The following is atimeline of thehistory of the city ofParis, France.

• 250-225 BCE
  • TheParisii, a Celtic tribe, found a town, called Lucotecia, on theÎle de la Cité.^[1]
• 53 BCE
  • Julius Caesar addresses an assembly of leaders of the Gauls in Lucotecia, asking for their support.^[2]
• 52 BCE
  • The Parisii are defeated by the Roman generalTitus Labienus at theBattle of Lutetia. A Gallo-Roman garrison town, calledLutetia, is founded on the left bank of the Seine.^[3][4]
• Between 14 and 37 CE
  • The sailors of Lutetia erect thePillar of the Boatmen in honor of the Roman god Jupiter.
• Between 40 and 11 CE
  • Construction of the Forum of Lutetia
• Between 100 and 200 CE
  • Construction of the baths, the amphitheater and the theater of Lutetia
• 3rd century CE
  • Lutetia gradually becomes known asCivitas Parisiorum, the "City of the Parisii", then simply "Paris".^[3]
• c. 250 CE
  • Arrival of Christianity in Paris; execution by Romans of BishopSaint Denis onMontmartre, the "Mountain of Martyrs".^[4]
• 275-276
  • The settlement on the left bank is ravaged by Germanic tribes.
• About 300 CE
  • A rampart is built around theÎle de la Cité.
• 358 CE
  • The Roman commanderJulian the Apostate resides in Paris during the winter, when not fighting the Germanic tribes.
• 360 CE
  • Julian is proclaimed Roman Emperor by his soldiers.
• 365-366
  • The EmperorValentinian I resides briefly in Paris.
• 385
  • Saint Martin of Tours visits Paris, and according to tradition heals a leper at the north gate of the town.^[5]
• 451
  • Paris is threatened by theHuns.Saint Genevieve persuades the Parisians not to abandon the city, and the Huns attackTours instead.
• 464
  • The city is blockaded byChilderic I, King of the Franks.

• 486
  • Clovis I, King of theFranks, negotiates withSaint Genevieve the submission of Paris to his authority.^[5]
• About 502
  • Burial of Saint Genevieve atop the hill on the left bank which now bears her name. A basilica, theBasilique des Saints Apôtres, is built on the site and consecrated on 24 December 520. It later becomes the site of the Basilica of Saint-Genevieve, which after theFrench Revolution becomes thePanthéon.
• 511
  • Clovis I, the king of theFranks, makes Paris his capital.^[6][4] (Some sources give the date 508^[5])
• About 540-550
  • Construction of the Saint-Étienne cathedral, predecessor toNotre-Dame de Paris, begins.^[5]
• 543
  • Founding of the Basilica of Saint-Vincent, byChildebert I, the King of Paris. The Basilica becomes the burial place for the first French kings, beginning with Childebert.^[7]
• 576
  • SaintGermain, the Bishop of Paris, is buried at the Abbey of Saint-Vincent, which thereafter is known as theAbbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.^[8]
• 577
  • KingChilperic I has the Roman amphitheater repaired, and theatrical events are performed there.
• 585
  • A fire destroys most of the buildings on theÎle de la Cité.
• 614
  • Council of Paris meets under KingChlothar II, who issues hisEdict of Paris on 18 October.
• 639
  • KingDagobert I is buried in the abbey of Saint-Denis, which becomes the main necropolis for French kings.
• about 680
  • The city stops minting gold coins and replaces them with silver coins.
• 775
  • Consecration of the newBasilica of Saint-Denis, attended by the EmperorCharlemagne
• 820
  • Mention is made in documents of what is the oldest known street in Paris,rue Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois (1st arrondissement).
• 845
  • Siege of Paris — The first attack on the city by theVikings, who burn the city. KingCharles the Bald gives them 7000 pounds of silver to go away.
• 846
  • Council of Meaux–Paris — The church council opened at Meaux because of the siege but ended in Paris in February 846.
• 856
  • 28 December – The Vikings return and burn the city again.
• 857
  • Vikings led byBjörn Ironside almost destroy Paris, and burn all its churches, except those that pay a ransom: Saint-Étienne (now Notre-Dame cathedral), Saint-Denis and Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
• 861
  • The Vikings burn Paris and the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The Abbey is pillaged again in 869.
• 870
  • KingCharles the Bald orders the construction of two bridges, theGrand Pont and thePetit Pont, ostensibly to block the passage of the Vikings up the Seine.
• 885
  • 24 November – Gozlin, the Bishop of Paris, repairs the city wall and reinforces the bridges;the city resists an attack by the Vikings.
• 886
  • 6 February – ThePetit pont washes away, allowing the Vikings to lay siege to the city and pillage the surrounding region.
  • September – The Carolingian EmperorCharles the Fat pays the Vikings 700 pounds of silver to depart.
• 887-889
  • The Vikings attack Paris again in May 887 and June–July 888, but thanks to strengthened defenses the city is not captured.
• 978
  • October –Siege of Paris by the Holy Roman EmperorOtto II. The Parisians block the supplies of the invaders from going up the Seine. An army led byHugh Capet arrives and the siege is finally lifted on 30 December.
• 988
  • Hugh Capet, elected King of the Franks in 987, resides in Paris for a time, and returns again in 989, 992 and 994–995.^[9][4]
• 996
  • Hugh Capet dies in Paris and is buried in theBasilica of Saint-Denis.

• c. 1014
  • Construction of a newnave of the church of the Abbey ofSaint-Germain-des-Prés, begun by Abbot Morard.
• 1021
  • Students begin arriving in Paris to study at the episcopal school of Notre-Dame.^[9]
• 1060
  • Reconstruction of theSaint-Martin-des-Champs Priory. The church is consecrated in 1067.

• 1100s TheHoly Innocents' Cemetery in Paris is established, becoming home to mass graves.
• 1100
  • The celebrated scholarAbélard begins teaching at the school of Notre-Dame.
• 1112
  • KingLouis VI gives special privileges to the Basilica of Saint-Denis, raising the status of Paris overOrléans as the capital of the Capetian Kings.^[10]
• 1113
  • Construction begins of a newGrand Pont, later called thepont au Change, completed in 1116. ThePetit Pont is also rebuilt.
• 1116
  • The scholarAbélard begins what becomes a legendary romance with the nunHéloïse in about 1116. In 1117 is punished for his relationship by castration. He retires to the monastery of Saint-Denis and then to Saint-Ayoul, but later returns to Paris and to Héloïse.
• c. 1120
  • Teachers and students begin taking up residence on the left bank, around themontagne Sainte-Geneviève, since the cloister of Notre-Dame is not large enough to house them all. This is the beginning of the Latin Quarter and the future University of Paris.^[10]
• 1131
  • 13 October – Death ofPhilippe, the eldest son of kingLouis VI, who died the day after being thrown from his horse, which panicked when he encountered a pig. As a result, it is forbidden to let pigs go freely on the city streets.^[10]
• 1132
  • The Bishop of Paris punishes the teachers and students on themontagne Sainte-Geneviève for the growing number of conflicts between the students and the townspeople.
  • AbbotSuger begins the reconstruction of theBasilica of Saint-Denis in the newGothic style. The new Basilica is consecrated on 11 June 1144, and becomes a model for cathedrals and churches across Europe.
• 1134
  • King Louis VI grants to the merchants of Paris the right to seize the property of their debtors and to form associations, the first steps toward a municipality.^[11]
• 1137
  • A new market is installed at Champeaux, which gradually replaces the market on theplace de Grève and becomes the central market ofLes Halles.
• 1139
  • Establishment of theTemplars in the old Temple, near the church ofSaint-Gervais.
• 1146
  • First mention in documents of the corporation of butchers in the city.
• 1147
  • The Templars occupy their new building in Paris, in the presence of kingLouis VII and of the Pope. When he departs for the Crusades, the king leaves the royal treasury in the care of the Templars, and the regency with AbbotSuger of Saint-Denis.
  • 21 April –Pope Eugene III consecrates the new church of Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre.
• 1163
  • 21 April – Consecration of the choir of the abbeychurch of Saint-Germain-des-Prés byPope Alexander III.
  • Beginning of the reconstruction of the cathedral ofNotre Dame de Paris in theGothic style.^[12][4]
• 1170
  • KingLouis VII confirms the privileges of the corporation of water merchants, whose water-bearers carry water from theSeine to residences.
• 1176
  • First mention in documents of the Fair of Saint-Germain. Half of the profits were reserved for King Louis VII.
• 1180
  • Founding of thecollège des Dix-Huit byMessire Josse de Londres, an Englishman. This was the first college in Paris, established for eighteen poor clerical students in a room within the Hôtel-Dieu.^[13][14]
  • 5 February – KingPhilip Augustus (Philippe Auguste) arrests the leaders of the Jewish community, and requires them to pay 15,000 silver marcs.
• 1182
  • Philip Augustus expels the Jews from theÎle de la Cité, and their synagogue is turned into a church. They are allowed to return in 1198, in return for paying heavy taxes.^[15]
  • 19 May – Consecration of the altar of the cathedral ofNotre Dame.^[16]
• 1183
  • Two market buildings are constructed at the small hamletLes Champeaux meaning ("little fields"), the beginning ofLes Halles.
• 1186
  • Philip Augustus orders the paving of the major streets of the city with cobblestones (pavés).
• 1190
  • Philip Augustus departs for theThird Crusade. Six Paris merchants are assigned to act as a council of the regency in his absence, each with a key to the treasury. Before departing, he orders the construction of the first wall around the entire city. The wall on the right bank is finished in 1208, and on the left bank between 1209 and 1213. He also begins construction of the fortress of theLouvre on the right bank.^[17]
• 1197
  • March – A flood destroys all the bridges over the Seine; the King is forced to abandon his palace on theÎle de la Citè and move to the hill of Sainte-Geneviève.

• 1200
  • Battles between the sergeants of the Provost of Paris and students, which cause the death of five students. When the Paris students threaten to leave the city, Philip Augustus grants the students the right to be judged exclusively by the tribunal of the Bishop of Paris. This marks the beginning of the legal status of the University of Paris.
• 1202
  • Completion of theLouvre fortress.
  • The Abbot of Saint-Geneviève purchases theclos Garlande on the Left Bank and builds houses in the neighborhood for students.
• 1207
  • Pope Innocent III limits the number of chairs of theology at the University to eight, to maintain control over the University.
• 1209
  • The second college of the University is founded; theCollège des pauvres écoliers de Saint-Honoré, for thirteen students without funds.
• 1210
  • Pope Innocent III permits the teachers of the University to form a corporation, and in 1212 gives them a degree of independence from the authority of the Bishop of Paris.^[18]
  • TenAmauriciens, students of the scholarAmaury de Chartres, are condemned for heresy and burned at the stake outside of Paris, beyond the rampart gateporte des Champeaux, for making too much of the works ofAristotle.^[18]
• 1215 – TheUniversity of Paris is chartered byPope Innocent III.^[19][20]
• 1219
  • 16 November – Pope Innocent III prohibits the teaching of Roman, or civil law, at the University; only canon law can be taught.
  • December – Conflicts between the Bishop of Paris and the University, which is supported by the new Pope,Honorius III.
• 1229
  • 26 February – More street battles between students and the sergeants of the Provost of Paris. On 15 April the University temporarily leaves the city in protest, and some of the teachers depart for Oxford and Cambridge.
• 1230
  • Parisscriptoria producing illuminated manuscripts flourish. The style of the Paris school is copied throughout France.
• 1231
  • Draining of the marshesLe Marais begins.
• c. 1240
  • For the first time, the ringing of the bells of the churches of Paris is regulated by clocks, so that all sound at about the same time. The time of day becomes an important feature in regulating the work and life of the city.^[21]
• 1246
  • The University of Paris is granted financial and judicial autonomy, and its own seal.
  • Founding of theCollege and Priory of Saint-Bernard, to house theCistercian monks who have come to Paris to study theology.
• 1248
  • Saint Bonaventure begins to teach at the University of Paris.
  • 26 April – Consecration ofSainte-Chapelle, built to house sacred relics from the Holy Land purchased byLouis IX (Saint Louis).
• c. 1250
  • Founding of theParlement of Paris (Curia Regis), to advise the King on legal matters and later to make judicial decisions.
• 1252
  • SaintThomas Aquinas begins to teach at the University of Paris, and remains until 1259. He returns between 1269 and 1272.^[21]
• 1254
  • June –Alphonse de Poitiers, brother of Louis IX, moves into his recently built townhouse (hôtel d'Hosteriche) near the Louvre. Following his example, other princes of the blood and members of the high aristocracy built princely residences in the same neighborhood.^[21]
• 1256
  • 10 June – First stone laid for theAbbaye royale de Longchamp, the royal convent of Longchamp, byIsabelle, Louis IX's sister.
• 1257
  • 1 September – Opening of a new college of the university founded byRobert de Sorbon, advisor to the King, later known as theCollege of Sorbonne.^[21]
• 1260
  • Geoffroy de Courfraud is named the firstchevalier de guet, or knight of the watchmen, responsible for security in the city.
  • Corporation of surgeons and corporation of barbers are organized.
• 1261
  • Étienne Boileau is named the firstprévôt, or provost of Paris, the royal administrator of the city.
  • A new college is organized for students of theAbbey of Cluny.
• 1263
  • Évroïn de Valenciennes becomes the first recorded provost of the merchants of Paris, a position which gradually becomes equivalent to that of mayor.
• 1280
  • December – A major flood washes away two arches of theGrand Pont and one arch of thePetit Pont, and encircles the city on the right bank.
• 1291
  • May – KingPhilip IV, ("Philip the Fair"), expels the money-lenders, or Lombards, from the city.
• 1292
  • First written mention of the Parisconcierges, who serve as doormen and guardians at palaces, convents and private mansions.^[22]
• 1296
  • The fortifications of thePalais de la Cité are demolished and the palace is enlarged, so that by 1314 it houses all of the royal administration.
  • TheConseil de Ville, or city council, is organized, made up of twenty-four leading citizens.
• 1299
  • First mention of the construction of a clock tower in Paris (installation of clock will take place in 1370).

