli forces around the Suez Canal. (A cease-fire was declared two days later.) (AP, 11/5/97) 1956 Alain Bosquet (d.1998 at 78) edited the first complete French anthology of American poets. (SFC, 4/9/98, p.C14) 1956 Nathalie Sarraute published her novel, "The Age of Suspicion." It was a collection of essays about her approach to literature, "the first manifestation of the Nouveau Roman School." (SFC, 10/21/99, p.A25) 1956 The film "A Man Escaped" was directed by Robert Bresson. It won the 1957 best director award at Cannes. (SFC, 12/22/99, p.A27)



1956 Roger Vadim directed "And God Created Woman" (Et... Dieu Crea la Femme) with Brigitte Bardot. (SFC, 2/12/00, p.A21) 1956 French engineer Marc Gregoire devised a way to coat aluminum with teflon. (SFC, 3/24/00, p.B3) 1957 "The Bald Singer" began running at the La Huchette theater in Paris. It was still being performed in 1996. (SFEC, 10/20/96, T9) 1957 Constantin Brancusi, Romanian-born French sculptor, died. He willed his studio and work to France. (WSJ, 3/30/00, p.A28) 1957 Max Ophuls (b.1902), German born film director, died in France. He made films in Germany, France, Netherlands and the US. (SFEC, 9/5/99, DB p.50) 1958 May 13, French troops took control of Algiers. (HN, 5/13/98) 1958 Jun 1, Charles de Gaulle became premier of France. France, on the verge of civil war over Algeria, called DeGaulle out of retirement. (TMC, 1994, p.1958)(DT internet 6/1/97) (AP, 6/1/98) 1958 Oct 26, Pan American Airways flew its first Boeing 707 passenger service jetliner from New York's Idlewild Airport (later JFK) to Paris; the trip took eight hours and 41 minutes. 111 passengers flew aboard the Clipper America and a ticket cost $489.60. The plane was christened a week earlier by Mamie Eisenhower. The first New York - London transatlantic jet passenger service was inaugurated by BOAC. [see Oct 4] (AP, 10/26/97)(WSJ, 10/23/98, p.W6)(HN, 10/26/98) 1958 Nov 28, The African nation of Chad became an autonomous republic within the French community. (AP, 11/28/97) 1958 Dec 21, Charles de Gaulle was elected to a seven-year term as the first president of the Fifth Republic of France. De Gaulle selected Maurice Couve de Murville (d.1999 at 92) as his foreign minister. (AP, 12/21/98)(SFC, 12/25/99, p.B4) 1958 Marcel Carne (1906-1990), French film director, made "The Cheaters" (Les Tricheurs) with Jean-Paul Belmondo. (SFC, 11/1/96, p.A28)



1958 France exited from Morocco. (G&M, 7/31/97, p.A18) 1958 Maurice Papon was named the police chief of Paris. (SFC, 4/3/98, p.B2) 1959 Jan 8, Charles de Gaulle was inaugurated as president of France's Fifth Republic. (AP, 1/8/98) 1959 Oct 29, French forces launched Operation Lorraine against Viet Minh supply bases in Indochina. (HN, 10/29/98) 1959 Raymond Queneau (d.1976), Parisian surrealist, published "Zazie dans le Metro." It was made into a film by Louis Malle. (SFEC, 8/2/98, BR p.4) 1959 Nathalie Sarraute published her novel, "The Planetarium." (SFC, 10/21/99, p.A25) 1959 Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny introduced their comic characters Astérix and Obelix in the magazine Pilote. A book followed in 1961. (Hem., 4/97, p.103) 1959 The film "Pickpocket" was directed by Robert Bresson. (SFC, 12/22/99, p.A27) 1959 The French film "The 400 Blows" with Jean-Pierre Leaud was the first feature film by Francois Truffaut. (WSJ, 4/3/98, p.W4) 1960 Feb 13, France exploded its first atomic bomb. (AP, 2/13/98) 1960 (OTD) Apr 1, France exploded 2 atom bombs in the Sahara Desert.



1960 Raymond Queneau, French author, inspired the formation of Oulipo: the Ouvroir de Litterature Potentiale (the workshop for potential or hypothetical literature). In 1999 the "Oulipo Compendium," edited by Harry Matthews and Alastair Brotchie, was published. (SFEC, 5/9/99, BR p.8) 1960 Albert Camus (1913-1960), French writer, died in an automobile accident at age 46. He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1957. His work included the play "Caligula." In 1997 Oliver Todd wrote the biography "Albert Camus." In 1979 Herbert Lottman also



wrote a biography: "Albert Camus." (WUD, 1994, p.214)(SFC, 12/25/96, p.A22)(WSJ, 12/12/97, p.A16)(AP, 1/4/98) 1960 Pres. de Gaulle granted independence to all its colonies in Africa. (WSJ, 1/24/97, p.A14) 1961 Apr 21, The French army revolted in Algeria. (HN, 4/21/98) 1961 Oct 17, Paris police beat and killed dozens of Algerian demonstrators and threw some bodies into the Seine. The police were commanded by Maurice Papon. Papon said some 30 bodies had been recovered from the Seine but that they had been killed in fighting between rival Algerian nationalist groups. In 1999 France agreed to open its archives on the issue. (WSJ, 5/5/98, p.A1)(SFC, 5/6/99, p.A15) 1961 Jacques Foccart was named secretary-general for African affairs. He held the office until 1974. (SFC, 3/20/97, p.A24) 1961 Andre Malreaux, minister of cultural affairs under Pres. de Gaulle, initiated the clean-up of Paris. (SFC, 6/16/96, T-5) 1962 Feb 5, French President Charles De Gaulle called for Algeria's independence. (AP, 2/5/97) 1962 Mar 18, France and Algerian rebels agreed to a truce. (AP, 3/18/97) (HN, 3/18/98) 1962 Apr, Jean-Claude Forest (d.1998) created the 41st century Barbarella sci-fi comic character for V Magazine. It was censored in France and barred from advertising or sale to minors until the early 1970s. (SFC, 1/2/99, p.C2) 1962 Algeria achieved Independence from France. De Gaulle evacuated Algeria and a million settlers flooded into France. (WSJ, 11/16/95, p.A-18)(SFEC, 6/15/97, Z1 p.3) 1962 A museum was added to the Chateau Mouton Rothschild. It housed a priceless collection of artwork related to wine. (SFEC, 2/1/98, p.T4) 1963 Jan, Gen. Charles de Gaulle and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer signed the Franco-German "reconciliation treaty." (SFC, 12/25/99, p.B4)



1963 Mar 4, Six people got the death sentence in Paris plotting to kill de Gaulle. (HN, 3/4/98) 1963 Jun 21, France announced it would withdraw from the NATO fleet in the North Atlantic. (HN, 6/21/98) 1963 Jul 12, Charles de Gaulle pronounced that "Treaties are like roses and young girls - they last while they last." (SFC, 7/12/97, p.A11) 1963 A glorified food blender was a product of the French restaurant supply giant Robot-Coupe. In 1973 Carl Sontheimer (d.1998 at 83) introduced his redesigned Cuisinart at a show in Chicago. (SFC, 3/26/98, p.B4) 1963 The cave at Lascaux was closed due to the impact of human visitors on the ancient wall art. (SFEC, 5/30/99, p.T5) 1963 Jean Cocteau, French surrealist poet, artist and film director, died. His lover Lean Marais later published a biography of Cocteau called "L'Inconcevable Jean Cocteau." (SFC, 11/10/98, p.A24) 1964 Feb 6, Paris and London agreed to build a rail tunnel under the English Channel. (HN, 2/6/99) 1964 Jun 15, The last French troops left Algeria. (HN, 6/15/98) 1965 Nov 26, France launched its first satellite, sending a 92-pound capsule into orbit. (AP, 11/26/97) 1965 The French film "Repulsion" with Catherine Deneuve was directed by Roman Polanski. It was a tale of female madness and paranoia. (SFC, 5/22/98, p.C3) 1965 IBM established a large manufacturing plant in Montpellier. (WSJ, 1/11/98, p.R23) 1965-1998 Mary Blume served in Paris as a writer for the Int'l. Harold Tribune and in 1999 authored "A French Affair: The Paris Beat 1965-1998." (SFEC, 12/5/99, BR p.1) 1966 France pulled out of NATO's integrated military command. (SFC, 12/25/99, p.B4)



1967 Feb 15, French DiadŠme 1-D satellite was launched into Earth orbit. (440 Int'l., 2/15/99) 1967 Mar 29, France launched its first nuclear submarine. (HN, 3/29/98) 1967 Nov 27, Charles DeGaulle vetoed Britain's entry into the Common Market again. (HN, 11/27/98) 1967 Dec 11, The Concorde, a joint British-French venture and the world's first supersonic airliner, was unveiled in Toulouse, France. (HN, 12/11/98) 1967 The French film noir "Le Samourai" with Alain Delan was directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. He had just recently completed 2 other gangster films: "Le Doulos" and "Le Deuxieme Souffle." (SFC, 2/28/97, p.D3) 1967 The French film "Young Girls of Rochefort" was directed by Jacques Demy. (SFC, 8/18/98, p.D4) Go to 1968 France 1968-2000 Return to algis.com 1968 Feb 10, Peggy Fleming of the United States won the gold medal in women's figure skating at the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France. (AP, 2/10/97) 1968 May 3-17, Student riots and strikes hit France. 10 million workers went on strike. Workers struck the Renault factory on Seguin Island for 33 days until the government recognized their union. (WUD, 1994, p.1687)(SFC, 5/22/98, p.C12)(WSJ, 3/31/99, p.B14) 1968 May 10, Preliminary Vietnam peace talks began in Paris. [2nd source says talks began May 13] (AP, 5/10/97)(WUD, 1994, p.1687) 1968 May 13, Peace talks between the U.S. and North Vietnam began in Paris. (WUD, 1994, p.1687)(HN, 5/13/98) 1968 cMay, Foreign minister Maurice Couve de Murville took charge as prime minister following the May riots. (SFC, 12/25/99, p.B4)



