Category Archives: On this day

Happy Tuileries Day


 

August 10, as my friend, Wikipedia, tells me, what is often called (by historians and other interested parties)  “the Second Revolution” occurred in France, when the mob stormed the Tuileries Palace, effectively deposing King Louis XVI, in 1792. Unlike Bastille Day, it is not a day marked with celebration and felicitation, but it certainly was important. Especially to Napoleon Bonaparte, who, through a concatenation of events, not least of which the deposing of the king, became First Consul in 1799 and Emperor in 1804. The third chapter of that story (or is the fourth or … Continue reading Happy Tuileries Day

On This Day


 

On this day (June 22) in 1558, the French took possession of the French town (or province), Thioville, from occupying English forces. This was a pretty important battle — for both the French and the English — because it marked, not the beginning, but the penultimate, of the end of English occupation in Calais, its last outpost in France. Curiously enough, if you Google Thioville, which I of course have done, Google responds “Did you mean Thionville?” Well, no. If you keep insisting, which I, of course, did, Google will eventually throw out a long series … Continue reading On This Day