• 1302
  • First meeting of theEstates General convened by KingPhilippe IV, to win support for his conflict with PopeBoniface VIII.^[23]
• 1304
  • Money-changers establish themselves on theGrand Pont, which becomes known as thePont-au-Change.
• 1306
  • 21 July – Expulsion of the Jews from Paris, and confiscation of their property. They are allowed to return in July 1315, but recover only a third of their property.^[24]
  • 30 December – Riots following an increase in rents. King Philip IV is besieged in the tower of the temple. Twenty-one rioters are later hanged.
• 1307
  • 13 October – Philip IV orders the arrest of theKnights Templar, and the seizure of their property.
• 1310
  • Construction begins of a clock tower in the Palace on theÎle de la Cité, finished in 1314.
• 1314
  • The leaders of theKnights Templar, includingJacques de Molay, are burned at the stake on theÎle aux Juifs, also calledÎle des Templiers, an island west of theÎle de la Cité.
• 1321
  • 14 September – Organization of the first recorded company of musicians, theConfrérie de Saint-Julien-des-Ménétriers.
• 1326
  • The breakup of ice on the Seine destroys all the wooden bridges. TheÎle de la Cité is supplied with food by boat for a period of five weeks.
• 1337
  • Construction begins of theChâteau de Vincennes, completed about 1410.
• 1339
  • Founding of the first two recordedtheater companies in Paris; theConfrérie de la Passion, which originally performed religious dramas, and theGallants sans souci, which performed farces.^[25]
• 1348–1349
  • TheBlack death, orbubonic plague, ravages Paris. In May 1349, it becomes so severe that the Royal Council flees the city.
• 1348
  • Building of the first open sewer in Paris. It begins atplace Baudoyer, runs east alongrue Saint-Antoine, and empties into the moat of the Bastille.
• 1354
  • Étienne Marcel is chosen as the Provost of the merchants of Paris.
• 1356
  • Decision to build a new wall around the city, called the wall ofCharles V, finished in 1383.
  • 19 September – The capture ofKing Jean II (Jean le Bon) by the English at theBattle of Poitiers throws France into political chaos and opens theHundred Years War.
• 1357
  • 7 July – Étienne Marcel buys a house on theplace de Grève to serve as the first city hall.
• 1358
  • 22 February; Armed supporters of Étienne Marcel invade the Palace. In the presence of the Dauphin, Charles, the heir to the throne, futureCharles V, they kill the Marshals of Champagne and Normandy, and take the Dauphin under their protection. On 24 February, four Paris merchants, including Étienne Marcel, become members of the new royal council.
  • 4 May – KingCharles II of Navarre, accompanied by an army of English mercenaries, enters Paris. Étienne Marcel takes his side, and the Dauphin flees the city.
  • 22 July – Battles within and around Paris between supporters of the Dauphin and of Charles of Navarre. Charles of Navarre flees the city.
  • 31 July – Étienne Marcel attempts to open the gates of the city to the mercenaries of Charles of Navarre, and is killed at the bastion of Saint-Antoine by supporters of the Dauphin.
  • 2 August – The Dauphin returns to Paris. The leading supporters of Étienne Marcel and Charles of Navarre are executed, but others are given a general amnesty. The Dauphin buys theHôtel Saint-Pol in the Saint-Paul quarter, and lives there until his death.
• 1368
  • The course of the Bièvre River at the moat of Saint-Bernard is diverted to empty into the Seine atLa Tournelle. The portion within the city is covered and used as a sewer.
• 1370
  • A royal decree orders that all churches ring their bells at the hour and quarter-hour, as determined by the clock installed in the square courtyard of thePalais de la Cité.
  • 22 April – Placement of the first stone of theBastille.
• 1378
  • Construction of the firstPont Saint-Michel, known then as thePont-neuf; finished in 1387.
• 1390
  • 29 October – First trial forsorcery,Jeanne de Brigue is convicted by the Parlement of Paris and burned at the stake on 19 August 1391.
• 1391
  • August – Founding of the first corporation of artists, theConfrérie des peintres and tailleurs d'images.^[26]
• 1393
  • The publication of firstcookbook and how to run a household, titledLe Ménagier de Paris.^[26][27]
• 1394
  • 17 September – A Royal edict expels Jews from France. The Jewish community loses its legal identity for the next four centuries.^[26]
• 1398
  • First measures to relax church control over the university. Students and professors of the school of medicine are permitted to marry.

• 1404
  • 18 July –Louis, Duke of Orléans, highly unpopular with the Parisians, flees Paris, taking with him the infant Dauphin of France, the futureCharles VII of France.
  • 19 July –Jean Sans Peur, Duke of Burgundy, makes a triumphant return into Paris.
• 1407
  • First officially sanctioned dissection of acadaver at the faculty of medicine of the university.^[28]
  • 23 November – Murder of the Duke of Orléans on therue Vielle-du-Temple, by assassins sent by Jean Sans Peur.
• 1408
  • 31 January – The breakup of the ice on the Seine destroys thePetit pont and theGrand pont.
  • 28 June – Jean Sans Peur enters Paris at the head of a small army. He is welcomed by the Parisians, and departs in July.
• 1411
  • Jean Sans Peur establishes himself in Paris, but the city is soon divided into two rival factions: theBurgundians, supporters of Jean sans Peur; and theArmagnacs, supporters ofLouis VII, Duke of Bavaria andBernard VII, Count of Armagnac.
• 1413
  • July–August – After a series of riots and disturbances, the Armagnacs gain control of Paris from the Burgundians; Jean Sans Peur flees the city.^[4]
• 1418
  • 29 May –Burgundian coup d'état – The Armagnacs have become increasingly unpopular in Paris. During the night of May 29, the merchants of Paris open theporte Saint-Germain-des Prés to the Burgundian soldiers. Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac, and the other leaders of the Armagnacs are arrested in their beds and massacred on 12 June.
  • 14 July – Jean Sans Peur and Queen Isabeau enter Paris by thePorte Saint-Antoine. The fifteen-year-old Dauphin, the futureCharles VII of France, escapes the city.^[29]
• 1419
  • 10 September – Jean Sans Peur goes to meet the Dauphin at the bridge of Montereau, and is killed by the Dauphin's supporters (the Armagnacs).
• 1420
  • 30 May –Philip the Good (Philippe le Bon), the new Duke of Burgundy and ruler of Paris, forms an alliance with the English and persuades KingCharles the Mad (Charles le Fol) and leaders of university and the merchants of Paris take an oath to acceptHenry V of England as the heir to the French throne.
  • 1 December – King Henry V of England arrives in Paris and takes residence at the Louvre, while King Charles VI the Mad is moved to thehôtel Saint-Pol.^[29]
• 1422
  • 31 August – Death of Henry V of England, followed on 21 October by the death of Charles VI of France. Thereafter the kings of France spend very little time in Paris, until 1528, whenFrançois I returns there with the court.^[30]
• 1423
  • February – The leaders of Paris take an oath of allegiance to the Duke of Bedford, representingHenry VI of England, who is in England and just one year old.

    

• 1427
  • First record of the arrival of theRomani people, or gypsies, in Paris.
• 1429
  • 8 September –Joan of Arc, fighting for KingCharles VII (Charles le Victorieux), tries and fails to retake Paris. She is wounded outside thePorte Saint-Honoré.
• 1430
  • May – Joan of Arc, captured by the Burgundians in 1429, is handed over to the English in Rouen and brought to trial forheresy. The case against her is prepared by the BishopPierre Cauchon. At Cauchon's request, the faculty of theUniversity of Paris endorses the charge of heresy against her. She is convicted and burned at the stake.
• 1431
  • 16 December.Henry VI of England, nine years old, comes to Paris for a month and is crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Notre Dame by his uncle, the Cardinal of Winchester.
• 1432
  • March to 8 April – Floods submergeLe Marais from theporte Saint-Antoine to theporte Saint-Martin.^[30]
• 1436
  • 28 February – After a series of victories, the army of Charles VII surrounds Paris. Charles VII promises amnesty to the Parisians who supported the Burgundians and English.
  • 13 April – Uprising within the city against the English and Burgundians; the soldiers of Charles VII enter the city through theporte Saint-Jacques.
  • 15 April – The English soldiers are allowed to depart by boat on the Seine for Rouen.
• 1437
  • 12 November – Charles VII returns to Paris, but remains only three weeks. He moves his residence and the court to theChâteaux of the Loire Valley.^[31]
• 1438
  • Epidemics ofbubonic plague andsmallpox strike the city.
• 1446
  • 26 March – The university has its independence limited, and is put under the authority of theParlement of Paris.
• 1447
  • Establishment of the tapestry workshop of theGobelins family beside the Bièvre River in the faubourg Saint-Marcel.^[31]
• 1450
  • 26 July – Ordinance sets the procedure for the election of the Provost of the merchants and theéchevins, or municipal magistrates.^[31]
• 1464
  • Performance in Paris ofLa Farce de Maistre Pierre Pathelin, the first notable French comedy.
• 1465
  • 7 July – TheCount of Charolais,Charles le Téméraire, and other nobles, forming theLeague of the Public Weal, rebel against KingLouis XI (Louis le Prudent) and attack Paris, but are repelled.
  • Louis XI takes sanctuary in Paris and asks the support of the merchants, university and clergy, whose franchises he abolished in 1461. The siege of Paris by the league continues until 29 October, when a treaty is signed with Louis XI.
• 1467
  • The neighborhood militias are abolished, and replaced by sixty-one detachments of professional soldiers, reviewed by Louis XI on 14 September.

    

• 1469
  • The first French printing-press was set up in theSorbonne.^[4]
• 1470
  • Publication of the first book to be printed in France,Letters byGasparin de Bergame.^[32]
• 1474
  • Reconstruction of thehôtel de Sens (Hôtel des archevêques de Sens) by the ArchbishopTristan de Salazar.
• 1476
  • Printing of the first Bible in Paris.
• 1477
  • Establishment of royal postal service with couriers on horseback.
• 1485
  • Construction begins of theHôtel de Cluny for the Abbots of the Cluny Monastery, finished in 1510. It is now the museum of the Middle Ages.
• 1494
  • The municipality of Paris refuses to loan KingCharles VIII (Charles l'Affable) 100,000écus for a military expedition to Italy, which it considers useless.
  • 15 March – Founding of theconvent of theMinimes atChaillot.
• 1496
  • First recorded case ofsyphilis in Paris, brought from Italy by soldiers of Charles VIII. Foreigners in the city with the disease are expelled from the city on 6 March 1497.
• 1497
  • A flood of the Seine reaches theplace de Grève,place Maubert and therue Saint-André-des-Arts.
• 1499
  • October 25 – A flood of the Seine causes the collapse of the woodenpont Notre-Dame.

