Historical Events
- 1180 Philip II of France (14) marries first wife Isabella of Hainault (10) at Bapaume
- 1503 Battle at Cerignalo: Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba defeats a French force led by Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours
- 1694 French-Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet sets out from Quebec leading the first documented journey of the Labrador coastline (reaches Zoar area) [1]
World's First Motor Race
1887 "Europe's first motoring competition" is 'won' by The Marquis de Dion on a steam-powered quadricycle built by French toymaker and engineer Georges Bouton; French newspaper Le Velocipede organized the 'test', and Bouton was the only participant
- 1956 Last French troops leave Vietnam
Event of Interest
1969 Charles de Gaulle resigns as president of France
- 2013 3 people are killed and 14 are injured after a gas explosions causes a building to collapse in Reims, France
Famous Birthdays
Edward IV (1442-1483)
King of England (1461-70, 71-83), born in Rouen, Normandy
- 1765 Sylvestre François Lacroix, French mathematician, born in Paris (d. 1843)
- 1842 Gaston of Orleans, Count of Eu, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France (d. 1922)
- 1900 Maurice Thorez, French politician and secretary-general (French Communist Party), born in Noyelles-Godault, Pas-de-Calais, France (d. 1964)
- 1906 Pierre Boileau, French novelist (Vertigo), born in Paris, France (d. 1989)
- 1912 Odette Hallowes, British classified agent in France (WWII), born in Amiens, France (d. 1995)
- 1928 Yves Klein, French sculptor and painter, born in Nice, France (d. 1962)
- 1941 Lucien Aimar, French cyclist (won 53rd Tour de France 1966), born in Hyères, France
- 1943 Jacques Dutronc, French pop-rock singer-songwriter (Il est cinq heures, Paris s'éveille), and actor (Van Gogh), born in Paris, France
- 1957 Leopold Eyharts, French cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-26, TM-28/27)
Famous Weddings
Paul Cézanne
1886 Painter Paul Cézanne (47) weds Marie-Hortense Fiquet (36)
Famous Deaths
- 1716 Louis de Montfort, French catholic priest and saint who preached Mariology (Secret of the Rosary; True Devotion to Mary), dies at 43
- 1770 Marie-Anne de Cupis de Camargo, French dancer, dies at 60
- 1799 François Giroust, French composer, dies at 62
- 1841 Peter Chanel, French priest & saint, dies at 37
- 1946 Louis Bachelier, French mathematician, dies at 76
- 1954 Léon Jouhaux, French socialist and co-founder UN's ILO (Nobel Peace Prize 1951), dies at 74
- 1973 Jacques Maritain, French Catholic philosopher (exponent of St Thomas), dies at 90
- 1996 Gilles Grangier, French film director (Archimède le clochard), dies at 84
- 2020 Louis Cardiet, French soccer defender (6 caps; Stade Rennais FC, Paris SG), dies at 77