1968 Aug 24, France became the world's fifth thermonuclear power as it exploded a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific. (AP, 8/24/97) 1968 Nov 1, Lyndon B. Johnson called a halt to bombing in Vietnam, hoping that this would lead to progress at the Paris peace talks. [see Oct 31] (HN, 11/1/98) 1968 Dec 8, South Vietnam's vice president Nguyen Cao Ky arrived in Paris for peace talks. (HN, 12/8/98) 1969 Apr 28, French President Charles de Gaulle resigned his office. Alain Pohrer (1909-1996), as president of the Senate, then served as interim president for 7 weeks. (SFC, 12/12/96, p.C8)(AP, 4/28/97) 1969 The film "La Femme Douce" was directed by Robert Bresson. (SFC, 12/22/99, p.A27) 1969 The film "The Wild Child" was directed by Francois Truffaut. He also acted in the film. (WSJ, 7/11/97, p.A12) 1969-1973 Maurice Schumann (d.1998 at 86) served as foreign minister under Pres. Georges Pompidou. He was also a novelist and writer on religion and other topics. (SFC, 2/11/98, p.A24) 1970 Mar 4, Fifty-seven people were killed as the French sub Eurydice sank in the Mediterranean. (HN, 3/4/98) 1970 Nov 9, Former French president Charles De Gaulle died at age 79. In 1996 Daniel Mahoney published "De Gaulle: Statesmanship, Grandeur, and Modern Democracy." (AP, 11/9/97)(WSJ, 1/19/98, p.A20) 1970s Presidents Georges Pompidou [1969-1974] and Valery Giscard d'Estaing [19741981] incorporated the former Belgian colonies of Africa into France's neoempire. (WSJ, 1/24/97, p.A14) 1971 Jul 3, James Douglas Morrison (1943-1971), singer for the Doors rock group, died of an apparent heart attack in Paris, France, and was buried there at the Pere Lachaise cemetery. (SFC, 7/4/96, p.D2) (AP, 7/3/97) 1971 Jul 4, France performed nuclear test at Muruora Island. (Maggio)



1971 Dec 20, French physicians created a team that later became known as "Doctors Without Borders" (Medecins Sans Frontreres) to help the people in the Nigerian region of Biafra. Ten doctors formed the group in frustration with the neutrality of the Int'l. Committee of the Red Cross. (SFC, 10/16/99, p.A17)(SFEC, 12/19/99, p.A14) 1971 There was an exhibition of Musicalist art at the Salpetriere Basilica in Paris. (Exc, 6/96, p.118) 1971 Peter Brook, stage and film director, founded his Int'l. Center for Theater Research in Paris. In 1998 Brook published his memoir "Threads of Time: Recollections." (SFEC, 6/14/98, BR p.5) 1971 Jean Poperen (1925-1997) was present at the inception of the modern-day Socialist Party. He served twice as a minister of parliamentary relations and as a deputy for more than 15 years. (SFC, 8/25/97, p.A8) 1971 Franklin Louffrani registered the trademark for his yellow "smiley face," which he began using in 1968 to show good news after the student riots. (WSJ, 7/1/98, p.B1) 1972 Janet Flanner wrote her book "Paris Was Yesterday." (SFC, 6/16/96, T-5) 1972 The film "Two English Girls" with Jean-Pierre Leaud was directed by Francois Truffaut. (SFEC, 5/11/97, DB p.37) 1973 Jan 27, The Paris Agreement froze the status quo on the ground in South Vietnam. The agreement by the United States and North Vietnam included a ban on infiltration of arms or personnel to reinforce North Vietnamese troops in the South, as well as a ban on the use of Laotian or Cambodian territory for that purpose. The Paris Agreement provided for continued US supply of the army of the Republic of Vietnam. Peace Accords were signed in Paris over events in Vietnam. (WSJ, 2/5/96, p.A-19)(WSJ, 11/30/95, p.A-23)(HN, 1/27/99) 1973 Apr 8, Artist Pablo Picasso died at his home near Mougins, France, at age 91. He left some 50,000 works that included 1,885 paintings, 1,228 sculptures, 2,880 ceramics, 18,095 engravings, 6,112 lithographs, 3,181 linocuts, 7,089 drawings plus 4,669 drawings and sketches in 149 notebooks, 11 tapestries and 8 rugs. (SFC, 10/5/96, p.E1)(AP, 4/8/97) 1973 The 215 min. film "The Mother and the Whore" starred Jean-Pierre Leaud, Francoise Lebrun and Bernadette Lafont. It was directed by Jean Eustache. (SFC, 7/17/98, p.D3)



1973 French wines were re-ranked according to taste, rather than price, and Mouton Rothschild was elevated to the first rank. (SFEC, 2/1/98, p.T4) 1973 The Russian jetliner TU 144, nicknamed Concordski, crashed in the Paris Air Show. The plane beat the French and English through the sound barrier. (SFEC, 10/10/99, p.T4) 1973-1980 Rolf Liebermann (d.1998 at 88), Swiss composer, led the Paris opera. (SFC, 1/4/99, p.D2) 1974 Mar 3, 345 people died in the worst air crash ever. Nearly 350 people died when a Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed shortly after takeoff from Orly Airport in Paris. (TMC, 1994, p.1974)(AP, 3/3/98) 1974 Apr 2, French President Georges Pompidou died in Paris. Alain Pohrer (19091996) as president of the Senate then served as interim president for 7 weeks. (SFC, 12/12/96, p.C8)(AP, 4/2/97) 1974 The French film "Touche Pas a la Femme Blanche" (Don't Touch the White Woman) was directed by Marco Ferreri. It was a Western satire with Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli, Ugo Tognazzi and Catherine Deneuve. (SFC, 7/7/99, p.E3) 1974 The Charles de Gaulle Airport (aka Roissy I) opened outside of Paris. (Hem., 5/97, p.70) 1974 The economy slowed following the Arab oil embargo and the policy of recruiting foreign labor ended. (NG, 5/93, p.110) 1974 In the Netherlands the French embassy at the Hague was taken over by Japanese Red Army militants. A 4-day standoff ended with the release of comrade Yutaka Suyaka from a French jail. The attack was linked to Carlos the Jackal, aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez. (SFC,12/11/97, p.C2) 1974 Motorola helped launch the smartcard market by building the first smartcard chip with Groupe Bull of France. (FT, 3/4/98, p.21) 1974 The Int'l. Energy Agency was formed in Paris to coordinate oil sharing. (WSJ, 9/13/99, p.R4) 1975 Jun 27, Two French intelligence agents, Raymond Dous and Jean Donatini, who were investigating attacks on planes of Israel's El Al airline at Orly Airport, were killed by Carlos the Jackal, aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez. Sanchez was identified by an arrested



Palestinian Front militant, Michel Moukharbal, who was also killed. (SFC,12/11/97, p.C2)(SFC,12/13/97, p.A10) 1975 Jacques Pepin published "A French Chef Cooks at Home." (SFC, 10/20/99, Z1p.4) 1975 The French film "The Story of Adele H" with Isabelle Adjani was directed by Francois Truffaut. It was based on the story of Adele Hugo, daughter of Victor Hugo. (WSJ, 3/13/98, p.A14) 1975 The first Summit of 6 leading industrialist nations, G-6, met in Rambouillet, France, for discussions on currency and oil prices. (SFC, 6/20/97, p.A16) 1975 French law began to permit abortions. (SFC, 8/25/97, p.A8) 1976 Jan 21, The supersonic Concorde jet was put into service by Britain and France. (AP, 1/21/98) 1976 May 24, Britain and France opened trans-Atlantic Concorde service to Washington. (AP, 5/24/97) 1976 Composers Gerard Grisey (d.1998 at 52), Michael Levinas and Tristan Murail formed the group L'Iteneraire and pioneered what they called "spectral music." (SFEC, 11/22/98, p.D10) 1976 Raymond Queneau, Parisian surrealist, died. His work included the prewar novel "Les Enfants du Limon." In 1998 it was translated to English as "Children of Clay." (SFEC, 8/2/98, BR p.4) 1977 Jan 11, France set off an international uproar by releasing Abu Daoud, a Palestinian suspected of involvement in the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. In 1999 Mohammed Oudeh, aka Abu Daoud, published an autobiography in France in which in admitted playing a mastermind role in the 1972 Munich hostage episode. (AP, 1/11/98)(SFC, 6/14/99, p.A14) 1977 Sep 10, convicted murderer Hamida Djandoubi, a Tunisian immigrant, became the last person to date to be executed by the guillotine in France. (SFEC, 2/9/97, z1 p.6)(AP, 9/10/97) 1977 Oct 19, The body of West German industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer, who had been kidnapped by left-wing extremists, was found in the trunk of a car in Mulhouse, France. (AP, 10/19/97)



