Events from the year 1879 in France.

Incumbents

* President: Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta (until 30 January) Jules Grévy (starting 30 January) * President of the Council of Ministers: ** until 4 February: Jules Armand Dufaure ** 4 February-28 December: William Waddington. ** starting 28 December: Charles de Freycinet

Events

* April – Postman Ferdinand Cheval begins to build his ''Palais Idéal'' at Hauterives. * 1 June – Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial (Napoléon IV), great-nephew of

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, Bonapartist Pretender to the throne, dies in Africa during the Anglo-Zulu War. * 17 July – Freycinet Plan enacted to extend rail and other transportation systems. * " La Marseillaise" is restored as the French national anthem.

Births

* 22 January – Francis Picabia, painter and poet (died

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

) * 4 February – Jacques Copeau, journalist, actor, playwright, director, teacher (died

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

) * 23 March – René Jeannel,

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

(died

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

) * 20 April – Paul Poiret, fashion designer (died

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

) * 5 June –

René Pottier René Pottier (5 June 1879 in Moret-sur-Loing, Seine-et-Marne – 25 January 1907 in Levallois-Perret) was a French racing cyclist. Pottier won the amateur category of the 1903 Bordeaux–Paris race before turning professional. He came seco ...

, cyclist, winner of

1906 Tour de France The 1906 Tour de France was the fourth edition of the Tour de France, and the second to use the points system. Taking place from 4 to 29 July, the total race distance was run over 13 stages, with the winner averaging . New to this year's edition ...

(died

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco. ...

) * 9 June – Joseph Avenol, 2nd Secretary General of the League of Nations * 1 July – Léon Jouhaux, trade union leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1951 (died

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

) * 13 July – Eugène Freyssinet, structural and

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

(died

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

) * 11 September – Louis Coatalen, automobile engineer and racing driver (died 1962 in the United Kingdom) * 23 September –

Charles Camoin Charles Camoin (; 23 September 1879 – 20 May 1965) was a French expressionist landscape painter associated with the Fauves. ''Les Fauves: A Sourcebook'', by Russell T. Clement, p. 2, web: -->&lpg=PA2 Google Books Born in Marseille, Franc ...

, painter (died

) * 21 October – Joseph Canteloube, composer (died

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

) * 17 December –

Jean-Marie Charles Abrial Jean-Marie Charles Abrial (17 December 1879 – 19 December 1962) was a French Admiral and Naval Minister. He fought in both World wars, and was known mostly for his actions at Dunkirk in 1940. Early years Abrial started his career in 1896 at ...

, Admiral and Minister (died

) * 31 December –

Joseph Darnand Joseph Darnand (19 March 1897 – 10 October 1945) was a French collaborator with Nazi Germany during World War II. A decorated soldier in the French Army of World War I and early World War II, he went on to become the organizer and ''de facto ...

, Bishop (died

)

Deaths

* 10 February – Honoré Daumier, printmaker, caricaturist, painter and sculptor (born

1808 Events January–March * January 1 ** The importation of slaves into the United States is banned, as the 1807 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves takes effect; African slaves continue to be imported into Cuba, and until the island ab ...

) * 25 February –

Jean-Baptiste Glaire Jean-Baptiste Glaire (1 April 1798 – 25 February 1879) was a French Catholic priest, Hebraist, and Biblical scholar. Biography Glaire was born at Bordeaux. Having completed a course of serious study at Bordeaux, he went to the seminary of S ...

, Roman Catholic priest and Hebrew and Biblical scholar (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 Wa ...

) * 2 March – Jules Bastide, publicist (born

1800 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 18), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 12 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 16), ...

) * 30 March – Thomas Couture, painter and teacher (born

1815 Events January * January 2 – Lord Byron marries Anna Isabella Milbanke in Seaham, county of Durham, England. * January 3 – Austria, Britain, and Bourbon-restored France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussi ...

) * 16 April - Bernadette Soubirous, nun and visionary of Lourdes apparitions (born

1844 In the Philippines, it was the only leap year with 365 days, as December 31 was skipped when 1845 began after December 30. Events January–March * January 15 – The University of Notre Dame, based in the city of the same name, receives ...

) * 20 May –

Pierre-Jules Mêne Pierre-Jules Mêne (25 March 1810 – 20 May 1879) was a French sculptor and ''animalier''. He is considered one of the pioneers of animal sculpture in the nineteenth century. Early life Mêne was born on 25 March 1810 in Paris, France. As a ...

, sculptor (born

1810 Events January–March * January 1 – Major-General Lachlan Macquarie officially becomes Governor of New South Wales. * January 4 – Australian seal hunter Frederick Hasselborough discovers Campbell Island, in the Subantarctic. * Janua ...

) * 29 May – Pierre Adolphe Piorry, physician (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 States ...

) * 1 June – Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial, only child of Emperor Napoleon III of France and his Empress consort

Eugénie de Montijo ''Doña'' María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick, 19th Countess of Teba, 16th Marchioness of Ardales (5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo (), was Empress of the French from her marriage to Emperor Napo ...

(born

1856 Events January–March * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California. * January 23 – American paddle steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatlantic voyag ...

) * 26 August –

Charles Marie Edouard Chassaignac Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

, physician (born

1805 After thirteen years the First French Empire abolished the French Republican Calendar in favour of the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 11 – The Michigan Territory is created. * February 7 – King Anouvong become ...

) * 6 September – Amédée de Noé, caricaturist and lithographer (born

1818 Events January–March * January 1 ** Battle of Koregaon: Troops of the British East India Company score a decisive victory over the Maratha Empire. ** Mary Shelley's ''Frankenstein'' is published anonymously in London. * January 2 – ...

) * 17 September – Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, architect and theorist (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 s ...

) * 12 November – Jean-Charles Chenu, physician and naturalist (born

) * 18 November ** Michel Chevalier, engineer, statesman and economist (born

1806 Events January–March * January 1 ** The French Republican Calendar is abolished. ** The Kingdom of Bavaria is established by Napoleon. * January 5 – The body of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, lies in state in the Painted Hall ...

) ** André Giroux, photographer and painter (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 ...

) * 19 November – Jean-Joseph Gaume, Roman Catholic theologian and author (born

1802 Events January–March * January 5 – Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, begins removal of the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens, claiming they were at risk of destruction during the Ot ...

) * 29 December – Jean Étienne Bercé,

(born

1803 Events * January 1 – The first edition of Alexandre Balthazar Laurent Grimod de La Reynière's ''Almanach des gourmands'', the first guide to restaurant cooking, is published in Paris. * January 5 – William Symington demonstrates his ...

)

References

{{Year in Europe, 1879 1870s in France