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

1499 - Diane de Poitiers (mistress of Henri II of France)

1710 - Abraham Trembley (Swiss naturalist)

1724 - Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (British soldier and Governor of Québec)

1781 - Eugène de Beauharnais (son of Napoleon's wife, Josephine)

1859 - Jean Jaurès (French Socialist leader)

1910 - Maurice Papon (French Vichy government official)

1928 - Gaston Thorn (Luxembourg-born president of the European Commission)

1928 - Pierre Troisgros (French chef)

1940 - Macha Meril (Moroccan-born French actress)

1953 - Jean-Pierre Jeunet (French film director)

1963 - Murielle Hermine (French swimmer)

Deaths

1653 - Claudius Salmasius (French classical scholar)

1720 - Henri de Massue, Marquis de Ruvigny, 1st Viscount Galway (French soldier and diplomat)

1729 - Jean Hardouin (French scholar)

1857 - John McLoughlin (Canadian trapper)

1914 - Albéric Magnard (French composer)

Milestones/Events

1783 - American Revolutionary War: Treaty of Paris ended war

1939 - World War II: France, UK, New Zealand, and Australia declare war on Germany

1943 - World War II: Mainland Italy invaded by Allied forces for the first time

1967 - Nguyen Van Thieu elected President of South Vietnam

1997 - Crash of Vietnam Airlines Tupolev TU-134

Errors and Omissions

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