Learn about important dates in French and francophone history: famous birthdays, holidays and celebrations, and other milestones. If the above does not match today's date or you wish to choose a specific date, please click here

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Birthdays

1712 - Luc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen (French admiral)

1763 - Pierre-Paul Royer-Collard (French statesman and philosopher)

1781 - Siméon-Denis Poisson (French mathematician and physicist)

1823 - Jean Chacornac (French astronomer)

1828 - Ferdinand André Fouqué (French geologist)

1905 - Jean-Paul Sartre (French philosopher and writer)

1919 - Gérard Pelletier (French journalist, politician, and diplomat)

1921 - Jean de Broglie (French politician)

1924 - Jean Laplanche (French author and psychoanalyst)

1926 - Conrad Hall (Tahitian-born cinematographer)

1935 - Françoise Sagan (French writer)

1955 - Michel Platini (French soccer player)

1957 - Lucien DeBlois (Canadian ice hockey player)

1984 - Franck Perera (French racing driver)

Deaths

1824 - Étienne Aignan (French writer)

Holidays/Celebrations

France, Belgium, Switzerland - Fête de la Musique

Togo - Fête des martyrs

Milestones/Events

524 - Battle of Vezerone: Godomar, King of the Burgundians defeated the Franks

1665 - Québec: Le Régiment de Carignan-Salières arrived to invade Iroquois territories

1734 - Montréal, New France: Marie-Joseph Angélique, a black slave convicted of arson that destroyed much of the city, was tortured and hanged by the French authorities in a public ceremony

1940 - World War II: France surrendered to Germany

1957 - Ellen Louks Fairclough sworn in as Canada's first female Cabinet Minister

Errors and Omissions

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