1977 In Paris the Georges Pompidou Center, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, opened. (SFEC, 4/20/98, p.A12)(WSJ, 2/3/00, p.A24) 1978 Aug 17, The first successful trans-Atlantic balloon flight ended as Americans Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman landed their Double Eagle II outside Paris. (AP, 8/17/97)(HN, 8/17/98) 1978 The Amoco-Cadiz oil tanker spilled a record 1.6 million barrels of crude oil off the coast of France. (WSJ, 9/13/99, p.R4) 1978-1981 Maurice Papon served as the French Budget Minister. (SFC, 10/13/97, p.A12) 1980 Apr 15, Existentialist philosopher, novelist and dramatist, Jean-Paul Sartre (b.1905) died in Paris at the age of 74. He won the 1964 Nobel Prize for literature and his work included "Being and Nothingness." Philosophical replies to this work were written by Claude Levi-Strauss: "The Raw and the Cooked," a book that popularized structuralism in France, and by Michael Foucault: "Words and Things," ("The Order of Things" in the American edition). "If you're lonely while you're alone, you're in bad company." (WUD, 1994, p.1269)(SFEC, 4/19/98, BR p.8)(SFEC, 6/21/98, Z1 p.8) (AP, 4/15/99) 1980 May 30, Pope John Paul II arrived in France on the first visit by the head of the Roman Catholic Church since the early 19th century. (AP, 5/30/97) 1980 Gisele Freund (d.2000 at 91) won the national Grand Prize for Photography. (SFC, 4/1/00, p.A26) 1980s [late], Controls on capital movement across borders were abandoned by France and Italy in the late 1980s. (WSJ, 5/28/96, p. R-44) 1981 May, Pres. Mitterand took office. When the socialists took power they increased the money supply and the deficit. The franc collapsed and inflation accelerated. (SFC, 10/24/96, p.C3)(SFC, 6/25/97, p.A8) 1981 Sep, Pres. Mitterrand announced the Grand Louvre Project to renovate and modernize the exhibition spaces of the museum. (WSJ, 10/7/98, p.A20) 1981 Nov, Pres. Francois Mitterand was diagnosed with prostate cancer but the information was kept secret until disclosed by his physician, Dr. Claude Gubler, in his



1996 book "The Great Secret." A court banned release of the book. (SFC, 10/24/96, p.C3) 1981 The French film "Diva" was produced. (SFC, 2/20/98, p.C13) 1981 France outlawed execution by guillotine. (SFEC, 2/9/97, z1 p.6) 1981 The Trains Grand Vitesse (TGVs) were initiated with speeds of 168 mph on the Paris-Lyon line. (SFEC, 4/25/99, p.T8) 1982 Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen master, founded Plum Village, a Buddhist community in southern France. (SFC, 10/12/97, Z1 p.3) 1982 The French firm JC Decaux invented the self-cleaning toilet. (SFC, 8/18/96, p.B5) 1982 Magdalena Kopp, wife of Carlos the Jackal, aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, was captured by French officials. (SFC,12/11/97, p.C2) 1982 The Paris-Toulouse express train was bombed. Six people were killed and 15 injured. The attack was attributed to Carlos the Jackal, aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez. (SFC,12/11/97, p.C2) 1982 A bombing in Paris killed a pregnant woman and injured 63 people. The attack was attributed to Carlos the Jackal, aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez. (SFC,12/11/97, p.C2) 1983 Oct 23, A truck filled with explosives, driven by a Moslem suicide terrorist, crashed into the U.S. Marine barracks near the Beirut International Airport in Lebanon. The bomb killed 237 [241] Marines and sailors and injured 80. Almost simultaneously, a similar incident occurred at French military headquarters, where 58 died and 15 were injured. (TMC, 1994, p.1983)(USAT, 6/26/96, p.1A)(WSJ, 8/1/96/p.B1)(AP, 10/23/97)(HN, 10/23/98) 1983 The French film "Sans Soleil" was directed by Chris Marker. (SFEC, 4/11/99, DB p.38) 1983 Bombings in the main railroad terminal in Marseilles and on the Paris-Marseilles express train killed 5 people and injured 50. The attack was attributed to Carlos the



Jackal, aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez. (SFC,12/11/97, p.C2) 1983 The French cultural center in West Berlin was bombed. One person was killed and 23 injured. The attack was attributed to Carlos the Jackal, aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez. (SFC,12/11/97, p.C2) 1984 French composer Oliver Messaien composed his 5-hour opera "Saint Francis d'Assise." (SFC, 9/5/96, p.B1) 1984 Isabelle Adjani won the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for "Deadly Summer." (SFC, 11/8/96, p.C13) 1984 Pres. Francois Mitterand appointed Laurent Fabius (38) as Prime Minister. (SFC, 2/9/99, p.A1) 1984 Gyula Halasz, Hungarian born photographer aka Brassai, died. He was a friend of Picasso and Henry Miller and was known as the "Eye of Paris" for his night time photographs in the 1930s. His "Secret Paris of the 30s" was published in 1976. He published 2 books on Henry Miller and "Conversations With Picasso." (WSJ, 1/15/98, p.W12) 1984 Francois Truffaut, French film director, died of cancer at age 52. (SFEC, 5/9/99, DB p.53) 1985 Sep. 2, It was announced that a U.S.-French expedition had located the wreckage of the Titanic about 560 miles off Newfoundland. (AP, 9/2/97) 1985 Dec 13, France sued the U.S. over the discovery of an AIDS serum. (HN, 12/13/98) 1985 May 9, Laurent Fabius, head of the Socialist government, blocked the sale of an AIDS virus detection test made by Abbott Laboratories. Fabius and others were later charged with criminal negligence and manslaughter in the deaths of hundreds who died from transfusions of tainted blood. In 1999 Fabius and Georgina Dufoix were cleared of the charges. Edmond Herve, the health minister under Dufoix, was convicted of negligence in 2 cases. (SFEC, 2/7/99, p.A2)(SFC, 3/10/99, p.A1) 1985 Aug 1, The French government began to require the testing of all donated blood for AIDS following the launch of a test by Diagnostic Pasteur. By this time some 1,300 hemophiliacs were contaminated with AIDS-tainted blood. By 1997 over 500 had died,



most of them children. Four health officials were charged and convicted in the case. (SFEC, 2/7/99, p.A2) 1985 Magdalena Kopp, the wife of Carlos the Jackal, aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, was freed after a series of bloody attacks against France. (SFC,12/11/97, p.C2) 1985 French security forces sank the Rainbow Warrior, a ship operated by Greenpeace. (SFC, 5/7/99, p.A14) 1986 Jan 20, Britain and France announced plans to build the Channel Tunnel. (AP, 1/20/98) 1986 Feb, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier was ousted from power ending 28 years of family dictatorship. He fled to France with his wife and mother. (TMC, 1994, p.1986)(SFC,12/31/97, p.A17) 1986 Mar 8, Four French television crew members were abducted in west Beirut; a caller claimed the Islamic Jihad was responsible. All four were eventually released. (AP, 3/8/98) 1986 Nov 17, Renault President Georges Besse was shot to death by leftists of the Direct Action Group in Paris. (HN, 11/17/98) 1986 African art was brought to Paris by the Dapper Foundation of Amsterdam and housed in an elegant private museum at 50 Avenue Victor Hugo. (SFEC, 1/4/98, p.T7) 1987 Mar 24, French Premier Jacques Chirac signed a contract with Walt Disney Productions for the creation of a Disneyland amusement park, the first in Europe. (AP, 3/23/97) 1987 May 11, The trial of former Gestapo official Klaus Barbie began in Lyons, France. (AP, 5/11/97) 1987 Jun 30, The prosecutor at the trial of Klaus Barbie in Lyon, France, denounced the crimes of the former Nazi Gestapo official and demanded the maximum sentence of life in prison. Barbie died in 1991 at age 77. (AP, 6/30/97) 1987 Aug 11, Britain and France ordered minesweepers to the Persian Gulf, but said they would not be used in combined operations with the United States as it escorted reflagged Kuwaiti ships. (AP, 8/11/97)



1987 Nov 27, French hostages Jean-Louis Normandin and Roger Auque were freed by their pro-Iranian captors in west Beirut, Lebanon. (AP, 11/27/97) 1987 The French film "36 Fillette" was directed by Catherine Breillat. It was about a 14year-old girl's quest to lose her virginity. (SFC, 9/29/99, p.D1) 1987 The Monde Arabe (The Arab World Institute) was opened in Paris. The building at 1 Rue des Fosses Saint-Bernard was designed by Jean Nouvel. (SFEC, 1/4/98, p.T7) 1987 La Bellevilleuse was a grass-roots group founded to protect residents in their Paris quarter and improve living conditions. (SFEC, 6/28/98, p.T9) 1987 France ousted Libyan troops from a disputed area of northern Chad. (SFC, 6/22/99, p.A12) 1988 May 8, French President Francois Mitterrand was elected to a second seven-year term, defeating conservative challenger Jacques Chirac. (AP, 5/8/98) 1988 Jun 12, In runoff elections in France, President Francois Mitterrand's Socialist Party fell short of a majority in the National Assembly. But a right-wing coalition also failed to retain its legislative control. (AP, 6/12/98) 1988 Jun 26, Three people were killed when a new Airbus A-320 jetliner carrying more than 130 people crashed into a forest during an air show demonstration flight in Mulhouse, France. (AP, 6/26/98) 1988 Jun 27, Fifty-seven people were killed in a train collision in Paris. (AP, 6/27/98) 1988 Oct 18, Maurice Allais of France won the Nobel Prize in economics. (SFC, 10/15/98, p.A2)(AP, 10/18/98) 1988 Oct 26, A French pharmaceutical company, Roussel Uclaf, announced it would halt worldwide distribution of RU-486, a pill to induce abortions, because of "an outcry of opinion at home and abroad." The French government ordered the company to reverse itself two days later. (AP, 10/26/98)



