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

1409 - René I of Naples (Duke of Anjou, Count of Provence)

1616 - François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort (French soldier)

1675 - Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon (French writer)

1853 - André Michelin (French industrialist)

1911 - Roger Lapébie (French cyclist)

1941 - Richard Bohringer (Franco-Senegalese actor, singer, and author)

Deaths

1659 - Charles Annibal Fabrot (French lawyer)

1834 - Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette (French mathematician)

1865 - Edmond François Valentin About (French writer)

1891 - Léo Delibes (French composer)

1971 - Philippe Thys (Belgian cyclist)

Holidays/Celebrations

Bénin - Martyrs' Day

Milestones/Events

1761 - British captured Pondicherry, India from the French

1795 - French occupied Utrecht, Netherlands

1809 - Peninsular War: Battle of La Coruña - British defeated the French

2001 - Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila shot by one of his bodyguards (he died two days later)

Errors and Omissions

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