• 1500
  • 6 July – Reconstruction begins of thePont Notre-Dame in stone, replacing the wooden bridge which collapsed on 25 October 1499. The new bridge is finished in 1514.^[23][33]
• 1504
  • July – Ordinance of theParlement de Paris for the lighting of Paris streets; at nine in the evening Parisians are required to put a candle in a lantern in their window. The ordinance is not widely obeyed, and is repeated in 1524, 1526, 1551, and later.^[34]
• 1505
  • Publication of the first printedBook of Hours in Roman letters. The use of Gothic script gradually disappears.
  • 5 April – The direction of theHôtel-Dieu hospital is transferred from thechanoines of Notre-Dame cathedral to eight laymen governors selected among the business leaders of Paris by the City Assembly,
• 1521
  • 15 April – TheCollege of Sorbonne formally condemns the teachings ofMartin Luther.
• 1523
  • First French translation of theNew Testament of theBible published. In 1525, alarmed by this unauthorized text, the theology faculty of the University of Paris forbids further translations of the Bible.
  • March – The city police force of 120 archers and sixty arbaletriers is reinforced with one hundredarquebusiers,
  • 8 August – The Augustine monk Jean Vallière is burned at the stake for proclaiming thatJesus Christ was born like other humans.
• 1527
  • 15 March – Letters of patent issued to construct thequai du Louvre.
• 1528
  • KingFrançois I begins construction of a large hunting lodge, theChâteau de Madrid, in theBois de Boulogne.
  • 28 February – In order to turn the Louvre into a palatial residence, demolition of its great central tower begins.
  • 15 March – François I formally announces that he plans to make Paris his principal residence.
• 1529
  • 19 August – Miles Regnault, secretary of the Bishop of Paris, who had converted to Lutheranism, is condemned and burned at the stake on thePlace de Grève.
• 1530
  • March – François I founds theCollège des lecteurs royaux, orCollège de France, to offer lectures in subjects not taught at theCollege of Sorbonne, including Hebrew, Ancient Greek, and mathematics.
• 1531
  • December – New outbreak ofbubonic plague. TheHoly Innocents' Cemetery is completely filled, so a new cemetery for plague victims is created on the plain of Grenelle, facing the hill of Chaillot.
• 1532
  • 19 August – First stone placed for the newSaint-Eustache church, not finished until 1637.
  • 22 December – The architectDomenico da Cortona presents his plan for the newHôtel de Ville. The cornerstone is laid on 15 July 1533.^[35]
• 1533
  • April – The Ordinance of Fontainebleau orders the demolition of the gates on the right bank of the wall built by Philippe-Auguste.
  • 1 November – At the opening of the academic year, the rector of the university, Nicolas Cop, causes a scandal by giving a lecture inspired byJean Calvin.
• 1534
  • 15 August –Ignace de Loyola and his followers take an oath at the base ofMontmartre to defend the Church and Pope. This is the founding of theJesuit order.^[36]
  • 17–18 October – Calvinists put upanti catholic posters in the streets of Paris and several towns in France, including on the door of king François Ier's bedroom inAmboise. The Parliament of Paris orders the arrest of two hundred suspected Calvinists, six of whom are burned on the night of 18 October, and many others before the end of the year.^[36]
  • 17 November – The printer Antoine Augerau becomes the first printer to be burned at the stake, atPlace Maubert, for publishing a book criticizing the sister of the King,Marguerite de Navarre, for her alleged sins.
• 1535
  • 23 January – First woman heretic, Marie la Catelle, a schoolteacher, burned at the stake for reading theNew Testament in French to her pupils.
  • 15 February – The printer Etienne de La Forge is burned at the stake for printing copies of the New Testament and distributing them to the poor.

    

• 1540
  • 1 January –Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor is welcomed to Paris with a solemn ceremony.
• 1544
  • 19 August – The Sorbonne publishes the firstIndex, or list of forbidden books.
  • 7 November – François I creates theGrand Bureau des Pauvres, responsible for assisting the indigent, beggars and vagabonds, under the authority of theBureau de la Ville, or city administration.^[37]
• 1545
  • Construction begins of theHôtel Carnavalet, now theMuseum of the History of Paris.
• 1546
  • 2 August – Letters of patent from François I approve the reconstruction of the west wing of the Louvre, to be done by the architectPierre Lescot with decoration by sculptorJean Goujon.
  • 3 August – The printer Étienne Dolet is burned at the stake onPlace Maubert. Two other printers are burned that summer, Michel Vincent (19 August) and Pierre Gresteau (13 September).
• 1547
  • 31 March – Death of King François I, who is succeeded by his son,Henry II.
  • 22 April – For the first time, a large shipment of firewood is made by floating the logs down the river in araft from theNivernais region to Paris.
  • 8 October – TheParlement de Paris creates a commission, called theChambre ardente, to prosecute Protestants.
  • December – Thepont Saint-Michel is wrecked by the collision of a boat. The architectPhilibert Delorme is commissioned to build a new bridge.^[38]
• 1548
  • 30 August – Inauguration of a new theater next to theHôtel de Bourgogne used to present religious dramas and comedies by a troupe calledLes Confrères de la Passion. This was the first theatre in the city.^[37]

    

• 1549
  • 16 June – Inauguration of theFontaine des Innocents, the oldest existing fountain in Paris, with decoration byJean Goujon.^[39][40]
• 1550
  • 8 September – King Henry II signs letters of patent to build a new wall around the faubourgs of the left bank.
• 1552
  • 4 January – ArchitectPierre Lescot receives the contract to rebuild thePetit Pont.
• 1553
  • Introduction of frozen sorbets to Paris by Italianlimonadiers, or lemonade-makers.
  • February – First performance of a French tragedy,Cléopâtre captive, byÉtienne Jodelle. Henry II attends the performance.
• 1554
  • 7 February – The Parliament of Paris forbids secret schools which provide religious instruction.
  • 12 July – First stone placed for a new city gate, called thePorte Neuve and then thePorte de la Conférence, at the western edge of theJardin des Tuileries.
• 1557
  • 11 August – Many Parisians flee the city after a Spanish army advancing from Flanders defeats the French at Saint-Quentin. QueenCatherine de' Medici remains in the city and helps re-establish confidence.
• 1558
  • 13 May – Gathering of thousands of Protestants at thePré-aux-Clercs for an open-air service, despite threats from the city authorities.

• 1559
  • 25 May – First synod of Calvinists onrue des Marais (nowrue Visconti) formally establishes the Reformed Church of France on 29 May.
  • 10 June – The Parliament of Paris debates new royal edicts prohibiting the Protestant church. Henry II personally attends the session, and the members calling for tolerance are arrested.^[41]
  • 30 June – During the celebrations of the marriages of the sister and daughter of King Henry II on rue Saint-Antoine, Henry II is mortally wounded in the eye by a lance carried by the commander of his Scottish guard,Gabriel de Montgomery. He dies on 10 July and his young and sickly sonFrançois II succeeds him.
  • 23 December –Anne du Bourg, a member of the Parliament of Paris and Catholic defender of tolerance for Protestants, is first hung and then burned at the stake for opposing the King's views.
• 1560
  • 5 December – On the death ofFrançois II, his ten-year-old brotherCharles IX succeeds him.
• 1561
  • 29 December – the "Tumulte" of Saint-Médard. Catholics attack Protestants conducting a service at themaison du Patriarche, near the church of Saint-Médard. The building where the service was held is burned the next day.
• 1562
  • 4 April – Theconnétable de Montmorency orders the burning of the chairs and pews of the Protestant temples of Popincourt and Jerusalem.
• 1563
  • 2 July – Opening by the Jesuits of theCollége de Clermont, todayLycée Louis-le-Grand.
  • November – A royal edict creates thetribunal des juges consuls, ancestor of the modernTribunal de Commerce. It meets in theAbbaye de Saint-Magloire onrue Saint-Denis (at the site of today's number 82).
• 1564
  • Construction begins of theTuileries Palace forCatherine de' Medici, widow of Henry II. The edifice is designed byPhilibert Delorme.
  • 14 July – A royal ordinance modifies how municipal elections are conducted; under the new rules, the cities present the King with two lists of candidates, and the King decides.
• 1565
  • 9 March – New regulations for the façades of houses: wooden decoration must be replaced by cut stone or plaster.
  • 1 August – Decision taken to build a quay along the river at what is nowChaillot.
• 1566
  • Creation of theMarché Neuf, or new market, at the west end of thePetit-Pont and beginning of the construction of theQuai de Gloriette.
  • 12 July – construction begins of a new city wall on the west, which includes the Tuileries Palace and the gardens of the Tuileries.
• 1568
  • City militia reorganized into neighborhood companies commanded by captains; the companies of each quarter of the city are formed into columns commanded by colonels.
• 1569
  • 30 June – Several members of a wealthy Protestant family, the Gastines, are sentenced to death, and their house demolished and replaced by a cross to expiate their "sins".
• 1571
  • 6 March – The first troupe of Italian actors, calledI Gelosi, arrives in Paris. After a few performances, they are banned by the Parliament of Paris.^[42]
• 1572

• • 15 August – Marriage ofHenri de Bourbon, King Henry III of Navarre, withMarguerite de Valois, the sister of KingCharles IX. The town is full of Protestants for the ceremony, and also with ultra-Catholics, led byHenry I, Duke of Guise.
  • 22 August – AdmiralGaspard II de Coligny, a prominent Protestant leader, is attacked and wounded onrue des Poulies, not far from the Louvre.
  • 24 August – At four o'clock in the morning, the bells of the church ofSaint-Germain l'Auxerrois give the signal to begin the massacre of Protestants, known as theSt. Bartholomew's Day massacre. The killing continues until August 30, and takes the lives of about two thousand Protestants in the city.^[42]
• 1573
  • The architectJean Bullant begins construction of a new residence for Catherine de' Medici, the futureHôtel de Soissons, finished in 1584.
• 1574
  • 30 May – King Charles IX dies at theChâteau de Vincennes, and is succeeded by his brotherHenry III.
• 1576
  • Founding by Nicolas Houel of the first school of pharmacy in France.
  • 19 June – First performance of the Italian theater troupeI Gelosi in the hall of thePetit-Bourbon, with great success.^[44]
• 1577
  • A commission is named to study projects for a new bridge over the Seine. On 15 February 1578, Henry III chooses the project for a bridge across the western end of theÎle-de-la-Cité, the futurePont Neuf.
• 1578
  • 31 May – Henry III places the first stone of thePont Neuf ("new bridge").^[45][46]

    

• 1581
  • 24 September – First performance of a ballet at the French court:Circé by Balthazar de Beaujoyeux, performed at the Louvre.
• 1582
  • TheGregorian calendar is introduced in Paris, with the elimination of ten days; 9 December is followed by 20 December.
• 1587
  • The teaching of Arabic is introduced at theCollège de France.
• 1588
  • 9 May –Henry I, Duke of Guise, leader of the ultra-Catholic faction, makes a triumphal entry into Paris, cheered by the Parisians.
  • 12 May –Day of the Barricades. The Duke of Guise leads an insurrection against Henry III. The King flees Paris for the Loire Valley on 13 May.
  • 18–20 May – the Holy League, the Catholic party, takes charge of the administration of Paris. The Duke of Guise is named lieutenant-general of the armies.
  • 25 December – After the murder of the Duke of Guise andLouis II,Cardinal de Guise at theChâteau de Blois, the Sorbonne declares that the French owe no more allegiance to King Henry III. A new city council of forty members, dominated by supporters of the Holy League, is chosen.
• 1589
  • 13 March – The league proclaims thecardinal de Bourbon is the new king, under the name Charles X.
  • 1 August – Henry III is murdered at theChâteau de Saint-Cloud by a Dominican friar,Jacques Clément.
  • 2 August – Henry III of Navarre becomesHenry IV, king of France,
  • 1 NovemberHenry IV tries to capture Paris by a surprise attack on the walls around the left bank, but fails.
• 1590
  • 7 May – Henry IV attacks the city again, this time at the faubourgs Saint-Denis and Saint-Martin, but the attack fails.
  • 14 May – TheCatholic League holds a large procession in the city to keep up the morale of the catholic Parisians.
  • 8 August – Popular revolt within Paris against the Catholic League, demanding either bread or peace. The rebellion is harshly suppressed.
  • 10–11 September – Night attack on the city by Henry IV between the gates of Saint-Jacques and Saint-Marcel. The attack is unsuccessful. Henry IV lifts the siege when he learns that a Spanish army is approaching to aid the Catholic League.
• 1591
  • 2 September – The ruling council of the Catholic League, called theSeize ("Sixteen"), offers the crown of France toPhilip II of Spain.
  • 15 November – Growing tensions between theSeize and the Parliament of Paris. Three leaders of Parliament are arrested, tried and hanged.
  • 4 December – TheSeize are arrested byCharles de Mayenne, military commander of the Catholic League, and four members are hung at the Louvre. Growing discontent in Paris against the league.