1988 Oct 28, A French pharmaceutical company that manufactured the abortion pill RU486 announced it would resume distribution on command of the French government. (AP, 10/28/98) 1988 Michel Deville made his film "La Lectrice" with Maria Casares (1922-1996). (SFC, 11/25/96, p.B2) 1998 The French comedy film "Western" was written and directed by Manuel Poirier. It starred Sergi Lopez and Sacha Bourdo. (WSJ, 8/18/98, p.A20) 1988 Patrice Vic (31) jumped out of his 12th story apartment window. His death was linked to counseling sessions and charges to the Church of Scientology. (SFC, 11/23/96, p.A10) 1988-1993 Jacques Chirac was mayor of Paris and Alain Juppe was the finance director. (SFC, 8/26/98, p.A10) 1989 Jul 12, A farmer in eastern France went on a shooting rampage, killing 14 people before being captured. (AP, 7/12/99) 1989 Jul 15, Leaders of the seven major industrial democracies, meeting in Paris, voiced support for democracy behind the Iron Curtain and condemned repression in China. (AP, 7/15/99) 1989 Sep 19, A French DC-10, UTA Flight 772, was bombed over the Sahara desert of Niger and all 170 [171] passengers died. French authorities placed the blame on Libya's Abdallah Senoussi, brother-in-law of Moammar Khadafy and chief of foreign operations for the Libyan secret service. The six Libyan suspects were named by a French judge in 1998 and tried in absentia in 1999. The attack was in retaliation for French intervention on behalf of Chad in a war with Libya since the mid 1980s (SFC, 5/7/97, p.C3)(SFEC,10/19/97, p.A26)(WSJ, 1/30/98, p.A1)(SFC, 6/13/98, p.A11)(SFC, 3/9/99, p.B10) 1989 Patrick Rance (d.1999) authored "The French Cheese Book." (SFC, 8/30/99, p.A24) 1989 The I.M. Pei glass pyramid next to the Louvre Museum was built. (SFC, 6/16/96, T-5) 1989 Construction of the new Tres Grand Bibliotheque (aka TGB, the national library) was begun. It was designed by Dominique Perrault and the first quarter was scheduled to open in 1997. (WSJ, 8/28/97, p.A12)



1989 Maria Casares (1922-1996) won the Moliere prize for best comedienne. (SFC, 11/25/96, p.B2) 1989 Christine Deviers-Joncour was hired by state-owned Elf oil company to use her wiles on foreign minister Roland Dumas to go along with a sale of 6 French-made warships to Taiwan. In 1998 she published "The Whore of the Republic," and told her story. (SFC, 11/28/98, p.A14) 1989 A cable car accident killed 8 people in the Isere region of the French Alps. (SFC, 7/2/99, p.A10) 1990 Jul 4, France performed nuclear test at Muruora Island. (Maggio) 1990 Dec 1, British and French workers digging the Channel Tunnel between their countries finally met after knocking out a passage in a service tunnel. (AP, 12/1/97) 1990 Maria Casares (1922-1996) won the National Grand prix of Theater. (SFC, 11/25/96, p.B2) 1990-1993 Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, an ethnic Hutu, requested French troops to help block an ethnic Tutsi exile force that was penetrating the country from Uganda. French troops were present over the next 3 1/2 years. (WSJ, 1/24/97, p.A14) 1991 The French film "The Lovers on the Bridge" starred Denis Lavant and Juliette Binoche. It was set in 1989 on the Pont Neuf. It was directed by Leos Carax. (SFC, 10/8/99, p.C3) 1991 Edith Cresson became the first female prime minister in France. (SFC, 3/2/00, p.A11) 1991 Yves Montand, film star, died at age 70. His body was exhumed in 1998 for DNA tests in a paternity suit filed by Aurore Drossard (22). (SFC, 3/13/98, p.A17) 1992 Jan 20, A French Airbus A-320 crashed near Strasbourg, killing 87 people. (AP, 1/20/98) 1992 Apr 12, After five years in the making, Euro Disneyland, a theme park costing $4 billion, opened in Marne-La-Vallee, France, amid controversy as French intellectuals bemoaned the invasion of American pop culture. (AP, 4/12/97)



1992 Jul 26, Miguel Indurain of Spain won cycling's Tour de France for the second year in a row. (AP, 7/26/97) 1992 Sep 20, French voters narrowly approved the Maastricht Treaty on European union. (AP, 9/20/97) 1992 Oct 14, The Nobel Prize for physics went to George Charpak of France. (AP, 10/14/97) 1992 Marc Sautet, philosophy professor and writer, started philosophy debates at the Cafe des Phares in Paris. Success encouraged him to export the idea of philosophy cafes around the world. (SFEC, 4/21/97, p.A9) 1992 Foreign investors account for more than 20% of shareholdings in French companies, up from 12% in 1977. (WSJ, 10/17/95, A-20) 1992 Elf-Aquitaine purchased the former East German Leuna refinery. It was later alleged that bribes totaling $44 million were paid by the French government to the German Social Democrats under Helmut Kohl. (SFC, 1/24/00, p.A6) 1993 Jan 6, Ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev died in Paris at age 54. (AP, 1/6/98) 1993 Jan 15, In Paris, a historic disarmament ceremony ended with the last of 125 countries signing a treaty banning chemical weapons. (AP, 1/15/98) 1993 May 13, In suburban Paris, a masked man armed with dynamite took a roomful of nursery school children hostage, demanding $18.5 million. (The man was shot to death by police two days later). (AP, 5/13/98) 1993 Sep 6, Automakers Renault of France and Volvo of Sweden announced they would merge; however, Volvo canceled the deal the following December. (AP, 9/6/98) 1993 Pres. Mitterrand moved the offices of the Ministry of Finance out of the Louvre's Richelieu Wing to free 245,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space. (WSJ, 10/7/98, p.A20)



1993 Dr. Luc Montagnier created the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention under the auspices of UNESCO. He was one of the first doctors to isolate the AIDS virus. (SFC, 11/16/96, p.A1) 1994 Mar 28, Absurdist playwright Eugene Ionesco died in Paris at age 81. (AP, 3/28/99) 1994 May 6, The Channel Tunnel linking England to France was officially opened. (HN, 5/6/99) 1994 Jun 23, French marines and Foreign Legionnaires headed into Rwanda to try to stem the country's ethnic slaughter. (AP, 6/23/99) 1994 Aug 14, Carlos the Jackal was capture in Khartoum, Sudan. (SFC,12/17/97, p.A18) 1994 Aug 15, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, the terrorist known as "Carlos the Jackal," was jailed in France after being captured in Sudan. By his own count he had killed 83 people before being captured. Bernard Violet is the author of "Carlos - The Secret networks of Int'l. Terrorism." (AP, 8/15/97)(SFC,12/11/97, p.C2,4) 1994 Oct 4, Florence Rey (19), a literature student, participated in a bungled holdup that left 3 police officers, a taxi driver, and her accomplice-lover dead following a car chase. In 1998 she was sentenced to 20 years in prison. (SFC, 10/2/98, p.B3) 1994 Nov, The Var River overflowed and washed away bridges and stretches of the Nice-Digne railroad track. Rail service was not restored until Apr 1996 at a cost of F50 Million (US$10 mil). (Hem., 1/97, p.116) 1994 Dec 26, French commandos stormed a hijacked Air France jetliner on the ground in Marseille, killing four Algerian hijackers and freeing 170 hostages. The Air France plane was hijacked by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria. (SFC, 9/27/97, p.A10)(AP, 12/26/99) 1994 The Cartier Foundation building at 261 Boulevard Raspail was opened. It was designed by Jean Nouvel with 7 floors above ground and 8 below. (SFEC, 1/4/98, p.T7) 1994 Baron Edmond Adolphe Maurice Jules Jacques de Rothschild (d.1997 at 71) was named an officer in the Legion of Honor. (SFC,11/4/97, p.A19)



1994 French legislator Yann Piat of the UDF was shot to death in her car by 2 men on motorcycle. A 1997 book, "The Yann Piat Case" by Andre Rougeot and Jean-Michel Verne," says that she was killed by the French secret service to keep her from revealing a plot to sell military land to the Mafia. The book was suspended after its first printing sold out. Many believe the tale to be disinformation. Seven men were on trial in 1998 for the murder. (SFC,10/17/97, p.A25)(SFC, 5/15/98, p.A14) 1995 Feb 22, France accused four American diplomats and a fifth U.S. citizen of spying, and asked them to leave the country. (AP, 2/22/00) 1995 May 8, Jacques Chirac was elected president of France. (HN, 5/8/99) 1995 Sep 5, France under Pres. Chirac resumed nuclear testing in the French South Pacific atoll of Mururoa. World-wide protests failed to stop testing. (WSJ, 9/8/95, p.A-8) 1995 Oct 1, France detonated another nuclear device, 5 times more powerful than the last one, on Fangatouga Atoll in the South Pacific. (WSJ, 10/2/95, P.A-1) 1995 Nov., France conducted its 4th nuclear test at the Mururoa atoll in French Polynesia. (WSJ, 11/22/95, p.A-1) 1995 Dec, A wave of strikes lasts weeks as the government struggled to establish cuts to rein in its $65.5 bil. deficit. Led by the railroad workers, the strikes bring transport to a halt. France was attempting to restructure its finances in time to meet the deadline for European monetary union in 1999. (WSJ, 11/30/95, p.A-12) 1995 Dec, Mr. Juppe backed down from a bid to force public sectors workers to work 40 years instead of 37.5 for full pension benefits. Cost cutting plans for the state railway are also set aside for re-negotiation. (WSJ, 12/18/95, p.A-10) 1995 Dec 23, 16 cult members of the Order of the Solar Temple were found dead in an Alpine clearing in eastern France. This was the same cult in the 1994 mass suicide in Switzerland and Canada. (WSJ, 12/26/95, p. A-1) 1995 Dec, 27, France set off a fifth nuclear bomb at a South Pacific Atoll. (WSJ, 12/28/95, p. A-1)



