Events from the year 1863 in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Incumbents

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

–

Napoleon III 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 ...

Events

*15 January - French forces bombard

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

, during the French intervention in Mexico. *16 March - French siege of Puebla begins. *14 April - Treaty of Hué is signed between

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and the French Empire. *30 April -

Battle of Camarón The Battle of Camarón (french: Bataille de Camerone) which occurred over ten hours on 30 April 1863 between the Foreign Legion of the French Army and the Mexican army, is regarded as a defining moment in the Foreign Legion's history. A small ...

, between the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

and the Mexican army: Mexican victory, but successful French delaying action. *17 May - Puebla surrenders to the French. *7 June - French troops enter

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. *21–22 June -

Legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, first round. *5–6 July -

, second round. *First outbreak of phylloxera on the European mainland observed in the vineyards of the southern Rhône region. *The recipe for the herbal liqueur

Bénédictine Bénédictine () is a herbal liqueur produced in France. It was developed by wine merchant Alexandre Le Grand in the 19th century, and is reputedly flavored with twenty-seven flowers, berries, herbs, roots, and spices. A drier version, B&B, ...

is devised by

Alexandre Le Grand ''Alexandre le Grand'' is a tragedy in 5 acts (of 3, 5, 7, 5 and 3 scenes, respectively) and verse by Jean Racine. It was first produced on 4 December 1665 at the Palais Royal Theater in Paris.Date of the premiere and the venue are listed by Josep ...

Fécamp Fécamp () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. Geography Fécamp is situated in the valley of the river Valmont, at the heart of the Pays de Caux, on the Alabaster Coast. It is aroun ...

. *The Paris Observatory begins to publish

weather map A weather map, also known as synoptic weather chart, displays various meteorological features across a particular area at a particular point in time and has various symbols which all have specific meanings. Such maps have been in use since the m ...

Arts and literature

*31 January - Jules Verne's scientifically inspired novel ''

Five Weeks in a Balloon ''Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, A Journey of Discovery by Three Englishmen in Africa'' (french: Cinq semaines en ballon) is an adventure novel by Jules Verne, published in 1863. It is the first novel in which he perfected the "ingredients" of hi ...

'' (''Cinq semaines en ballon'') is published by

Pierre-Jules Hetzel Pierre-Jules Hetzel (15 January 1814 – 17 March 1886) was a French editor and publisher. He is best known for his extraordinarily lavishly illustrated editions of Jules Verne's novels, highly prized by collectors today. Biography Born in Ch ...

in Paris; it will be the first of Verne's ''

Voyages Extraordinaires The ''Voyages extraordinaires'' (; ) is a Collection (publishing), collection or novel sequence, sequence of novels and short story, short stories by the French writer Jules Verne. Fifty-four of these novels were originally published between 1 ...

''. *30 September - Georges Bizet's

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

, '' Les pêcheurs de perles'' receives its première at the

Théâtre Lyrique The Théâtre Lyrique was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century (the other three being the Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre-Italien). The company was founded in 1847 as the Opér ...

in Paris. *4 November - Hector Berlioz's opera '' Les Troyens'' receives its première at the Théâtre Lyrique.

Births

*1 January -

Pierre de Coubertin Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (; born Pierre de Frédy; ...

, historian and founder of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(died 1937) *16 April -

Émile Friant Émile Friant (16 April 1863 – 9 June 1932) was a French artist. Friant was born in the commune of Dieuze. He would later be forced to flee to Nancy by the encroachment of the Kingdom of Prussia's soldiers. He exhibited paintings througho ...

, painter (died

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

) *26 May - Charles-Victor Langlois, historian and

paleographer Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

(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 ...

) *7 July - Marguerite Audoux, novelist (died 1937) *12 July -

Albert Calmette Léon Charles Albert Calmette ForMemRS (12 July 1863 – 29 October 1933) was a French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist, and an important officer of the Pasteur Institute. He discovered the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, an attenuated for ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology -- a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learning about bacteria, ...

and immunologist (died 1933) *8 November -

René Viviani Jean Raphaël Adrien René Viviani (; 8 November 18637 September 1925) was a French politician of the Third Republic, who served as Prime Minister for the first year of World War I. He was born in Sidi Bel Abbès, in French Algeria. In France ...

, 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 i ...

(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 Itali ...

)

Deaths

*16 February - Pierre-Médard Diard, naturalist and explorer (born

1794 Events January–March * January 1 – The Stibo Group is founded by Niels Lund as a printing company in Aarhus (Denmark). * January 13 – The U.S. Congress enacts a law providing for, effective May 1, 1795, a United Stat ...