• 1593
  • 16 May –Henry IV announces that he will give up the Protestant faith.
  • 25 July – Henry IV formally converts to Catholicism in theBasilica of St Denis.
• 1595
  • 9 January – Surveying begins for a new (southern) wing of Louvre, on the side of the Seine river, thegalerie du bord-de-l'eau, to connect the Louvre with the Tuileries Palace.
  • 14 March – The Catholic League's governor of Paris, thecomte de Brissac, agrees to surrender the city to Henry IV in exchange for money and the promise of the title ofmaréchal.^[47]
  • 22 March – The gates of Paris are opened to the army of Henry IV.
  • 24 March – Henry IV enters the city, and is welcomed by a cheering crowd.
  • 12 May – Expulsion of the Jesuits from the city, declared "enemies of the State," by the Parliament of Paris and the rector of the university.
• 1596
  • 23 December – Thepont aux Meuniers collapses. It is replaced in 1609 by thepont Marchand.
• 1598
  • 13 April – TheEdict of Nantes brings an end to the wars of religion. Protestant temples are banned inside Paris and within five leagues of the city. The first Protestant temples open atGrigny, then atAblon.^[47]

• 1600
  • 28 September – New statutes of theUniversity of Paris published which increase royal authority and reduce power of students.
• 1602
  • Tapestry weavers from Brussels introduce Flemish techniques at what later became theGobelins Manufactory.^[47]
  • 2 January – Construction beginsLa Samaritaine, a giant pump, located at thePont Neuf, to raise drinking water from the Seine and to irrigate the Tuileries gardens. It began working 3 October 1608. A department store of the same name is built next to the site of the pump in the 19th century.
  • 12 November –Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully becomes superintendent of buildings toHenry IV, and is put in charge of the works of the Louvre and Tuileries Palace.
• 1603
  • 20 June – KingHenry IV crosses thePont Neuf to inaugurate the bridge, though work is not finished until July 1606. It is the first Paris bridge with sidewalks and without buildings^[47]
• 1604
  • 29 June – Convent of theCapucines founded onrue Saint-Honoré.
• 1605

• • City Hall rebuilt.^[39]
  • July – Henry IV signs letters patent ordering construction ofPlace Royale (nowPlace des Vosges), the first residential square in Paris, on the site of the former park of the royalHôtel des Tournelles. It is completed in 1612.
• 1606
  • 1 August – Royal authorization given to build aProtestant church atCharenton.
  • Workshop created within the Louvre to make tapestries of silk, "in the Persian and Turkish fashion".^[48]
• 1607
  • 6 February – Opening ofrue Dauphine, followed shortly byrue Christine andrue d'Anjou Dauphine (nowRue de Nesle), in honor of Henry IV's third son,Gaston de France, the Dauphin, bearing the title ofduc d'Anjou.
  • 28 May – Approval given for creation ofPlace Dauphine, on the site of the old royal gardens onÎle de la Cité.
• 1608
  • 1 January – Inauguration of thegalerie du bord-de-l'eau of theLouvre, connecting the Louvre with theTuileries Palace.

    

• 1610
  • 14 May – Assassination ofHenry IV byRavaillac onRue de la Ferronnerie, while the King's carriage is caught in a traffic jam.
  • 18 August – First stone placed of theCollège Royal, later theCollège de France.
• 1611
  • 18 September – Placing of the first stone for the Church of the Minimes on thePlace Royale (laterPlace des Vosges).

    

• 1612
  • 5–7 April – Celebration of the wedding contract betweenLouis XIII andAnne of Austria and inauguration of thePlace Royale, with the famousBallet équestre du Carrousel taking place within thePlace Royale.^[49]
• 1614
  • 19 April – Contract signed to create theÎle Saint-Louis by combining two small islands, theÎle aux Vaches andÎle Notre-Dame, and building a new bridge, thePont Marie, to the Right Bank. The work was finished in 1635.
• 1615
  • 2 April – Construction begins of theLuxembourg Palace and gardens byMarie de' Medici, widow of Henry IV. It was completed in 1621.^[48]
• 1616
  • 30 January – A major flood washes away thePont Saint-Michel and damages thePont aux Changeurs.
  • 24 July – KingLouis XIII places the first stone of the façade of the church ofSaint-Gervais. Work of the architectSalomon de Brosse, the façade was finished in 1621.
  • 24 April –Concini, Minister of King Louis XIII and favorite the Queen Mother,Marie de' Medici, is murdered on the entry bridge of the Louvre, probably on Louis XIII's orders; Marie de' Medici is exiled toBlois.
• 1617
  • 22 October – Letters of patent given for three companies of chair bearers, the first organized public transport within the city.^[50]
• 1618
  • June – Authority over printers, bookbinders and book stores is transferred from the Church to secular authorities.
• 1619
  • 27 July – first stone placed for the convent of the Trinity of the order of the reformedPetits Augustins, on the site of the modernÉcole des beaux-arts.

    

• 1620
  • Opening of the firstPont de la Tournelle, made of wood. The bridge was destroyed by blocks of ice floating on the river in 1637 and 1651 and rebuilt in stone in 1654.
• 1621
  • 26 September – The Protestant temple at Charenton is burned by a Catholic mob, after the news of the death ofHenry of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne fighting the Protestants in the unsuccessfulSiege of Montauban.
  • 23 October – Both thePont Marchand and thePont au Change are burned; the Protestants are blamed.

    

    .
• 1622
  • A windmill, called themoulin du palais, is built atopMontmartre. In the 19th century, it is renamed theMoulin de la galette (it became a famous landmark in the 19th century).
  • 2 September –Cardinal Richelieu becomes theproviseur, or dean, of theSorbonne.
  • 22 October – For centuries, the bishop of Paris was under the authority of the archbishop ofSens. On this date Paris was given its own archbishop, and theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris established.^[12]
• 1623
  • 19 May – First water arrives fromArcueil, in a new channel following the route of the ancient Roman aqueduct, at the new reservoir onrue d'Enfer, near the present Observatory.
• 1624
  • Construction begins of the church ofNotre-Dame de Bonne-Nouvelle.
  • 24 April – First stone placed for thePavillon de l'Horloge of theLouvre Palace.
  • 31 July –Anne of Austria lays the first stone of the monastery ofVal-de-Grâce, on the site of the modern hospital of that name.
• 1625
  • 17 April – SaintVincent de Paul founds theCongregation of the Mission charitable community of monks.
• 1626
  • Construction of thePont au Double to connect the right bank with theHôtel-Dieu hospital on theÎle-de-la-Cité.
  • January – Royal decree establishes theJardin royal des plantes médicinales, futureJardin des Plantes, though the site is not specified.
  • February – Royal edict forbids duels.
  • 25 February – Consecration of the church ofSaint-Étienne-du-Mont, begun in 1492.
  • 25 April – Civil disturbances atLes Halles and at the cemetery of Saint-Jean caused by the high price of bread.
  • 1 December – Establishment of the firstLutheran church in Paris, a chapel at theEmbassy of Sweden.
• 1627
  • 7 March – Louis XIII lays the first stone of theJesuit church,Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, onrue Saint-Antoine. Work was finished in 1641.
  • 29 July – A royal decree forbids construction outside the limits of the city.
• 1629
  • Construction begins of thePalais Richelieu, later to be renamedPalais-Cardinal, the new residence ofCardinal Richelieu, finished in 1636.
  • 9 December –Louis XIII lays the first stone of the church which in 1633 becomes the church ofNotre-Dame-des-Victoires.
  • 29 December – The theater troupe known as theComédiens du Roi is given permission to perform plays at thehôtel de Bourgogne^[51]
• 1630

  

  • Construction of thepont Saint-Landry between theÎle-de-la-Cité and the recently createdÎle-Saint-Louis.
• 1631
  • 30 May – First issue ofLa Gazette de France, the first weekly magazine in France, published byThéophraste Renaudot. Published every Friday, its last issue was on 30 September 1915.^[52]
  • 9 October – Contract to build a new wall around the city, reinforced with bastions. Work continued until 1647.
• 1632
  • Construction of thepont Rouge (also known as thepont Barbier) to replace the oldbac (ferry). In 1689, the bridge was rebuilt of stone, and named thePont Royal.^[51]
• 1633
  • 21 March – The state buys land in thefaubourg Saint-Victor to create the futureJardin des plantes.
  • 23 November – the State Council approves the construction of new defenses to protect theFaubourg Saint-Honoré,Montmartre and Villeneuve. They were completed in 1636.
• 1634
  • 13 March – First meeting of theAcadémie française. The academy was formally established by letters of patent on 27 January 1635.^[53]
  • 13 October – A corporation of the distillers and vendors ofeau de vie is formed, breaking away from the corporation of vinegar-makers, due to the growing popularity of the beverage.^[53]
• 1634
  • Théâtre du Marais, also known as theTroupe de Montdory or theTroupe du Roi au Marais, founded in an unused tennis court on theVieille Rue du Temple opposite the church of theCapuchins.
• 1635

  

  • 25 MayCardinal Richelieu begins construction of the new chapel of theCollege of Sorbonne, designed by Jean Mercier, and completed in 1642.^[54]
• 1636
  • 6 June – Cardinal Richelieu bequeathes his new residence to King Louis XIII; it becomes thePalais-Royal at his death in 1642.
  • August – Panic and flight of many from Paris caused by the invasion of the Spanish army intoPicardy.
• 1637
  • January – Great success ofCorneille's playLe Cid, given by theTroupe du Roi au Marais
  • 26 April – Consecration of the church ofSaint-Eustache.
• 1638
  • 15 January – The Royal Council orders the placing of thirty-one stones to mark the edges of the city; building beyond the stones without royal approval is forbidden. The stones are in place by 4 August.^[53]
• 1640
  • Founding of theImprimerie royale, or royal printing house, within the Louvre.
  • Reconstruction of theHôtel de Villeroy, by Nicolas V de Villeroy, later tutor of Louis XIV.
• 1641
  • 16 January – First permanent theater in Paris opens within thePalais-Royal.^[6]

• 1643
  • 14 May – Death ofLouis XIII inSaint-Germain-en-Laye.Louis XIV, his four-and-a-half-year-old son, becomes king, under the regency of his mother,Anne of Austria, and the influence ofCardinal Mazarin.
  • 30 June –Molière,Madeleine Béjart and several others found theIllustre Théâtre onrue de la Perle, in theMarais.
  • 7 October – The young king and his court move from the Louvre to thePalais-Royal.
  • First coffee house orcafé opens in Paris, but is not profitable and closes. The first successfulcafé does not arrive until 1672.^[53]
  • 11 October – Cardinal Mazarin moves into theHôtel Tubeuf onrue des Petits-Champs, next to thePalais-Royal, and opens his personal library to scholars. In 1682, he donated his library to theCollège des Quatre-Nations, where it remains today as theBibliothèque Mazarine ("Mazarine Library").^[55]
• 1644
  • 1 January – The theater company ofMolière andMadeleine Béjart begins performing in the tennis court of Mestayers (jeu de paume des Mestayers). Molière goes deeply into debt to support the company, and is imprisoned in August 1645 in theGrand Châtelet.^[56]
• 1645
  • 28 February – First performance of an opera in Paris,La Finita Panza byMarco Marazzoli, in the hall of thePalais-Royal.
• 1646
  • 20 February – Construction begins of the church ofSaint-Sulpice, not completed until 1788.
• 1647
  • Pont au Change rebuilt by architectAndrouet du Cerceau.^[39]

    

• 1648
  • 27 January –Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture founded byCharles Le Brun andEustache Le Sueur.^[57]
  • 26 August – Cardinal Mazarin has the leaders of theParlement, or law courts, of Paris arrested, because they have refused to enforce his edicts on fiscal policy and taxes. This begins the insurrection of Paris against the royal government known as theFronde parlementaire (1648–1649).
  • 27 August – The Day of the Barricades. More than twelve hundred barricades erected in Paris against the royal authorities, and prisoners seized by Mazarin are liberated on the 29th.
  • 13 September – King Louis XIV, the Regent Queen Mother and Mazarin leave Paris for Rueil, thenSaint-Germain-en-Laye. After negotiations with theParlement, they accept theParlement's propositions and return to Paris on 30 October.
• 1649
  • 5–6 January – The King and Queen Mother flee Paris again to Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
  • 11 January – The leaders of theFronde take an oath to end the rule of Cardinal Mazarin. The royal army led byCondé, blockades Paris.
  • 14 January – A major flood inundates Paris; the Marais andfaubourg Saint-Antoine, Saint-Germain, andÎle Saint-Louis are under water.
  • 11 March – Under thePaix de Rueil, the King and court are allowed to return to Paris, in exchange for amnesty for theFrondeurs.
  • 19 September – City hall runs out of funds. City workers go unpaid, and riots break out sporadically through the end of year.
  • 27 August – The Day of the Barricades. More than twelve hundred barricades erected in Paris streets against the royal authorities, and prisoners seized by Mazarin are liberated on the 29th.
  • 13 September – The King, Queen Mother and Mazarin leave Paris forRueil, thenSaint-Germain-en-Laye. After negotiations with theParlement, they accept its propositions and return to Paris on 30 October.