1995 Jacques Foccart (1913-1997), architect of French policy in Africa, published "Foccart Speaks," a book on French policymaking in Africa under Charles de Gaulle. (SFC, 3/20/97, p.A24) 1995 The French film "Son of Gascogne" starred Gregoire Colin and was directed by Pascal Aubier. It was about a young man mistaken for the son of a fabled New Wave filmmaker. (SFC, 5/22/98, p.C3) 1995 The Vatican dismissed bishop Jacques Gaillot of Paris for preaching liberal views on homosexuality, priest celibacy and other touchy issues. (SFC, 9/5/96, p.A9) 1995 The population was about 57 million people. The Prime Minister was Alain Juppe. The 1995 budget-deficit target was $322 bil. (WSJ, 11/17/95, p.A-10) 1995 French train bombings left 8 people dead. In 1999 five people linked to Algerian militants were sentenced to 10-year prison terms for the attacks. 16 others received lesser sentences. (WSJ, 9/16/99, p.A1) 1996 Jan 8, Francois Mitterand, 79, Socialist ex-minister died of prostate cancer. He had been in office for 14 years and helped to make France an engine of European unity and changed the face of Paris with his grand projects. (WSJ, 1/9/96, p.A-1)(SFC, 10/24/96, p.C3) 1996 Jan 27, The sixth and most powerful nuclear bomb was detonated. In 1998 the Int'l. Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that the test sites in the South Pacific would be contaminated for centuries. Plutonium particles were scattered in the sediment of the lagoons at Mururoa and Fangatoufa. (WSJ, 1/30/96, p.A-16)(SFC, 6/27/98, p.A7) 1996 Mar 3, Marguerite Duras, French writer, died at age 81 in Paris. She was very prolific and was best known for her novel "The Lover." (WSJ, 3/4/96, p. A-1) 1996 Apr, Pres. Jacques Chirac announced that the draft would be phased out over the next 5 years. The army would be shrunk from 500,000 to 350,000. (SFC, 6/11/96, p.A15) 1996 May 14, Renault outlined a plan to become majority owned by private investors after more than 5 decades of state control. (WSJ, 1/2/97, p.R2)



1996 May 16, French unions scheduled a series of strikes to protest Prime Minister Juppe's plans to eliminate thousands of civil service jobs. (WSJ, 5/16/96, p.A-1) 1996 Jun 3, Prime Minister Juppe proposed a major reform of the tax system over 5 years and shift the cost of health care from wages onto savings. (SFC, 6/4/96, p.A11) 1996 Jun 9, The latest unemployment rate was 11.6%. (SFC, 6/9/96, Parade, p.9) 1996 Jun 28, In France immigrants began a hunger strike at St. Bernard's Church in Paris in protest to new hard-line immigration policies. (SFC, 8/13/96, p.A3) 1996 Jul 7, The average cost of a Big Mac in France was $3.41. (SFC, 7/7/96, Parade, p.17) 1996 Jul, Caroline Dickinson, a 13-year-old British girl, was raped and strangled at a youth hostel in the town of Pleine-Fougeres. A DNA test was planned to be performed on volunteers of the 170 young men in the town who fit an age profile of the murderer. (SFC, 10/11/97, p.A8) 1996 Aug 17, The first French woman in space, Claudie Andre-Deshays, took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in a Soyuz-U rocket. (SFC, 8/18/96, p.A2) 1996 Aug 21, Thousands marched in support of illegal immigrants and called for the removal of newly appointed Interior Minister Jean Louis-Debre. (SFC, 8/22/96, p.E2) 1996 Sep 4, France said it will stop changing its clocks twice a year. (SFC, 9/5/96, p.A10) 1996 Sep 5, Prime Minister Alain Juppe proposed a tax cut. It would reduce the top marginal rate to 54% next year from 56.8%, and to 47% in 2000. (WSJ, 9/66/96, p.A11) 1996 Sep 17, In France Maurice Papon, a member of the Vichy government of WW II, was declared eligible for trial for his role in arresting and deporting 1,690 Jews during WW II. (SFC, 9/19/96, p.A10) 1996 Sep 18, The 1997 budget was unveiled with total spending of $301.88 bil. (WSJ, 9/19/96, p.A14)



1996 Oct 5, A bomb exploded in the mayoral offices of French Prime Minister Alain Juppe. There were no casualties. (SFEC, 10/6/96, A12) 1996 Oct 17, A one-day strike was held by about 1.6 million public employees, a third of the total public service sector. French unemployment stood at 12.5%. (SFC, 10/18/96, A14) 1996 Nov 15, The SF Symphony performed in Paris and Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, France's highest arts honor. (SFC, 11/16/96, p.A15) 1996 Nov 22, Truckers continued their Operation Escargot strike for higher pay and earlier retirement for a 5th day. (SFC, 11/23/96, p.A10) 1996 Nov 29, Truckers signed agreements to end a 12-day strike. The government agreed to allow early retirement at age 55 with boosts in sick pay. An issue of work hours was still pending. (SFC, 11/30/96, p.A14) 1996 Dec 2, The Roussel Uclaf SA of France, a pharmaceutical firm mostly owned by Hoechst of Germany, agreed to reduce the workweek for 7,000 domestic employees to 35 from 38 hours without pay cuts. Employees will also get less in profit sharing but more vacation. (WSJ, 12/3/96, p.A17) 1996 Dec 3, In France a bomb exploded in the Paris subway at the Port-Royal station. Two (4) people were killed and dozens injured. It appeared to be the work of Algerian extremists. (WSJ, 12/4/96, p.A1)(AP, 12/3/97) 1996 Dec 6, The National Assembly approved tax breaks for Corsica. (SFC, 12/7/96, p.A10) 1996 Dec 10, The African aid budget was more than $3 billion, nearly 4 times that of the US aid to Africa. French troops were garrisoned in Cameroon, the CAR, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon and Senegal. (WSJ, 12/10/96, p.A22) 1996 Dec 27, The foreign ministry said that it would no longer participate in the Operation Provide Comfort after the end of the year. The operation was a multi-national air reconnaissance effort to safeguard Kurdish civilians in northern Iraq. (SFC, 12/28/96, p.A12)



1996 The French film "For Ever Mozart" by John-Luc Goddard starred Madeleine Assas. (SFC, 3/20/98, p.D5) 1996 The French film "Ponette" by Jacques Doillon starred little Victoire Thivisol as a 4-year-old who has lost her mother in a car accident. She won the best actress award at the Venice Film Festival. (SFEC, 6/29/97, DB p.11) 1996 The Francis Poulenc Museum of Sacred Art opened in Rocamadour. It featured a collection religious objects spanning 8 centuries. (SFEC, 7/26/98, p.T11) 1997 Jan 7, It was announced that a 20.6% value-added tax would be placed on telephone services offered by phone companies outside the European Union. The charge was directed at "call-back" services mainly in the US. (WSJ, 1/7/97, p.A14) 1997 Jan, The Paris Music Museum, Musee de la Musique, opened as part of the Cite de la Musique complex at 221 avenue Jean-Jaures. (SFEC, 9/14/97, p.T7) 1997 Feb 17, Striking bus and tram drivers in Lille returned to work after an agreement was reached to reduce their workweek to 35 hours from 38, without a pay reduction, along with an extra 2 weeks annual vacation. (SFC, 2/18/96, p.A10) 1997 Feb 17, The National Front was the fastest growing political party in the country and was led by Bruno Megret (47), a former student at UC Berkeley. The party championed a national preference program where jobs, public housing and univ. slots would be reserved for the ethnic French majority. (SFC, 2/18/96, p.A1) 1997 Feb-Mar, Over 700 dolphins and whales piled up on the Atlantic coast of France. They had been discarded by mid-water commercial fishing trawlers as bycatch. (NG, 12/97, p.149) 1997 Mar 9, Journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby died in Paris. He had been completely paralyzed in Dec 1995 and had just finished dictating the book: "Le Scaphandre et le Papillon" (The Diving Suit and the Butterfly) by blinking his left eyelid, the only moveable part of his body. (SFC, 3/11/97, p.A20) 1997 Mar 22, Etienne Bacrat, "the Mozart of Chess," became a grand master at the age of 14. (SFEC, 3/23/97, p.A13)



