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.

To learn more about important dates in French and francophone history, bookmark Today in Francophone History and visit every day!

Birthdays

1849 - Benjamin Godard (French composer)

1897 or 1899* - Charles Boyer (French actor)

1938 - Paul Martin (Prime Minister of Canada)

1940 - Roger Pingeon (French cylist)

1941 - Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps (Belgian aristocrat)

Deaths

430 - Augustine of Hippo (North African saint and theologian)

1785 - Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (French sculptor)

1793 - Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine (French general)

1818 - Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable (Haitian founder of Chicago)

1990 - Willy Vandersteen (Belgian cartoonist)

Milestones/Events

1944 - World War II: Liberation of Marseille and Toulon

1979 - Brussels: IRA bomb explodes in the Great Market

Errors and Omissions

*Internet sources are divided about evenly between these two years; if you have an authoritative source, or if you believe anything else on this page is wrong or missing, please let me know