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

1517 - Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (French church leader)

1601 - Pierre de Fermat (French mathematician)

1625 - Thomas Corneille (French dramatist)

1632 - Louis Bourdaloue (French Jesuit preacher)

1719 - Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec (French soldier and diplomat)

1860 - Raymond Poincaré (French Prime Minister and President)

1981 - Bernard Mendy (French soccer player)

Deaths

1707 - Nicolas Gigault (French organist and composer)

1811 - Louis Antoine de Bougainville (French explorer)

1887 - Jules Laforgue (French poet)

1904 - René Waldeck-Rousseau (French statesman)

Holidays/Celebrations

Morocco - Revolution of the King and the People Day

Milestones/Events

1914 - World War I: German forces occupied Brussels

1955 - Morocco: Berbers from Algeria raided two settlements and killed 77 French nationals

1960 - Senegal broke from Mali federation and declared independence

1997 - Alberia: Souhane massacre

1998 - Canada: Supreme Court ruled Québec cannot secede without the federal government's approval

Errors and Omissions

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