1997 Mar 29, Over 25,000 people demonstrated against the convention of the racist National Front Party led by Jean-Pierre Le Pen. (SFEC, 3/30/97, p.A18) 1997 Apr 24, The French film "When the Cat's Away" opened at the SF film festival. (SFC, 4/25/97, p.D6) 1997 May 1, The French film "La Promesse" was shown at the SF Film Festival. (SFC, 4/23/97, p.D3) 1997 May 25, The Socialist Party and allies claimed 42.8% of the popular vote in elections. In the first round of parliamentary elections, French voters gave the leftist opposition the biggest share of votes in a surprising setback for President Jacques Chirac's conservatives. (SFC, 5/26/97, p.A10) (AP, 5/25/98) 1997 May 26, France's deeply unpopular prime minister, Alain Juppe, announced he would resign, a day after the country's governing center-right coalition suffered major losses in first-round parliamentary elections. (SFC, 5/27/97, p.A1)(AP, 5/26/98) 1997 May 27, In Paris, Russian President Boris Yeltsin joined 16 NATO leaders, including President Clinton, to sign a historic agreement giving Moscow a voice in NATO affairs. (AP, 5/27/98) 1997 Jun 1, The Socialists won control of the government and party leader Lionel Jospin was expected to become prime minister. New conditions for creating the new European Union and new common currency were expected. Value added taxes on common purchases were expected to be slashed; plans to privatize France Telecom were expected to be abolished and the legal workweek was expected to be reduced to 35 hours without paycuts to provide more jobs. (SFC, 6/2/97, p.A1,9) 1997 Jun 2, Lionel Jospin was handed the premiership by Pres. Chirac. (SFC, 6/3/97, p.A12) 1997 Jun 6, The French film "A Single Girl" opened in SF. It was directed by Benoit Jacquot and starred Virginie Ledoyen and Benoit Magimel. (SFC, 6/6/97, p.D7) 1997 Jun, Ira Einhorn was arrested in France. A French court ruled against extradition and released Einhorn. Einhorn was arrested in 1998 under a new extradition warrant. The events were broadcast as a TV crime story in 1999 titled "The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer." In 1999 The French Supreme Court ruled that Einhorn should be returned to the US. In Sep 1977, in Philadelphia Helen "Holly" Maddux, a Bryn Mawr College graduate



from Tyler, Texas, was murdered and stuffed into a steamer trunk for 18 months until her body was discovered. Ira Einhorn, "hippie guru" was arrested for the murder in 1979 but released on bail. He fled to hide in France. Fred Maddux, Holly's father, committed suicide in 1988. Einhorn was convicted in absentia in 1993. (SFC, 6/17/97, p.A2)(SFC,12/5/97, p.A17)(SFC, 9/22/98, p.A3)(WSJ, 5/3/99, p.A20)(WSJ, 5/12/99, p.A23)(SFC, 5/28/99, p.D3) 1997 Aug 21, Pope John Paul II began a visit to Paris with an outdoor encounter with 500,000 young people from around the world. (SFC, 8/22/97, p.A14) 1997 Aug 24, In France Pope John Paul II offered tough challenges and affectionate encouragement to more than 1 million faithful attending Mass during closing World Youth Day ceremonies in Paris. (AP, 8/24/98) 1997 Aug 31, Princess Diana (36) and Dodi al-Fayed were killed in a car crash in Paris while trying to evade paparazzi photographers. (SFEC, 8/31/97, p.A1) 1997 Sep 8, In France a passenger train collided with a gasoline truck in Perigord town and killed at least 12 people and injured 39. (WSJ, 9/9/97, p.A1) 1997 Sep 29, The oil company Total signed a $2 billion contract to explore for gas in Iran despite warnings from the Clinton administration. (SFC, 9/30/97, p.A14) 1997 Nov 30, In Tajikistan Karine Mane of France and 5 of her suspected abductors were killed by a grenade during a confrontation with government forces trying to free her. A companion had been released hours earlier. Faction leader Rezvon Sadirov was accused of the kidnapping, staged to seek freedom for his brother, Bakhrom, who was awaiting trial on kidnapping charges. (SFC, 12/1/97, p.A13)(AP, 11/30/98) 1997 Oct 4, It was reported that France banned 20% of all cars from the streets of Paris for one day last week due to smog. (SFC, 10/4/97, p.A17) 1997 Oct 4, It was reported that Greenpeace had found crabs contaminated with twice Europe's allowed radiation level near the La Hague nuclear waste reprocessing plant near Cherbourg in northwestern France. (SFC, 10/4/97, p.A17)



1997 Oct 6, In Vitrolles the cafe Sous-marin was shut down for criticism of the National Front, a far-right party in control of the town. (SFC, 10/7/97, p.A15) 1997 Oct 8, A 36-hour rail strike disrupted travelers. (SFC, 10/9/97, p.A17) 1997 Oct 10, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin proposed a law to cut the workweek to 35 hours from 39 as a means to create jobs by Jan 1, 2000. (SFC, 10/11/97, p.A9) 1997 Nov 2, Some 250,000 union truckers began a strike over pay and work hours. Huge traffic pile-ups resulted. (SFC,11/4/97, p.A12) 1997 Nov 5, Trucker barricades went up in Paris. Unions representing France's 300,000 truckers demanded pay raises up to 7% and a guaranteed salary 0f $1,600 for 200 hours work per month plus compensation for downtime during loading. (SFC,11/6/97, p.C2) 1997 Nov 6, Paul Ricard, the aperitif king, died at age 88. [see 1932] (SFC,11/8/97, p.A22) 1997 Nov 7, Most truckers ended their strike after the largest signed an agreement for a 6% raise by year 2000 and a guaranteed $1700 for 200 hours of work per month. (SFC,11/8/97, p.A10) 1997 Nov 24, Singer Monique Serf, stage-name Barbara, died at 67. She was famous for her songs "Aigle Noir," "Nantes," "La Solitude," and "Une Petite Cantate." (SFC,11/26/97, p.C4) 1997 Nov 30, It was reported that Stephane Courtois led 11 scholars in the publication of the "Black Book of Communism." It was called the first global balance sheet of the "crimes, terror and repression" committed under communism. (SFEC,11/30/97, p.A19) 1997 Dec 1, Stephane Grappelli, jazz violinist, died in Paris. In the mid-30s the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, with Grappelli and Django Reinhardt, recorded "Tiger Rag," "Dinah," and "Lady Be Good." His albums included "Live at Carnegie Hall, "Jazz Round Midnight," "Plays Jerome Kern," "Tivoli Gardens" (1979), "Satin Doll," ''Stardust," 'For Django," and "Plays Gershwin." (SFC, 12/2/97, p.A22)(SFC, 12/4/97, p.E3) 1997 Dec 4, It was reported that Paul Cezanne graces the new 100 franc bill. He replaces Eugene Delacroix, who was on the old bill with his painting depicting the French



Revolution and its topless symbol Marianne. (SFC, 12/4/97, p.C5) 1997 Dec 12, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, the international terrorist known as "Carlos the Jackal," went on trial in Paris on charges of killing two French investigators and a Lebanese national. He was convicted and began serving a life prison sentence. (AP, 12/12/98) 1997 Dec 17, In France Salima Ghezali, Algerian human rights campaigner, received the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought. (SFC,12/18/97, p.C12) 1997 Dec 23, "Carlos the Jackal," aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, was convicted in the murder of 2 French agents and a Lebanese informant on Jun 27, 1975 and sentenced to life in prison. [see Dec 24] (SFC,12/24/97, p.A6) 1997 Dec 24, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, the aging revolutionary known as "Carlos the Jackal," was sentenced by a French court to life in prison for the 1975 murders of two French investigators and a Lebanese national. [see Dec 23] (AP, 12/24/98) 1997 Jean Guitton (d.1999 at 97), Catholic philosopher and author, published "The Spiritual Genius of St. Therese." (SFC, 3/27/99, p.C2) 1997 The sci-fi film by Luc Besson "The Fifth Element" was set in Manhattan in the year 2259. The film used a song by Khaled Hadj Brahim, the Algerian-born singer who combined western and African music in a style called "rai." His latest song, "Aicha," has sold more than 1.5 million copies. Besson won a 1998 French Cesar Award for best director. The film was France's top box-office hit. (SFEC, 5/4/97, DB p.39)(SFEC, 9/14/97, Par p.14)(SFC, 3/3/98, p.B5) 1997 The French film "Irma Vep" with Maggie Cheung was written and directed by Olivier Assayas. It was a remake of the 1915-1916 10-part silent serial "Les Vampires" by Louis Feuillade. (SFC, 8/8/97, p.D3) 1997 The French comedy film "Les Visiteurs" was about 2 men transplanted from the Middle Ages to modern-day France. (WSJ, 11/5/97, p.B1) 1997 The film "Marius et Jeannette" was a love story by Robert Guediguian. (SFC, 3/3/98, p.B5)



1997 The French film "On Cunnait la Chanson" (Same Old Song) won the 1998 Cesar Award for best French film of the year. (SFC, 3/3/98, p.B5) 1997 The French film "A Self-Made Hero" starred Matthieu Kassovitz and was directed by Jacques Audiard. It was about a man who joins the French underground near the end of the war. (SFEC,11/23/97, DB p.43)(SFC,12/5/97, p.C3) 1997 The French film "Un Air de Famille" (Family Resemblances) was directed by Cedric Klapisch. It was based on the play by Agnes Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri. (WSJ, 6/12/98, p.W5)(SFC, 1/29/99, p.D3) 1997 The French film "When the Cat's Away" was directed by Cedric Klapisch. One of its songs was "Mona Ki Ngi Xica" by Barcelo de Carvalho, aka "Bongo," recorded on the album "Angola 72." (SFC, 4/25/97, p.D6)(WSJ, 6/20/97, p.A16) 1997 Jacques Pepin, gourmet chef, received the Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts from the government. (SFC, 10/20/99, Z1p.4) 1997 Francois Furet, French historian, died. He was the acknowledged pre-eminent historian of the French Revolution and in 1995 authored "The Passing of an Illusion." It was translated by his wife into English in 1999. (WSJ, 5/11/99, p.A20) 1998 Jan 8, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin was forced to meet with protestors angry over the nation's 12.4% unemployment. (SFC, 1/9/98, p.A11) 1998 Jan 9, Prime Minister Jospin pledged $160 million to help the unemployed, in an attempt to end over a month of sit-ins at unemployment offices across the country. (SFC, 1/10/98, p.A8) 1998 Jan 23, In France a massive avalanche killed at least 11 people near the Italian border. (SFC, 1/24/98, p.A9) 1998 Feb 6, In Corsica Claude Erignac, a French government official, was shot a killed by 2 gunmen. (SFC, 2/7/98, p.A11) 1998 Feb 10, French legislators approved a reduction in the workweek from 39 to 35 hours. (SFC, 2/11/98, p.B3)