    

• 1650
  • Mineral springs discovered atPassy, at the present-dayrue des Eaux. The mineral baths there remain fashionable until the end of the 19th century.
  • 18 January – Mazarin orders the arrest ofLouis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé,le Grand Condé, who has turned against the government, and of the Fronde of theParlement.
• 1651
  • 21 January – A flood carries away half of thePont de la Tournelle and one arch of thePont au Change.
  • 30 January – The Fronde of the princes (Fronde des Princes, 1650–1653), led by Condé, and Fronde of the ParisParlement join together against Mazarin.
  • 6–7 January – Cardinal Mazarin flees from Paris.
• 1652
  • 11 April – Condé, leader of the Fronde of princes, enters Paris, pursued by the royal army.
  • 2 July – The Battle of Paris. The royal army, led byTurenne, defeats the army of Condé outside the city; Condé and his men take refuge inside the city walls.
  • 4 July – Soldiers of Condé lay siege to theHôtel de Ville to force theParlement to join the Fronde of the princes.
  • 13 October – TheParlement sends a delegation to Mazarin and the King at Saint-Germain-en Laye, asking for peace.
  • 14 October – The Fronde collapses, and Condé flees the city.
  • 21 October – Louis XIV and his court return in triumph to Paris, and take up residence in the Louvre.
  • 22 October – An amnesty is proclaimed for the Fronde participants, except for its leaders.
• 1653
  • 3 February – Cardinal Mazarin returns to Paris. On 4 July, the leaders of Paris honor him with a banquet at theHôtel de Ville and a fireworks show.^[58]
• 1656 –Hôpital général de Paris (prison) begins operating.^[59]
• 1658
  • 1 March – A historic flood of the Seine washes away thePont Marie, even though it was built of stone. The water reaches an historic high of 8.81 meters, higher than the 8.50 meters during the 1910 floods.
  • 24 June – The theater troupe ofMolière is given the privilege to perform before the King, a privilege earlier given to the troupe of theHôtel de Bourgogne and theComédiens italiens.
• 1659
  • 10 May – Molière and his troupe performL'Étourdi at the Louvre. On 21 October, they performLes Précieuses ridicules.
  • 28 November – Privilege of making and selling hot chocolate granted to David Chaillou, firstvalet de chambre of theCount of Soissons. This begins the fashion of drinking chocolate in Paris.^[58]

    

• 1660
  • Introduction of coffee in Paris. It had previously been served in Marseille in 1626, but did not become popular until 1669, during the visit to Paris of the first ambassador from the Turkish sultan.^[58]
  • 26 August – A new square,place du Trône (nowPlace de la Nation) is created on the east side of Paris for a ceremony to welcome Louis XIV and his new bride,Maria Theresa of Spain.
• 1661
  • 20 January – Theater company of Molière takes up residence at thePalais-Royal
  • 3–7 March – The will of Cardinal Mazarin endows the founding of theCollège des Quatre-Nations, to grant free education for sixty young nobles from the recently annexed provinces ofAlsace,Pignerol,Artois andRoussillon. The architectLe Vau is selected to design the building.
• 1662
  • 14 February – Installation of thesalle des machines, a hall for theater performances and spectacles, in the Tuileries.
  • March – Royal letters of patent give to Laudati de Caraffa the privilege of establishing stations of torch-bearers and lantern-bearers to escort people through the dark streets at night.
  • 18 March – First public transport line established of coaches running regularly betweenporte Saint-Antoine and Luxembourg. The service continues until 1677.
  • 30 MarchAcadémie royale de danse founded.^[60]
  • 5–6 June – A grand circular procession, orcarrousel, gives its name to the open area where it is held, between the Louvre and the Tuileries Palace.
  • 6 June – The King purchases theGobelins Manufactory of tapestries and places it under the direction ofCharles Le Brun, court painter of KingLouis XIV.^[61]

• 1663
  • 6 January – Large banquet given at the Louvre, concluding with the premiere ofL'École des femmes by Molière.
  • 8 February – TheAcadémie royale de peinture et de sculpture re-organized by Louis XIV and his ministerColbert.
• 1665
  • First exposition of works by members of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture, the origin of the futureSalons.
  • October –Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs (mirror manufactory) established at Reuilly.^[62]
• 1666
  • 4 June – Premiere of Molière's playThe Misanthrope.
  • 11 December – A decree re-organizes the policing of Paris, and quadruples the number of city watchmen.
  • 22 December – Establishment of theAcadémie royale des sciences.

    

• 1667
  • 17 February – The number of authorized printing houses in Paris is reduced to thirty-six to facilitate censorship.
  • March – The founding of theParis Observatory, which is finished in 1672. It is located in theavenue de l'Observatoire. TheParis meridian becomes the meridian on all French maps: it runs through the center of thesalle méridienne (also known assalle de Cassini) of the observatory.^[23]
  • 15 March – A royal edict creates the position of Lieutenant-General of Police. The first to hold the office isGabriel Nicolas de La Reynie, named on 29 March.
  • 18 August – First regulations governing the height of buildings in Paris and the faubourgs.
  • 2 September – First royal ordinance for street lighting. 2,736 lanterns with candles are installed on 912 streets.
  • 15 September – Thebutte des Moulins, between,rue des Petits-Champs andrue Saint-Roch, is divided into lots, and twelve new streets created.
  • December – The royalManufacture des meubles de la Couronne (royal manufacture of furniture) is created.
• 1669
  • 28 June –Académie royale de musique founded, the ancestor of the Paris Opera.^[63]
• 1670
  • 6 June – The King orders the demolition of the city walls built byCharles V andLouis XIII, to be replaced by boulevards lined with trees.
• 1671
  • 17 January – Performance ofPsyché in theSalle des machines orThéâtre des Tuileries, staged byMolière,Corneille,Lully andPhilippe Quinault.^[64]
  • 10 February – Louis XIV moves the royal court toVersailles.
  • 30 November – First stone placed for theHôtel des Invalides, a home for wounded soldiers. It was inaugurated in October 1674.
• 1672
  • February – First successful Parisiancafé opens at thefoire Saint-Germain, a fair held in the vicinity of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés Abbey.
  • April 1672 – First issue ofMercure galant, laterMercure de France, published. In 1678 it published the first reviews of high fashion.^[62][65]
  • 26 August – A new city regulation fixes the new limits of the city and tries again to limit any construction beyond them. Thirty-five new boundary stones are placed around the city in April 1674.

    

• 1673
  • Two large pumps built on thepont Notre-Dame to lift drinking water from the Seine. They continued working until 1858.
  • 17 March – Decree of the council to build thequai Neuf, which becomes thequai Le Pelletier.
  • Théâtre de Guénégaud founded.
• 1676
  • November – The owners ofjeu de paume courts are allowed to install tables forbilliards, a popular new game.^[65]
  • Limonadiers' guild established.^[66]
• 1680
  • 18 August –Comédie-Française founded.
• 1682
  • March – Colbert orders that a count be made of Protestants in Paris, and warns them to convert from what he calls "the so-called reformed religion".
  • 6 May – The official seat of the monarchy is moved from theTuileries Palace toChâteau de Versailles.
  • November – TheCollège de Clermont is renamedCollegium Ludovici Magni,Collège de Louis le Grand.
• 1685

  

  • The drinking of coffee with milk comes into fashion, described byMadame de Sévigné in a letter of 17 December 1688.
  • 4 July – The state buys thehôtel de Vendôme and the convent of the Capucines in order to build the futureplace Louis-le-Grand, the modernPlace Vendôme.
  • 22 October – The ParisParlement registers the revocation of theEdict of Nantes, revoking the toleration of the Protestant Church. The same day begins the demolition of the Protestant temple at Charenton.
  • 25 October – First stone placed for thepont Royal to replace the oldpont Rouge. It was completed in June 1689.
• 1686
  • Café Procope, opens and remains the oldest Paris café in operation.^[62]
  • 28 March – Inauguration ofPlace des Victoires, with an equestrian statue of Louis XIV in the center. Since the houses around it have not yet been built, they are represented by painted backdrops.^[67]
• 1687
  • Ordinance permitting the Vilain family to open public baths along the river between theCours-la-Reine and thePont Marie.
• 1692
  • February – Creation of the position of the Lieutenant-General of the King for the government of Paris. The first to hold the title is Jean-Baptiste Le Ragois de Bretonvilliers de Saint-Dié.
• 1693
  • 20 October – During a bread shortage, the city authorities distribute bread to the poor. The effort ends in a riot, with many killed.
• 1697
  • June – TheComédie Italienne theater troupe is banned after they performLa Fausse prude at theHôtel de Bourgogne; the play has an unflattering character clearly representingMadame de Maintenon, themorganatic wife of Louis XIV. The actors are compelled to leave the city.
• 1698
  • 18 September – A mysterious prisoner wearing a black velvet mask is incarcerated in the Bastille.Voltaire romanticizes this story into that of a prisoner with an iron mask, who later becomes the subject of the novelThe Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later byAlexandre Dumas.^[68]

• 1701
  • December – A royal edict divides the city into twenty police districts, added to the sixteen quarters created by theHôtel de Ville.^[68]
• 1706
  • 28 August – Consecration of the church ofLes Invalides, in the presence of theKing.^[68]
• 1709
  • 6 January – Extreme cold hits Paris, that will last until the end of March. Temperature drops to -40 Celsius, (estimated as the thermometer was invented that year.)the Seine freezes, causing shipments of food by boat to be stopped. The cold wave paralyzes all of France, making it also impossible to bring supplies to Paris by road. In that period, twenty four to thirty thousand persons die from hunger and cold in Paris alone; near one million in all of France.^[68]
  • 15 March – Seine begins to thaw, causing flood.
  • 5 April – First food shipment reaching Paris by road.
  • 20 August – Food riot quelled by the army, leaving two dead.
• 1714
  • 7 August – Royal Council prohibits building on the boulevards from thePorte Saint-Honoré toPorte Saint-Antoine without authorization of theBureau de la Ville.^[69]
• 1715
  • 1 September – Death of Louis XIV.Philippe d'Orléans becomes Regent and on 30 December moves the five-year-old kingLouis XV and Court from Versailles to Paris.^[70]
  • 31 December – An ordinance authorizes the first public ball in Paris, the masked ball at the Paris Opera.^[70]
• 1716
  • 2 May – The founding of theBanque Générale, the first private bank in Paris, by the ScotsmanJohn Law.^[70]
  • 18 May – TheComédie Italienne theater troupe, banned by Louis XIV in 1697 to perform in Paris, is allowed to return and performs at thePalais Royal.^[70]
• 1718
  • 4 December – TheBanque Générale becomes theBanque Royale and effectively the central bank of France. Two-thirds of its assets are government bills and notes.
  • 10 July – The construction begins of theHôtel d'Évreux, the town house ofLouis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Count of Évreux, finished in 1720. In the 19th century it became theÉlysée Palace, residence of the presidents of the French Republic.^[70]
• 1720
  • Completion ofPlace Louis-le-Grand, nowPlace Vendôme.
  • 24 March –John Law's Bank closes, unable to pay its subscribers. Financial panic follows, and the Paris stock market is closed until 1724.
  • 10 July – Rioters storm theBanque Royale, demanding to exchange their banknotes for silver. Banker John Law flees to Brussels, then Venice.^[71]
• 1721
  • 28 November – Public execution of the banditLouis-Dominique Cartouche, famed for robbing the rich and giving to the poor. Thanks to a play about him the same year by theComédie Italienne, he became a Parisian folk hero.^[71]
• 1722
  • Construction begins of thePalais-Bourbon, finished in 1728. After the Revolution of 1789, it became the seat of the National Assembly.