) *21 February -

Pierre-Nolasque Bergeret Pierre-Nolasque Bergeret (30 January 1782, Bordeaux – 21 February 1863, Paris) was a French painter, pioneer lithographer and designer of medals and costumes for the stage, who studied with Jacques-Louis David. He was born in Bordeaux, wher ...

, painter, lithographer and designer (born

1782 Events January–March * January 7 – The first American commercial bank (Bank of North America) opens. * January 15 – Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the United States Congress to recommend establish ...

) *25 February - Laure Cinti-Damoreau, soprano (born

1801 Events January–March * January 1 ** The legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland is completed under the Act of Union 1800, bringing about the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the abolition of the Parliament of I ...

) *30 March -

Auguste Bravais Auguste Bravais (; 23 August 1811, Annonay, Ardèche – 30 March 1863, Le Chesnay, France) was a French physicist known for his work in crystallography, the conception of Bravais lattices, and the formulation of Bravais law. Bravais also studied ...

, physicist (born

1811 Events January–March * January 8 – An unsuccessful slave revolt is led by Charles Deslondes, in St. Charles and St. James Parishes, Louisiana. * January 17 – Mexican War of Independence – Battle of Calderón Br ...

) *12 July -

Étienne-Jean Delécluze Etienne-Jean Delécluze () (26 February 1781 – 12 July 1863) was a French painter and critic. From 1797 on, he was a pupil of Jacques-Louis David, as he describes in his biography of David. As one of his favorite pupils, he was invited t ...

, painter and critic (born

1781 Events January–March * January – William Pitt the Younger, later Prime Minister of Great Britain, enters Parliament, aged 21. * January 1 – Industrial Revolution: The Iron Bridge opens across the River Severn in E ...

) *13 August -

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

, painter (born

1798 Events January–June * January – Eli Whitney contracts with the U.S. federal government for 10,000 muskets, which he produces with interchangeable parts. * January 4 – Constantine Hangerli enters Bucharest, as Prince of ...

) *17 September -

Alfred de Vigny Alfred Victor, Comte de Vigny (27 March 1797 – 17 September 1863) was a French poet and early French Romanticist. He also produced novels, plays, and translations of Shakespeare. Biography Vigny was born in Loches (a town to which he never r ...

, poet, playwright and novelist (born

1797 Events January–March * January 3 – The Treaty of Tripoli, a peace treaty between the United States and Ottoman Tripolitania, is signed at Algiers (''see also'' 1796). * January 7 – The parliament of the Cisalpine ...

) *13 October -

Philippe Antoine d'Ornano Philippe Antoine d'Ornano, 1st Comte d'Ornano (January 17, 1784 – October 13, 1863) was a French soldier and political figure who rose to the rank of Marshal of France. He was made ''Count d'Ornano of the French Empire'' in 1808. He was born a ...

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 ( ...

(born

1784 Events January–March * January 6 – Treaty of Constantinople: The Ottoman Empire agrees to Russia's annexation of the Crimea. * January 14 – The Congress of the United States ratifies the Treaty of Paris with Great Bri ...

) *16 November -

Louis-René Villermé Louis-René Villermé (10 March 1782 – 16 November 1863) was a French economist and physician. He was known for his early studies of social epidemiology, or the effects of socioeconomic status on health, in early industrial France, and was ...

, doctor and economist (born

) *17 December -

Émile Saisset Émile Edmond Saisset (16 September 181427 December 1863) was a French philosopher. Life Émile Edmond Saisset was born at Montpellier. He studied philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure, and carried on the eclectic tradition of his master ...

, philosopher (born

1814 Events January * January 1 – War of the Sixth Coalition – The Royal Prussian Army led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher crosses the Rhine. * January 3 ** War of the Sixth Coalition – Siege of Cattaro: French garrison ...

) *30 December -

Frédéric Monod Frédéric Monod (17 May 1794, in Monnaz - 30 December 1863, in Paris) was a French Protestant pastor. He was the older brother of minister Adolphe Monod. He was born citizen of the Republic of Geneva, and obtained the French citizenship in 18 ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

pastor (born

) *

Alphonse de Polignac Alphonse de Polignac (1826–1863) was a French mathematician. In 1849, the year he was admitted to Polytechnique, he made what's known as Polignac's conjecture: From p. 400: ''"1er ''Théorème.'' Tout nombre pair est égal à la différ ...

, mathematician (born

1826 Events January–March * January 15 – The French newspaper '' Le Figaro'' begins publication in Paris, initially as a weekly. * January 30 – The Menai Suspension Bridge, built by engineer Thomas Telford, is opened between the island ...

)

References

{{Year in Europe, 1863 1860s in France