1998 Mar 17, Alain Bosquet, poet, novelist and critic, died at 78. He was born as Anatole Bisk in Odessa in the Ukraine. His autobiographical novel "A Russian Mother" was a best-seller in France and translated to English in 1996. (SFC, 4/9/98, p.C14) 1998 Mar 28, In France tens of thousands marched in demonstrations against the rightwing National Front, which made gains in recent regional elections. (SFEC, 3/29/98, p.A12) 1998 Mar 31, In Lille an 18-year-old boy was shot dead by a fellow student in front of his classmates and teacher. (SFC, 4/22/98, p.A10) 1998 Apr 2, A French court found Maurice Papon (87), a career civil servant, guilty of deporting Jews from Bordeaux in 1942-1943, when he was secretary-general of the Gironde Prefecture. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. (SFC, 4/2/98, p.C2)(SFC, 4/3/98, p.B2) 1998 May 8, A bomb exploded in Marseilles and damaged the Regional Council building. Corsican militants were suspected. (SFEC, 5/10/98, p.A22) 1998 May 9, A bomb exploded near the Spanish border at Siant-Pierre d'Irube and caused damage to a bank branch and the City Hall. Basque militants were suspected. (SFEC, 5/10/98, p.A22) 1998 May 20, The EU approved a rescue package to save the French Credit Lyonnais banking group. In exchange the state bank would be privatized and assets would have to be sold. (SFC, 5/22/98, p.D4) 1998 May 24, At the 51st Cannes Film Festival the Golden Palm award went to the Greek film "Mia Eoniotita Ke Mia Mera (Eternity and a Day), directed by Theo Angelopoulos. The Grand Prize went to the Italian film "La Vita e Bella" (Life Is Beautiful) by director Roberto Benigni. (SFC, 5/25/98, p.E5) 1998 May 26, Police in 5 European countries arrested 74 alleged Algerian separatists. 53 were arrested in France and 21 in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. The idea was to dismantle terrorist networks prior to the World Cup. (SFC, 5/27/98, p.A10) 1998 Jun 1, In France pilots of Air France began a pay-dispute strike. (SFC, 6/2/98, p.A11)



1998 Jun 10, Pilots agreed to end their strike after accepting shares in Air France in exchange for salary cuts. (SFC, 6/11/98, p.A10) 1998 Jun 12, Jean-Paul Guerlain (63), renowned perfumer, was shot and his mansion was plundered when some 12 armed and masked men invaded his home. (SFC, 6/13/98, p.A11) 1998 Jun 10-Jul 12, The World Cup soccer championships were held in France. (SFEC, 5/10/98, p.A22) 1998 Jul 12, The French soccer team beat Brazil 3-0 in the World Cup finals. (SFC, 7/13/98, p.A1) 1998 Jul 30, A Proteus Airlines Beechcraft collided with a Cessna off the west coast and 15 people were killed. (SFC, 8/1/98, p.A11) 1998 Aug 13, Julien Green (97), the first American to be elected to the Academie Francaise, died in Paris. The Catholic and homosexual writer produced 18 novels that included "Moira" and "Each in his Darkness." He also published 14 volumes of journals and 5 volumes of memoirs. (SFC, 8/18/98, p.A18) 1998 Sep 24, French doctors performed a hand transplant on a New Zealand man, Clint Hallam (48). He had lost his hand in a sawing accident in a New Zealand prison where he was serving a 2-year sentence for fraud. (SFC, 10/16/98, p.D2) 1998 Sep 25, Frenchman Benoit Lecomte reached the Brittany coast after a 72-day swim across the Atlantic that began Jul 16 at Hyannis, Mass. (SFC, 9/26/98, p.A11) 1998 Sep 30, Gerhard Schroeder visited with Socialist leaders in France and endorsed controls on capital flows. (WSJ, 10/1/98, p.A1) 1998 Oct 8, A wildcat transportation strike went into its 3rd day. (USAT, 10/9/98, p.13A) 1998 Oct 12, In France thousands of high-school students demonstrated for more teachers and school equipment. (WSJ, 10/13/98, p.A1)



1998 Oct 15, Over 200,000 high-school students protested overcrowded classes, a shortage of teachers, over-loaded schedules, and ill-equipped, unsafe schools. (SFC, 10/16/98, p.D2) 1998 Oct 20, Over 300,000 high-school students demonstrated for smaller classes and more teachers. There was scattered violence. (WSJ, 10/21/98, p.A1) 1998 Oct 21, In France the government announced emergency plans to improve conditions in the high schools. (SFC, 10/22/98, p.C3) 1998 Nov 8, Jean Marais, French actor, died at age 84. His films included the 1946 "Beauty and the Beast" by Jean Cocteau (d.1963). (SFC, 11/10/98, p.A24) 1998 Nov 21, Rail workers in southern France extended their strike for the 12th day. A Europe-wide rail strike was planned for Nov 27. (SFEC, 11/22/98, p.A26) 1998 Nov 28, Countries fighting in Congo agreed to a cease-fire during an African summit in Paris. The deal was brokered by UN Sec. Gen'l. Kofi Annan. Rebel leaders were not present. (SFEC, 11/29/98, p.A21) 1998 Dec 4, Britain and France signed an agreement for greater cooperation in crises management and military operations. (SFC, 12/5/98, p.A10) 1998 Dec 9, In France the National Assembly instituted the Civil Solidarity Pact, a bill to improve the lot of cohabiting gay and unmarried couples. (SFC, 12/10/98, p.C7) 1998 Dec 13, Riots erupted in the Reynerie suburb of Toulouse after a teenager was killed by a stray police bullet during an alleged car theft arrest. (SFC, 12/14/98, p.C2) 1998 Dec 30, Jean-Claude Forest, creator of the Barbarella sci-fi comic character, died at age 68 in Paris. (SFC, 1/2/99, p.C2) 1998 Dec, The Explor@dome opened in the Jardin d'Acclimatation, a children's park in the suburbs of Paris. It was modeled after the Exploratorium in San Francisco. (SFC, 4/1/99, p.E1)



1998 Christine Deviers-Joncour (51) published "The Whore of the Republic." In it she told how she had been hired in 1989 by state-owned Elf oil company to use her wiles on foreign minister Roland Dumas to go along with a sale of 6 French-made warships to Taiwan. (SFC, 11/28/98, p.A14) 1998 The French book "The City of Man," by Pierre Manent was translated to English by Marc A. LePain. It was a philosophical assault on the principles of modernity that began with the Enlightenment. (WSJ, 6/18/98, p.A16) 1998 Michael Tournier's book, "The Mirror of Ideas," was translated into English from the French. The 58 essays revived the ancient notion that a limited number of concepts and categories govern all our thoughts, and that their staying power is owed to our custom of pairing them off. (SFEC, 4/19/98, BR p.8) 1998 The French film "Diary of a Seducer" starred Chiara Mastroianni and Melvil Oiupaud. It was directed by Daniele Dubroux. (SFC, 9/4/98, p.C5) 1998 The French film "Full Speed" was directed by Gael Morel. It was about a young writer who undergoes a rite of passage with the publication of his latest novel. (SFC, 3/23/98, p.E2) 1998 The French film "Geneologies of a Crime" starred Catherine Deneuve and was directed by Raoul Ruiz. It was a psychological mystery of a killer whose crime was predicted by his victim. (SFC, 8/28/98, p.B6) 1998 The French film "Marie Baie des Anges" starred Frederic Malgras and Vahina Giocante. It was about teenage passion on the Riviera. (SFEC, 7/12/98, DB p.10) 1998 The French film "Post Coitum" was directed by Brigitte Rouan. (WSJ, 3/13/98, p.A14) 1998 The French film "La Separation" starred Isabelle Huppert and Daniel Auteuil and was directed by Christian Vincent. (WSJ, 10/13/98, p.A20) 1999 Jan, Raymond Peynet, cartoon illustrator, died at age 90. He was known for the starry-eyed "Lovers" created during World War II. (SFC, 1/16/99, p.A18)



1999 Jan 19, In France 8 men were sentenced to prison for providing arms and logistics to the banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in Algeria. (SFC, 1/20/99, p.A10) 1999 Jan 22, France convicted 107 people for supporting insurgents in Algeria. (SFC, 1/23/99, p.C1) 1999 Feb 8, A French helicopter crashed in Antarctica and 3 people were killed. (SFC, 2/9/99, p.A7) 1999 Feb 9, In Europe heavy snows caused avalanches that killed at least 5 people. Ten people were killed in the French Alps. (WSJ, 2/10/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 2/11/99, p.A1) 1999 Feb 14, In Rambouillet, France, Madeline Albright brought together the Serb and Albanian sides in the Kosovo peace talks and the talks were extended one week. The plan for a 3-year interim settlement included a NATO force of some 25,000 troops, who would collect the weapons of the Albanian rebels. (SFC, 2/15/99, p.A8) 1999 Feb 23, In France the Kosovo Albanians agreed in principle to a peace settlement but asked for 2 more weeks for consultations at home. (SFC, 2/24/99, p.A1) 1999 Feb 23, Heavy rain and snow in the Alps left 5 people dead and 13 missing in Austria, Switzerland, France and Germany. An avalanche in the Austrian Alps at Galtuer killed 9 people and at least 30 were missing. (WSJ, 2/23/99, p.A1)(SFC, 2/24/99, p.A8) 1999 Mar 9, French police arrested Javier Arizcuren-Ruiz, aka Kantauri, leader of the military wing of the Basque ETA along with 5 other ETA members. (SFC, 3/10/99, p.A14) 1999 Mar 20, In Paris thousands of French teachers marched to demand a greater say in educational reform. (SFEC, 3/21/99, p.A22) 1999 Mar 24, In the 7-mile Mt. Blanc tunnel between France and Italy a fire killed 4 people with smoke a burning truck transporting flour. The death toll was raised to 9 with 24 injured. The fire was extinguished after 3 days and the death toll rose to 35. Identification of the remains of at least 40 people began Mar 28. (WSJ, 3/25/99, p.A1)(SFC, 3/26/99, p.A14)(SFC, 3/27/99, p.A10)(SFC, 3/29/99, p.A8) 1999 May 4, Prime Minister Jospin dissolved an antiterrorist squad linked to the firebombing of a restaurant in Corsica frequented by nationalists. (WSJ, 5/5/99, p.A1)