• 1723
  • 23 February – A royal regulation forbids printing houses and publishing outside of the Latin quarter on the Left Bank. The law is intended to make censorship more effective.^[71]
• 1728
  • 16 January – First street signs, made of iron painted white with black letters, put in place. They were easy to steal, and in 1729 were replaced by carved stone plaques.^[72]
• 1731 –Académie royale de chirurgie [fr] (Royal Academy of Surgery) established.^[73]
• 1732–1775 – Construction ofChurch of Saint-Sulpice
• 1735
  • 10 September – A new royal regulation simplifies the procedure for searching publishing houses and bookstores, strengthening censorship.^[74]
  • Premiere of Rameau'sLes Indes galantes.^[75]
• 1738 – The founding of the royal porcelain manufactory inVincennes; it was transferred in 1757 toSèvres.^[74]
• 1745
  • 26 March – Permission given by the royal censors for the publication of the firstEncyclopédie. It was published between 1751 and 1772.^[76]
• 1749
  • March – The exhibition at theSaint-Germain fair of the firstrhinoceros ever to be seen in Paris.^[76]

    

• 1751
  • 22 January – TheÉcole Militaire is established.^[76]
• 1752
  • 31 January – The firstEncyclopédie is condemned by the archbishop of Paris.^[76]
• 1756–1772 – The construction ofPlace Louis XV (now thePlace de la Concorde).^[39]

Construction begins on the church ofSainte-Geneviève (now thePanthéon).

• 1760
  • 9 June – First postal delivery begins in Paris.^[77]
• 1761 – City bans hangingshop signs.^[78]
• 1763
  • Bibliothèque historique de la ville de Paris opens.^[55]
  • 6 April – A fire destroys the theater of the Palais-Royal. The Paris Opera moves for seven months to the Tuileries Palace.
  • 20 June – Statue of Louis XV dedicated in thePlace Louis XV (nowPlace de la Concorde).
• 1764
  • 3 April – First stone laid of the church ofChurch of the Madeleine.
  • 6 September – First stone laid of the church ofSainte-Geneviève.^[79]
• 1765
  • Almanach des Muses (poetry annual) begins publication.
  • The establishment ofBoulanger offers Parisians a choice of "restaurants", namely soups, meat and egg dishes, in competition with existing taverns and cabarets. This was a predecessor of the modern restaurant.^[79]
• 1767
  • September –Benjamin Franklin comes to Paris to discuss his experiments with electricity with French scientists
  • 1767–1783 – The grain market (Halle aux Blés) constructed. In 1885 the building became the Paris Chamber of Commerce.^[80]
• 1768
  • House numbering ordinance issued.^[78]

    

• 1770
  • 30 May – Tragic fireworks display,Place Louis XV, during festivities given in celebration of the marriage of the Dauphin and Dauphine (the future kingLouis XVI and queenMarie Antoinette); 132 persons died.^[81]
• 1775
  • 23 February – First performance ofThe Barber of Seville (play) byPierre Beaumarchais in the theater of theTuileries Palace.
  • Hôtel des Monnaies (mint) built.
• 1776
  • Cour du Commerce-Saint-André [fr], a covered shopping street in the 6th arrondissement, opens.^[82]
  • Société Royale de Médecine (Royal Society of Medicine) established.^[73]
  • August – The foundung of a corporation of merchants offashion, also including feather dealers and florists, separate from the corporation of small shopkeepers.^[83]
  • 10 August – The opening of the first Paris chemical factory, makingsulfuric acid,Javel water and laterchlorine, first atÉpinay-sur-Seine, then atJavel.
• 1777
  • Mont de Piété^[84] andMarché d'Aligre [fr] (market)^[85] established.
  • Journal de Paris newspaper begins publication.^[86]
  • TheCourrier de la Mode ou Journal du Goût, the first Paris fashion magazine, begins publication.^[83]

    

• 1778
  • Opening ofboulevards du Temple, Saint-Martin, Saint-Denis, andBonne-Nouvelle.^[83]
• 1779
  • First house numbers are put in place, as part of a project of theAlmanach of Paris.^[87]

• 1780
  • Closing of the 12th century cemetery of theSaints-Innocents. The church was closed in 1786 and demolished the following year.^[88]
• 1781
  • First sidewalks in Paris constructed onrue de l'Odéon.^[83]
• 1782
  • Amphithéâtre Anglais, the first purpose-built circus in France, opens.
  • Construction begins of theHôtel de Salm, finished in 1784. After the Revolution of 1789, it became thePalais de la Légion d'Honneur.
• 1783
  • Royal decrees requiring a relation between the height of buildings and the width of the street, and declaring that new streets must be at least thirty feet (about ten meters) wide.^[87]
  • 3 September –Treaty of Paris signed at 56 rue Jacob byBenjamin Franklin,John Jay,John Adams, andHenry Laurens for the United States andDavid Hartley for Britain, ending theAmerican Revolution.

    

  • 21 November – The first manned free flight in a balloon launched by theMontgolfier brothers, between theparc de la Muette and theButte-aux-Cailles.^[89]
  • École des Mines established.
• 1784 –Wall of the Farmers-General construction begins.^[78]
• 1786
  • Galerie de bois (shopping arcade) opens in thePalais-Royal.^[78][90]
  • 8 June – A decree of thePrévôt de Paris authorized caterers and chefs to establish restaurants and to serve clients until eleven in the evening in winter and midnight in summer.^[91]
  • The first restaurant in the modern sense, theTaverne anglaise, is opened byAntoine Beauvilliers in the arcade of the Palais-Royal.^[88]
  • Construction begins of a large steam-powered pump atGros-Caillou, on theQuai d'Orsay, to provide drinking water from the Seine for the population of the left bank.^[88]
  • September – A royal edict orders the demolition of houses built on the Paris bridges and on some of the quays. The edict was carried out in 1788.
• 1787
  • Theduc d'Orléans sells spaces in the arcades of the Palais-Royal which are occupied by cafés, restaurants and shops.
  • Construction approved of thePont Louis XVI, nowPont de la Concorde.
• 1788
  • 13 July – Devastating hail storms accompanied by strong winds of a force rarely seen, following a path from the southwest of France to the north, destroyed crops, orchards, killed farm animals, tore roofs and toppled steeples. In Paris, the faubourg Saint-Antoine was hardest hit.^[92] It caused a major increase in bread prices, and the migration of thousands of peasants into Paris.^[93]
  • 16 August – The French state becomes bankrupt, and begins issuing paper money to pay for pensions, rents and the salaries of soldiers. Large-scale demonstrations and civil disorders begin.

    

  • Société des Amis des Noirs founded.
• 1789
  • 12–19 May – Paris elects deputies to the Estates-General, a legislative assembly summoned byLouis XVI to raise funds.
  • 12 July – Parisians respond to the dismissal of the King's reformist minister,Necker, with civil disturbances. Confrontations betweenRoyal-Allemand Dragoon Regiment and a crowd of protestors onPlace Louis XV, and Sunday strollers in the Tuileries gardens. Mobs storm the city armories and take weapons. In the evening, the new customs barriers around the city are burned.^[93]
  • 14 July – Storming of theBastille, a symbol of royal authority, releasing seven prisoners. Thegovernor of the Bastille surrenders and is lynched by the crowd.^[94]
  • 15 July – The astronomerJean Sylvain Bailly is chosen Mayor of Paris at theHôtel de Ville.
  • 17 July – King Louis XVI comes to theHôtel de Ville and accepts a tricolorcocarde.
  • 5–6 October – The royal family isforced to move from Versailles to Paris.^[94]
  • 19 October – The deputies of the National Assembly move from Versailles to Paris, first to the residence of the Archbishop, then, on 9 November, to theManège of theTuileries Palace.
  • Théâtre Feydeau founded.
• 1790
  • 14 July – TheFête de la Fédération, celebrating the first anniversary of the Revolution.^[94]
• 1791
  • 3 April – The church of Sainte-Geneviève is transformed into thePanthéon.Mirabeau is the first famous Frenchman to have his tomb placed there on 4 April, followed byVoltaire on 11 July.^[89]
  • 20–21 June – The King and his familyflee Paris, but are captured at Varennes and brought back on 25 June.
  • 17 July – A large demonstration on theChamp de Mars demands the immediate proclamation of a republic. TheNational Assembly orders Mayor Bailly to disperse the crowd. Soldiers fire on the crowd,killing many.^[95]
  • 19 September – Mayor Bailly resigns.
• 1792
  • 25 April – First execution using theguillotine of the bandit Nicolas Pelletier on thePlace de Grève.
  • 20 June –Sans-culottes invade theTuileries Palace and put a redPhrygian cap on king Louis XVI's head.^[94]
  • 20 July – Government calls for volunteers for the army, and on 21 June proclaims that the country is in danger of foreign attack.
  • 10 August – The insurrectionalParis Commune seizes theHôtel de Ville and the Tuileries Palace, and suspends the power of the king.
  • 2–5 September – Massacre of more than 1,300 persons in Paris prisons, among which theprincesse de Lamballe.
  • 21 September – Proclamation of theFrench Republic by the convention, the new National Assembly.^[96]
  • Théâtre du Vaudeville opens.
  • 20 November – Discovery of theArmoire de fer, an iron box containing documents incriminating Louis XVI, in his apartment at the Tuileries.
  • 10 to 26 December – King Louis XVI's trial.

    

• 1793
  • 21 January –Execution of Louis XVI on thePlace de la Révolution (formerPlace Louis XV, nowPlace de la Concorde).^[94]
  • 10 March – Creation of the Revolutionary Tribunal to judge enemies of the Revolution.
  • 16 October – Execution of queenMarie Antoinette on thePlace de la Révolution.^[94]
  • 6 November – Execution ofLouis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans,Philippe Égalité, on thePlace de la Révolution.
  • 8 November – Opening of theMuseum Central des Arts, (later named theLouvre Museum).
  • 12 November – French citizens are required by law to use the familiar personal pronoun "tu" form instead of the formal "vous".^[96]
  • 23 November – All the churches of Paris are ordered closed by the government.
  • National Museum of Natural History (founded in 1635) re-organized and renamed.
• 1794
  • 30 March – Arrest ofGeorges Danton, chief opponent ofRobespierre. He is guillotined 5 April.

    

  • 8 June – Celebration of theCult of the Supreme Being held onChamp de Mars, presided over by Robespierre.
  • 11 June – Beginning of the climax ofReign of Terror, period known as theGrande Terreur. Between June 11 and 27 July, 1,366 persons are condemned to death.^[97]
  • 27 July –9th Thermidor, the convention accuses Robespierre of crimes. He is arrested together with several of his acolytes, among whichSaint-Just.
  • 28 July – Robespierre and those arrested with him are guillotined, this signaling the end of theReign of Terror.^[94]
  • 24 August – The revolutionary committees of the twelve Paris sections are abolished, and replaced by new arrondissement committees.
  • 31 August – The municipal government of Paris is abolished, and the city put directly under the national government.^[88]
  • 22 October – TheÉcole centrale des travaux publics, predecessor of theÉcole Polytechnique (school) established.
• 1795
  • 20 May – Riotingsans-culottes invade the convention meeting hall, demanding "bread and the 1793 Constitution". Army troops loyal to the government occupy theFaubourg Saint-Antoine and disarm demonstrators.

    

  • 5 October – An uprising by royalists in the center of the city is suppressed with artillery fire by GeneralNapoleon Bonaparte.
  • 11 October – Paris is once again organized into twelve municipalities, within the newdepartment of the Seine.
  • 2 November – TheDirectory government is established.
• 1796 –Société de Médecine de Paris (Society of Medicine) established.
• 1797
  • Arsenal Library opens.
  • 22 October – First parachute jump with a frameless parachute made byAndré Garnerin from a Montgolfier balloon at an altitude of 700 meters over thePlaine de Monceau.^[98]
• 1799
  • Passage du Caire [fr] (shopping arcade) opens.^[78]
  • 10 November –Coup d'état du 18 brumaire, Napoléon Bonaparte stages acoup d'état and dissolves the government of the Directory.
  • 25 December – TheConsulate is organized, with Napoléon Bonaparte as First Consul.

