Events from the year 1781 in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

–

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

Events

*6 January –

Battle of Jersey The Battle of Jersey took place on 6 January 1781 when French forces during the American Revolutionary War unsuccessfully invaded the British-ruled island of Jersey to remove the threat it posed to French and American shipping. Jersey provided ...

*May – Invasion of Tobago *12 December – Battle of Ushant

Science

Astronomy

* Messier 87, a supergiant elliptical galaxy, was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier.

Births

*27 March –

Charles Joseph Minard Charles Joseph Minard (; ; 27 March 1781 – 24 October 1870) was a French civil engineer recognized for his significant contribution in the field of information graphics in civil engineering and statistics. Minard was, among other things, noted ...

, engineer (died

1870 Events January–March * January 1 ** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. ** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. * January 3 – Construction of the Broo ...

) *1 May – François-Désiré Breton, naval officer

Deaths

*18 March –

Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de l'Aulne ( ; ; 10 May 172718 March 1781), commonly known as Turgot, was a French economist and statesman. Originally considered a physiocrat, he is today best remembered as an early advocate for economic libe ...

, statesman (born 1727) *16 August – Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec, soldier and diplomat (born 1719)

Full date missing

Christophe de Beaumont Christophe de Beaumont du Repaire (19 June 1703– 12 December 1781) was a French cleric who belonged to a cadet branch of the Les Adrets and Saint-Quentin branches of the illustrious Dauphin family of Beaumont. He became Bishop of Bayonne in 17 ...

, archbishop (born 1703)

References

1780s in France {{France-hist-stub