1999 May 19, Employees of the Culture Ministry went on strike and shut down the government-owned museums and historic chateaus. (SFEC, 5/23/99, p.A26) 1999 Jun 1, Olivier Debre, abstract painter, died in Paris at age 79. His work included the stage curtain at the Comedie Francaise. He attempted to evoke emotion through abstraction in what he called figurative and landscape signs: "signes personnages" and "signes paysages." (SFC, 6/7/99, p.A20) 1999 Jul 1, In France a cable car crashed and killed 21 people in Grenoble. (SFC, 7/1/99, p.A15) 1999 Jul 13, Merhan Karini Nasseri (54), a resident of Charles DeGaulle Airport for the last 11 years, was granted refugee credentials by Belgium. (SFC, 7/14/99, p.A6) 1999 Jun 21, Mayor Jean Tiberi inaugurated a sundial at the Place de la Concorde. The Obelisk of Luxor was the pointer (gnomon), and the base was the northern half of the Place de la Concorde. (WSJ, 10/26/99, p.A24) 1999 Aug 21, The St. Pierre-de-Trivisy town council, home of Roquefort cheese, imposed a 100% tax on Coca Cola in retaliation for American tariffs on European goods. (SFC, 8/27/99, p.D4) 1999 Sep 29, Euro Disney unveiled plans for a movie theme park outside Paris next door to its Magic Kingdom park. (WSJ, 9/30/99, p.A18) 1999 Oct 4, Bernard Buffet, painter, killed himself at age 71. The prolific figurative painter often completed a work every other day and was respected abroad but not at home. (SFC, 10/5/99, p.A26) 1999 Oct, In France thousands of fish were killed when the residue of seasonal pressing for champagne grapes was washed into the Marne River by heavy rains. Dead fish were piled 6 feet high along a 20-mile stretch and fisherman said it could take 10 years for stocks to return to normal. (SFC, 10/9/99, p.C1) 1999 Oct 11, In Paris riot police used tear gas against egg-throwing chefs, who demanded that the government lift a 20.6% tax on restaurant meals. (SFC, 10/12/99, p.A1)



1999 Oct 13, France legalized same sex unions under legislation called "civil solidarity pacts" pushed through by the Socialist-dominated National Assembly. (SFC, 10/14/99, p.A12) 1999 Oct 15, The French organization "Doctors Without Borders" (Medecins Sans Frontieres) won the Nobel Peace Prize. (SFC, 10/16/99, p.A1) 1999 Oct 20, In France it was reported that Maurice Papon (89), convicted for collaboration with the Nazis, had fled the country. (SFC, 10/21/99, p.A12) 1999 Oct 20, Nathalie Sarraute, a Russian-born French novelist, died at age 99. Her 17 books included 10 novels and her form was characterized by Sartre as the "antinovel." In 1983 she authored her autobiographical "Childhood." (SFC, 10/21/99, p.A25) 1999 Oct 22, Maurice Papon (89), was arrested in Gstaad, Switzerland, and turned over to French police. (SFC, 10/23/99, p.A10) 1999 Oct 23, Pres. Jiang Zemin of China visited France and signed a $2.5 billion deal that included an order for 28 Airbus planes. (SFEC, 10/24/99, p.A28) 1999 Oct 29, A EU Commission ruled that British beef was safe to eat despite French arguments for a ban to guard against mad cow disease. (SFC, 10/30/99, p.A12) 1999 Nov 2, In France the Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the finance minister, resigned in a corruption scandal. (SFC, 11/3/99, p.C3) 1999 Nov 13, Heavy rains in southeastern France caused mudslides that left at least 22 people dead in the Tarn Aude, Eastern Pyranees and Herault regions. (SFEC, 11/14/99, p.A15) 1999 Nov, The French government decided to make morning-after contraception pills available to teenage girls through school nurses. 10,000 girls under 18 were becoming pregnant each year and 6,000 were having abortions. (SFC, 12/1/99, p.A15) 1999 Dec 5, In France Michele Alliot-Marie (53) was elected as the 1st female leader of the conservative Rally for the Republic. (SFC, 12/6/99, p.A14)



1999 Dec 9, In France a court ruled that Seita, the maker of Gauloise and Gitane cigarettes, was partly responsible for the death of a Richard Gourlain, a 3-pack-a-day smoker. (SFC, 12/9/99, p.C8) 1999 Dec 18, Robert Bresson, film director, died at age 98. His films included "La Femme Douce" and "L'Argent." (SFC, 12/22/99, p.A27) 1999 Dec 26, In Europe heavy winds and rain killed at least 79 people with 44 dead in France, 17 dead in Germany and 13 dead in Switzerland. A 2nd storm hit a day later. Damages from the storms were later estimated to be at least $4 billion with 90 people dead. The storms destroyed an estimated 400 million trees across France. (SFC, 12/27/99, p.A12)(WSJ, 12/27/99, p.A1)(SFC, 12/28/99, p.A8)(SFC, 1/4/00, p.A11)(SFC, 1/15/00, p.A1) 1999 Jonathan Fenby, English journalist, published "France on the Brink," a diagnosis of what ails French society. (WSJ, 8/4/99, p.A20) 1999 Bruce LeFavour authored "France on Foot, Village to Village, Hotel to Hotel: How to Walk the French Trail System on Your Own" with photographs by Faith Ecthermeyer. (SFEC, 1/9/00, BR p.8) 1999 The French psychological drama film "Dry Cleaning" starred Miou Miou, Charles Berling and Stanislas Merhar. It was directed by Anne Fontaine. A reserved couple get involved with a group of sexually ambiguous nightclub performers. (SFC, 5/31/99, p.D3) 1999 The French film "I Stand Alone" was directed by Gaspar Noe. It was about an unemployed butcher. (SFEC, 4/11/99, DB p.39) 1999 The French musical film "Jeanne and the Perfect Guy" starred Oliver Duscatel and Jacques Martineau. (SFC, 7/26/99, p.E3) 1999 The French film "Late August, Early September" starred Mathieu Amalric and Virginie Ledoyen. It was directed by Olivier Assayas. (SFC, 7/23/99, p.C5) 1999 The French film "Romance" was written and directed by Catherine Breillat. It was about a woman's sexual journey and starred Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi and Caroline Ducey. (SFEC, 8/29/99, DB p.60)(SFC, 9/29/99, p.D1)



1999 The French film "Same Old Song" was directed by Alain Resnais. (SFEC, 4/11/99, DB p.37) 1999 The French film "Sitcom" was directed by Francois Ozon. (SFC, 7/5/99, p.B3) 1999 The French film "The School of Flesh" was directed by Benoit Jacquot. (SFC, 3/26/99, p.C3) 1999 The French romantic comedy film "Seventh Heaven" starred Sandrina Kimberlain and Vincent Lindon and was directed by Benoir Jacquot. (SFC, 4/9/99, p.C7) 1999 The French film "Soleil" starred Sophie Loren and Philippe Noiret. It was directed by Roger Hanin. It was about Jewish mother and her family pushed to Algiers during WW II. (SFC, 8/6/99, p.C6) 1999 The French film "Women" starred Carmen Maura, Miou-Miou, and Marisa Berenson. It was directed by Luis Glavao Teles. (SFC, 12/3/99, p.C3) 2000 Jan 1, A law to cut the workweek to 35 hours from 39 as a means to create jobs by this date was proposed in 1997 by Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. (SFC, 10/11/97, p.A9) 2000 Jan 13, In France a 50 member surgical team performed the world's first doublehand and forearm transplant at Edouard-Herriot Hospital in a 17-hour operation led by Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard. (SFC, 1/15/00, p.A3) 2000 Feb 1, In France the new 35-hour work week took legal effect. Workers the included truckers struck across the country for a number of demands that included higher pay. The truckers were exempted from the reduced work week. (SFC, 2/2/00, p.B2) 2000 Feb 5, Claude Autant-Lara, film director, died at age 98. His over 30 films included "Le Diable au Corps" (Devil in the Flesh), "Le Rouge et le Noir" (The Red and the Black), based on the novel by Stendhal, and "La Traversee de Paris" (Four Bags Full). (SFC, 2/8/00, p.A23) 2000 Feb 11, Roger Vadim, film director, died at age 72. His 5 wives included Brigitte Bardot, Annette Stroyberg, Catherine Deneuve, Jane Fonda, Catherine Schneider and Marie-Christine Barrault. (SFC, 2/12/00, p.A21)



2002 New Euro bills will replace the national currency. (SFC, 12/4/97, p.C5) 2002 France planed to abolish the draft by the end of the year with a slimmed down force of some 357,000 volunteers. A 50,000-strong reserve force was part of the plan. (SFEC, 10/31/99, p.A28) 2015 The construction of a $10-20 billion new airport was planned to begin near Chartres, southwest of Paris. (WSJ, 6/6/96, p.A11) End of file.