• 1800
  • 13 February –Banque de France created.
  • 17 February – Napoleon reorganizes city into twelve arrondissements, each with a mayor with little power, under two Prefects, one for the police and one for administration of the city, both appointed by him.^[97]
  • 19 February – Napoleon makes theTuileries Palace his residence.

• 1801
  • Population: 548,000^[99]
  • 12 March – Napoleon orders the creation of three new cemeteries outside the city; Montmartre to the north;Père-Lachaise to the east, and Montparnasse to the south.^[100]
  • 15 March – Napoleon orders the building of three new bridges:Pont d'Austerlitz,Pont Saint-Louis andPont des Arts.
  • Passage des Panoramas (shopping arcade) opens.
• 1802
  • 19 March – Napoleon orders the construction of a canal from theOurcq river to bring fresh drinking water to Paris.
  • Napoleon establishes a committee of public health, to improve city sanitation.^[86]
• 1803
  • 9 August –Robert Fulton demonstrates the first steamboat on the Seine.^[100]
  • 24 September –Pont des Arts, the first iron bridge in Paris, opens to public. Pedestrians pay five centimes for a crossing.^[100]
• 1804
  • 2 December –Napoleon I crowns himselfEmperor of the French at the cathedral ofNotre Dame de Paris.
  • Père Lachaise Cemetery consecrated.^[23]
  • First awards of theLegion of Honor at the Invalides. The formerhôtel de Salm becomes thePalais de la Légion d'honneur.
  • Le Rocher de Cancale restaurant opens.
• 1805
  • 4 February – Napoleon decrees a new system of house numbers, beginning at the Seine, with even numbers on the right side of street and odd numbers on the left.
• 1806
  • 2 May – Decree ordering the building of fourteen new fountains, including theFontaine du Palmier on thePlace du Châtelet, to provide drinking water.
  • 7 July – First stone laid for theArc de Triomphe du Carrousel, onPlace du Carrousel, between the Tuileries Palace and the Louvre.
  • 8 August – First stone laid for theArc de Triomphe atÉtoile. Inaugurated on 29 July 1836, during the reign ofLouis Philippe.
  • 24 November – Opening of thePont d'Austerlitz.
  • 2 December – Decree ordering the creation a "Temple of Glory" dedicated to the soldiers of Napoleon's armies on the site of the unfinished church of the Madeleine.
• 1807
  • Population: 580,000^[99]
  • 13 January –Pont d'Iéna inaugurated.^[101] andThéâtre des Variétés^[102] opens.
  • 13 June – Decree to buildrue Soufflot on the left bank, on the axis of thePanthéon.
  • 29 July – Decree reducing the number of theaters in Paris to eight; theOpéra,Opéra-Comique,Théâtre-Français,Théâtre de l'Impératrice (Odéon);Vaudeville,Variétés,Ambigu,Gaîté. TheOpéra Italien,Cirque Olympique andThéâtre de Porte-Saint-Martin were added later.^[103]
• 1808
  • 2 December – Completion of theOurcq Canal, bringing fresh drinking water 107 kilometers to Paris.^[101]
  • 2 December – First stone placed of the elephant fountain onPlace de la Bastille. Only a wood and plaster full-size version was completed.
• 1809
  • 16 August – Opening of the flower market onquai Desaix (nowquai de Corse).

• 1810
  • 5 February – For censorship purpose, number of printing houses in Paris limited to fifty.
  • 2 April – Religious ceremony of the marriage of Napoléon to his second wife,Marie-Louise of Austria, in theSalon carré of the Louvre.
  • 4 April – first stone laid for the Palace of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on thequai d'Orsay. It was completed in 1838.
  • 15 August – Completion of thePlace Vendôme column, made of 1200 captured Russian and Austrian cannons^[101]
  • Catacombs renovated.^[55]
• 1811
  • Population: 624,000^[99]
  • 20 March – Birth ofNapoléon François Charles Joseph Bonaparte, King of Rome, son of Napoléon I and empress Marie-Louise, at the Tuileries.
  • 18 September – first battalion of Paris firemen organized.^[101]

• 1812
  • TheSûreté, the investigative bureau of the Paris police, founded byEugène François Vidocq.
  • 1 March – Water from Paris fountains is made free of charge.
• 1814
  • 30 March – TheBattle of Paris. The city is defended byMarmont andMortier, and is surrendered at 2 a.m. on 31 March.
  • 31 March – CzarAlexander I of Russia and KingFrederick William III of Prussia enter Paris, at the head of their armies.^[104]
  • 6 April – Abdication of Napoleon. The French Senate appeals to KingLouis XVIII to take the crown.
  • 3 May – Louis XVIII enters Paris, occupied by the allied armies.
• 1815
  • 19 March – Louis XVIII leaves Paris at midnight, and Napoleon returns on the 20th, the beginning of theHundred Days.
  • After thebattle of Waterloo, Paris is again occupied, this time by theSeventh Coalition.
  • Hôtel Meurice opens for business.

• 1816
  • 21 March – Reopening of the French academies, purged of twenty-two members named by Napoleon.
  • December – first illumination by gaslight of a café in thePassage des Panoramas.^[105]

    

• 1817 – Population: 714,000^[99]
  • 1 June – Opening of theMarché Saint-Germain.
  • 8 July – Opening of the firstpromenades aériennes, orroller coaster, in thejardin Beaujon.
• 1818 – New statue ofHenry IV placed on thePont Neuf, to replace the original statue destroyed during the Revolution.^[106]

• • TheDraisienne, ancestor of the bicycle, is introduced in the Luxembourg Gardens. (1818)
• 1820
  • March 8 – First stone laid for theÉcole des Beaux-Arts.
  • First student demonstrations against the royal government.
  • December 20 –Académie royale de Médecine (now theAcadémie nationale de Médecine) founded by royal ordinance.^[73]
• 1821
  • 14 May 1821 – Opening of the canal of Saint-Denis.
  • 23 July – Founding of theGeographic Society of Paris.
  • 26 December – Decree to return the Pantheon to a church, under its previous name of Sainte-Geneviève.

    

• 1822
  • 7–8 March – Demonstrations at the law school, two hundred students arrested.
  • 15 July – theCafé de Paris opens at corner of theboulevard des Italiens andrue Taitbout.
• 1823
  • 5 August – First stone laid for the church ofNotre-Dame-de-Lorette.
• 1824
  • 25 August – First stone laid for the church ofSaint-Vincent-de-Paul.
  • October – Opening ofÀ la Belle Jardinière clothing store, ancestor of the modern department store.^[105]
  • 13 December –La Fille d'honneur onrue de la Monnaie is the first store to put price tags on merchandise.^[107]
• 1825
  • TheCoronation of Charles X. While the monarch is crowned inReims Cathedral, much of the celebrations take place in Paris.
  • Canal Saint-Martin opened.
• 1826
  • First steamboat service begins between Paris and Saint-Cloud.
  • Hachette publishing house founded.
  • 16 July – The founding ofLe Figaronewspaper.
  • 4 November – the newParis Bourse opens.
• 1827
  • 12 March – New law passed restricting freedom of the press.
  • 30 March – Students demonstrate during funeral of theDuke of La Rochefoucault-Liancourt. His coffin is smashed during the struggle.
  • 29 April – During review of the Paris National Guard by KingCharles X, the soldiers greet him with anti-government slogans. The King dissolves the National Guard.^[107]
  • 30 June – A giraffe, a gift of the Pasha of Egypt to Charles X, and the first-ever seen in Paris, is put on display in theJardin des Plantes.
  • 19–20 November – political demonstrations around the legislative elections; street barricades go up in the Saint-Denis and Saint-Martin neighborhoods.
  • Galerie Colbert [fr] (shopping arcade) opens.^[78]
• 1828
  • Guerlain perfumer in business.^[62]
  • February – Concert Society of theParis Conservatory founded. The first concert took place on 9 March.
  • 11 April – Introduction of service by theomnibus, carrying 18 to 25 passengers. Fare was 25 centimes.^[108]
• 1829
  • 1 January – Therue de la Paix becomes the first street in Paris lit by gaslight.
  • 12 March – Creation of thesergents de ville, the first uniformed Paris police force. Originally one hundred in number, they were mostly former army sergeants. They carried a cane during the day, and a sword at night.^[109]

• 1830
  • 25 February – Pandemonium in the audience at theThéâtre Français, between the supporters of the classical style and those of the new romantic style, during the first performance ofVictor Hugo's romantic dramaHernani.
  • 16 March – Two hundred twenty deputies send a message to kingCharles X criticizing his governance.
  • July – Firstvespasiennes, or public urinals, also serving as advertising kiosks, appear on Paris boulevards.
  • 25 July – Charles X issues ordinances dissolving the national assembly, changing the election law and suppressing press freedom.
  • 27–29 July – TheTrois Glorieuses, three days of street battles between the army and opponents of the government. The insurgents install a provisional government in theHôtel de Ville. Charles X leavesSaint-Cloud, his summer residence.
  • 9 August – the Duke of Orléans,Louis-Philippe, is sworn King of the French.
• 1831
  • Population – 785,000^[99]
  • 27 July – First stone laid of the column in thePlace de la Bastille, honoring those killed during the 1830 revolution.
  • 31 October – Louis Philippe moves from the Palais-Royal to the Tuileries Palace.
  • Victor Hugo's novelHunchback of Notre-Dame published, reviving interest in medieval Paris.
• 1832

  

  • 19 February. First deaths fromcholera epidemic. Between 29 March and 1 October, the disease kills 18,500 persons.^[110]
  • Havas [fr] news agency in business.
  • FeministLa Femme libre published in Paris.
  • The illustratedLe Charivari newspaper begins publication.
• 1833
  • Society of Saint Vincent de Paul founded.^[86]
• 1834
  • 30 October – Thepont du Carrousel opens.
• 1835
  • 28 November – Assassination attempt on Louis-Philippe byGiuseppe Marco Fieschi, using an "infernal machine" of twenty gun barrels firing at once, as the king is riding on theBoulevard du Temple. The king is unharmed, but eighteen people are killed.
• 1836
  • Founding of two popular inexpensive newspapers,La Presse andLe Siècle.
  • 29 JulyArc de Triomphe dedicated.^[111]
  • 25 October – Dedication of theobelisk of Luxor on thePlace de la Concorde.^[55]
  • Petite Roquette Prison built.^[112]
• 1837
  • 26 August – First railroad line opens between therue de Londres andSaint-Germain-en-Laye. The trip takes half an hour.
• 1838
  • Louis Daguerre takes the first modernphotograph, aDaguerreotypeView of the Boulevard du Temple, showing a man while his shoes were being shined, the man stood motionless long enough to be photographed.
  • TheBibliothèque Polonaise de Paris (Polish Library) is founded.
• 1839
  • 7 January – Louis Daguerre presents his pioneer work on photography at the French Academy of Sciences. The academy gives him a pension, and publishes the technology for free use by anyone in the world.
  • 12–13 May – Followers ofLouis Blanqui begin armed uprising in attempt to overthrow government, but are quickly arrested by the army and national guard.^[113]
  • 2 August – Opening of railway line along the Seine between Paris andVersailles.
• 1840

  

