Events from the year 1851 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 ...

Events

*1 July - Serial poisoner

Hélène Jégado Hélène Jégado (1803 – 26 February 1852) was a French domestic servant and serial killer. She is believed to have murdered as many as 36 people with arsenic over a period of 18 years. After an initial period of activity, between 1833 and ...

is arrested in

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. *17 July-

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

uses the phrase

United States of Europe The United States of Europe (USE), the European State, the European Federation and Federal Europe, is the hypothetical scenario of the European integration leading to formation of a sovereign superstate (similar to the United States of Ameri ...

in a speech to the National Assembly. *2 December -

French coup d'état of 1851 French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

is staged by President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, dissolving the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

. *6 December - Trial of

begins; she is eventually sentenced to death and executed by

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

. *21 December -

Constitutional referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

held, approving President

Louis Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

, who had been limited to a single four-year term, serving for ten additional years. *

Messageries Maritimes ''Messageries Maritimes'' was a French merchant shipping company. It was originally created in 1851 as ''Messageries nationales'', later called ''Messageries impériales'', and from 1871, ''Compagnie des messageries maritimes'', casually known as ...

merchant shipping company founded as ''Messageries nationales'', initially for service to the Middle East. *The

Charles Heidsieck Charles Camille Heidsieck (1822–1893) was a French Champagne merchant who founded the Champagne firm '' Charles Heidsieck'' in 1851. He is credited with popularizing Champagne in the United States and was known as "Champagne Charlie" during his ...

champagne house is established.

Births

*27 March -

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Par ...

, composer (died

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

) *6 April -

Guillaume Bigourdan Camille Guillaume Bigourdan (; 6 April 1851 – 28 February 1932) was a French astronomer. Personal life Bigourdan was born at Sistels, Tarn-et-Garonne to Pierre Bigourdan and Jeanne Carrière. When his teachers and local curate recognised ...

, astronomer (died

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

) *15 April -

Anne Boutiaut Poulard Anne "Annette" Boutiaut Poulard (15 April 1851 – 7 May 1931), one of the Mères of France, was known as ''Mère Poulard'' (Mother Poulard), and was a cook and innkeeper in Mont-Saint-Michel, France. She was noted for her omelette creation, the O ...

, cook (died 1931) *21 April -

Charles Barrois Charles Eugene Barrois (21 August 18515 November 1939) was a French geologist and palaeontologist. Life Barrois was born at Lille and educated at the Jesuit College of St Joseph in that town, where he studied geology under Professor Jules Goss ...

, geologist and palaeontologist (died

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

) *6 May -

Aristide Bruant Aristide Bruant (; 6 May 1851 – 11 February 1925) was a French cabaret singer, comedian, and nightclub owner. He is best known as the man in the red scarf and black cape featured on certain famous posters by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He ...

, singer, comedian and nightclub owner (died

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

) *21 May -

Léon Bourgeois Léon Victor Auguste Bourgeois (; 21 May 185129 September 1925) was a French statesman. His ideas influenced the Radical Party regarding a wide range of issues. He promoted progressive taxation such as progressive income taxes and social insuran ...

, politician,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, awarded

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

in 1920 (died

) *29 June -

Jane Dieulafoy Jane Dieulafoy (29 June 1851 – 25 May 1916) was a French archaeologist, explorer, novelist, feminist and journalist. She was the wife of Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy. She and her husband excavated the Ancient Persian city of Susa and made various d ...

, born Jeanne Magre, archaeologist and novelist (died

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

) *30 September -

Auguste Molinier Auguste Molinier (30 September 185119 May 1904) was a French historian. Biography Born in Toulouse, Auguste Molinier was a student at the École Nationale des Chartes, which he left in 1873, and also at the École pratique des hautes études; an ...

, historian (died

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

) *2 October -

Ferdinand Foch Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Art ...

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1 ...

, military theorist and writer (died

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

)

Deaths

*28 February -

Guillaume Dode de la Brunerie Guillaume Dode de la Brunerie (April 30, 1775 – February 28, 1851) was a Marshal of France. On February 12, 1812, he married the daughter of Marshal Pérignon, ''Agathe-Virginie''. Early life and French revolutionary wars Guillaume Dode was bor ...

, (born

1775 Events Summary The American Revolutionary War began this year, with the first military engagement being the April 19 Battles of Lexington and Concord on the day after Paul Revere's now-legendary ride. The Second Continental Congress t ...

) *19 October - Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France, eldest child of King

Louis XVI of France 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 e ...

(born

1778 Events January–March * January 18 – Third voyage of James Cook: Captain James Cook, with ships HMS ''Resolution'' and HMS ''Discovery'', first views Oahu then Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, which he na ...

) *26 November -

Jean-de-Dieu Soult Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and often called Marshal Soult. Soult was one of only six officers in Fren ...

Marshal General of France Marshal General of France, originally "Marshal General of the King's camps and armies" (french: maréchal général des camps et armées du roi), was a title given to signify that the recipient had authority over all of the French armies, in the da ...

and three times

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister ...

(born

1769 Events January–March * February 2 – Pope Clement XIII dies, the night before preparing an order to dissolve the Jesuits.Denis De Lucca, ''Jesuits and Fortifications: The Contribution of the Jesuits to Military Architecture in ...

)

References

{{Year in Europe, 1851 1850s in France