  • 16 May – Opening of the new hall of theOpéra-Comique onPlace Favart.
  • 14 June – During a review of the national guard by Louis-Philippe at the Carrousel, the soldiers shout slogans demanding reform.
  • 28 July – Dedication of theJuly Column on thePlace de la Bastille, honoring those killed during theRevolution of 1830.
  • 15 December –Napoleon's ashes are placed in the crypt of the church ofLes Invalides
  • 24 December – Custom of theChristmas tree is introduced to Paris by the German princessHelene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, wife of theDuke of Orléans, Louis-Philippe's eldest son.^[113]
• 1841 – Population: 935,000^[99]
  • 27 February – Firstartesian wells, 560 meters deep, go into service atGrenelle to provide drinking water.
  • 3 April 1841 – Law passed enabling the construction of the 33 kilometreThiers wall fortification to encircle Paris.^[114]
• 1842
  • First French cigarettes manufactured atGros-Caillou, in the 7th arrondissement.
• 8 May – First major railroad accident in France, on the Paris-Versailles line at Meudon, kills fifty seven persons and injures three hundred.^[115]
• 1843
  • 4 March –L'Illustration newspaper, modeled onThe Illustrated London News, begins publication.
  • 2 May – Opening of railroad line from Paris toOrléans, followed the next day by the opening of the line from Paris toRouen.
  • 7 July – Opening of thequai Henry-IV, created by attaching theÎle Louviers to the right bank.
  • 20 October – First experiment with electric street lighting on thePlace de la Concorde.
• 1844
  • 16 March – Opening of theCluny Museum dedicated to the history of medieval Paris.
  • 14 November – Firstcrèche, or day care center, is opened at Chaillot.
• 1845
  • Ring of new fortifications around the city, (theThiers wall), begun in 1841, completed.^[116]
  • 27 April – First electric telegraph line tested between Paris and Rouen.
  • 29 November – First stone laid of theMinistry of Foreign Affairs on theQuai d'Orsay.
• 1846
  • Population: 1,053,000^[99]
  • 7 January – Completion of the firstGare du Nord railway station. Train service to the north of France begins 14 June.
  • 30 September – A riot breaks out in thefaubourg Saint-Antoine over the high cost of bread.
• 1847
  • 19 February –Alexandre Dumas opens his newThéâtre Historique, located boulevard du Temple, with the premiere ofLa Reine Margot.
  • 28 June – City government decrees installation of new street numbers, in white numbers on enameled blue porcelain plaques. These numbers remain until 1939.
  • 9 July – Opponents of the government hold the first of a series of large banquets, theCampagne des banquets, to defy the law forbidding political demonstrations.^[115]

• 1848
  • February 24 – 22-241848 French Revolution.
  • 22 February – Government bans banquets of the political opposition.
  • 23 February – Crowds demonstrate against Louis-Philippe's Prime Minister,Guizot. That evening soldiers fire on a crowd outside Guizot's residence,boulevard des Capucines, killing 52.^[117]
  • 24 February – Barricades appear in many neighborhoods. The government resigns, Louis-Philippe and his family flee into exile in England, and theSecond Republic is proclaimed at theHôtel de Ville.
  • 22–26 June – Armed uprising by the more radical republicans in the working-class neighborhoods of eastern Paris, suppressed by the army under GeneralLouis-Eugène Cavaignac. The city remains under martial law until 19 October.
  • 2 August – The first tourist excursion train to the beach at Dieppe leaves Paris. This begins the tradition of leaving Paris for summer holidays in August.^[118]
  • 20 December –Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte becomes the first and only president of the short-livedFrench Second Republic, and moves into theÉlysée Palace.
• 1849
  • 3 March – new cholera epidemic begins in the overcrowded center of the city. Between March and September, sixteen thousand deaths.
  • 8 May – First stone placed for first public housing for workers in Paris, thecité ouvrière onrue de Rochechouart.
  • 13 June – Armed uprising by radical republicans in the Saint-Martin district against the government of the Second Republic, led byLedru-Rollin. It was suppressed by the army, causing eight deaths.
  • 3 July – Inauguration of the train line, operated by theCompagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Strasbourg, opens between Paris and Strasbourg in eastern France.
  • 12 August – Inauguration of the train line between Paris and Lyon.
  • International Peace Congress held.
• 1850
  • 19 May – opening of Mazas prison.

    

• 1851
  • 5 June – Louis-Napoleon lays first stone for the new central market ofLes Halles.
  • 2 December – Louis-Napoleon, not allowed by the Constitution to run for re-election, seizes power through acoup d'état and moves his residence to theTuileries Palace. There is sporadic opposition in theFaubourg Saint-Antoine and neighborhood of the temple, quickly subdued by the army.
  • 10 December – Decree of Louis-Napoleon to begin building the ceinture railroad line around the city, 38 kilometers long. The line was finished in 1870.
• 1852
  • 26 March – A decree allows the government to more easily expropriate old buildings and the adjacent land in order to build new boulevards through the center of Paris.
  • 25 July – Work begins onNapoleon III's Louvre expansion.
  • 2 December – Louis-Napoleon is proclaimed EmperorNapoleon III.
  • 11 December – The opening of theCirque Napoléon, later called theCirque d'hiver, on theboulevard du Temple.
  • Work begins on theBois de Boulogne, completed in 1858.^[119]
  • Aristide Boucicaut and the Videau brothers openLe Bon Marché, the first modern Paris department store. The store has twelve employees in 1852, and 1,788 in 1877.^[120]
• 1853
  • 29 June –Napoleon III installs a huge map of Paris in his office at the Tuileries Palace and he and his new prefect of the Seine,Georges-Eugène Haussmann, begin planning the reconstruction of central Paris.
  • 21 November – A demonstration of the first tram line between the modernavenue de New York and theCours-la-Reine. A line is later opened connectingPlace de la Concorde with thepont de Sèvres.
• 1854

  

  • Louis Vuitton opens a luggage shop on Rue Neuve des Capucines, and in 1858 introduces a line of flat-bottomed canvas trunks, convenient for stacking.
  • 15 November –Société française de photographie founded by a group of French scientists. Its first president was the chemistHenri Victor Regnault.^[121]
  • 2 April – The newspaperLe Figaro is revived under new management and begins publishing.
• 1855
  • 22 February – Private omnibus companies consolidated into theCompagnie générale des omnibus to provide public transport throughout the city.
  • 26 March – The department storeLes Galeries du Louvre opens.
  • 15 May – TheExposition Universelle (1855) opens between the Seine and theChamps-Élysées. By the time it closes on 15 November, it has attracted five million visitors.
  • 19 July – TheCompagnie parisienne d'éclairage is formed, with a monopoly for providing gas distribution. The company installs thousands of new gaslights along the city streets.^[122]
  • 11 August – Napoleon III decrees the construction ofboulevard Saint-Michel andboulevard Saint-Germain on the left bank.
  • Journal pour tous begins publication.^[123]
  • Bouillon Duval soup restaurant opens.^[124]
• 1856
  • Population: 1,174,000^[99]
  • 11 October – Inauguration of the train line Paris to Marseille.
  • February 5 to March 31 –Congress of Paris; European leaders meet to bring an end to theCrimean War.
• 1857
  • Inauguration of theBazar de l'Hôtel de Ville (BHV) department store.
  • 26 April – Opening of theHippodrome de Lonchamp race track.
  • 14 August – Inauguration ofNapoleon III's Louvre expansion.
  • 29 August – Napoleon III decrees the building of Avenue des Amandiers (nowAvenue de la République) andBoulevard Prince-Eugène (nowBoulevard Voltaire).

    

• 1858
  • 14 January – Bomb attack on Emperor Napoleon III by Orsini, an Italian nationalist, outside the Paris Opera. The Emperor is unharmed, but 156 persons are killed or injured.
  • 5 April – Inauguration ofBoulevard de Sébastopol, the new north–south axis of Napoleon III's urban plan.^[125]
  • Opening of theHouse of Worth, the shop ofCharles Frederick Worth, thecouturier for

Empress Eugénie, at7 rue de la Paix.^[111]

• 1859
  • 17 February – Napoleon III decrees the annexation of thefaubourgs, which were smallcommunes lying between theMur des Fermiers généraux and theThiers wall, effective January 1, 1860.
  • 16 June – decree creating twenty arrondissements for the future enlarged city.
  • 22 June – Decree by Haussmann that, along boulevards and streets at least twenty meters wide, buildings can be as high as twenty meters, but must not have more than five floors. This, along with standards for uniformfaçade design, material and color, gives the distinct Haussmann look to Paris boulevards.^[126]
  • Premiere of Gounod's operaFaust.^[75]
• 1860
  • 1 January – The annexation takes effect, adding eight new arrondissements.^[125]Auteuil,Batignolles,Belleville,Bercy,La Chapelle,Charonne,Grenelle,Ménilmontant,Montmartre,Montrouge,Passy,Vaugirard,La Villette become part of city.^[116]
  • Population: 1,696,000, including those in the new arrondissements.^[99]
  • Napoleon III buys the land ofParc Monceau and makes it into a public park, opened in 1861.^[127]
  • 15 August – Inauguration ofFontaine Saint-Michel.
  • 15 August – Inauguration of the newpont au Change bridge rebuilt on the site of the previous one.
  • Work begins on theBois de Vincennes, to give green space and recreation to neighborhoods on the east side of the city. Completed in 1865.^[128]
  • 6 October – Opening of theJardin d'acclimatation.
• 1861
  • 13 August – Inauguration ofboulevard Malesherbes.

    

• 1862
  • Café de la Paix opens.
  • 21 July – first stone laid for the newPalais Garnier designed byCharles Garnier. It did not open until 5 January 1875.
  • 19 August – Inauguration of theCirque Olympique (nowThéâtre du Châtelet)
  • 30 October – Inauguration of theThéâtre Lyrique, facing theCirque Olympique onPlace du Châtelet.

    

• 1863
  • Le Petit Journal newspaper begins publication.
  • Salon des refusés of paintings rejected by theSalon officiel brings work byÉdouard Manet and others to public attention.^[111]
• 1864
  • Société Générale bank opens.
  • Bofinger brasserie opens.^[129]
  • 20 May – Completion of the restoration of the cathedral ofNotre Dame byViollet-le-Duc.
  • 17 December – Triumphant premiere ofLa Belle Hélène byJacques Offenbach at theThéâtre des Variétés.^[130]
  • International Telegraph Convention held in city.^[131]
• 1865
  • Construction begins ofParc des Buttes-Chaumont, completed in 1867.^[132]
  • Construction begins ofParc Montsouris, completed in 1878.^[133]
  • 22 September – New cholera epidemic kills four thousand Parisians in two months.
• 1866
  • 2 September – Beer served for first time in Paris at theCafé de la Rotonde.^[130]
  • 31 October – Premiere ofLa Vie parisienne byJacques Offenbach at theThéâtre du Palais-Royal.
  • 4 November – Inauguration ofplace du Roi de Rome (nowplace du Trocadéro).

    

• 1867
  • 15 March – First elevator in France begins service in the storeLa Ville de Saint-Denis onrue du Faubourg Saint-Denis.
  • 1 April – Opening of theExposition Universelle (1867) held on theChamp de Mars.^[23]
  • TheExposition is the occasion for the opening of many newbrasseries in Paris, in imitation of a popular style of restaurant in Germany.^[130]
  • 14 April – The firstbateaux-mouches excursion boats run on the Seine during the Exposition.
  • International Monetary Conference held.^[134]
• 1868
  • 28 May – Consecration of theSaint-Augustin church, the first Paris church with aniron frame.
  • 31 May – First official bicycle racing track opens at theParc de Saint-Cloud.^[135]

• 1870
  • 1 January –La Samaritaine department store founded.
  • 5 January – After intense criticism by Parliament, Napoleon III dismisses Haussmann
  • 19 July – France declares war on Prussia, the southern German states immediately side with Prussia. TheFranco-Prussian War begins.
  • 28 July – Napoleon III departs Paris to take command of the French army at Metz.
  • 4 September – News reaches Paris that Napoleon III has been captured by the Prussians atBattle of Sedan. The government falls and theThird Republic proclaimed atHôtel de Ville.
  • 17 September – The Prussian army surrounds the city, andsiege of Paris begins.^[136]
  • 23 September – first balloon departs the besieged city. By January 28, sixty-six balloons depart with a hundred passengers.^[137]
  • 14 November – Message service by carrier pigeons established between Paris and the outside world. The Paris population suffers from cold, hunger and disease.
• 1871
  • January – Prussians bombard Paris with heavy siege guns for twenty-three nights.
  • 28 January – Armistice and capitulation of Paris. Prussians remain in their positions outside the city.
  • 1 March – Prussians hold a brief victory parade on the Champs-Élysées, then withdraw to their positions.^[138]
  • 18 March – French army tries to remove 271 cannon from the heights of Montmartre, but is blocked by members of the Paris National Guard. The Guard captures and executes two French generals. The most radical members of the Guard seize theHôtel de Ville and other strategic points in the city. The army and government withdraw from Paris to Versailles.^[139]

    

  • 26 March – Elections for the newParis Commune, or city council, with low voting in affluent west Paris but high turnout in the working-class neighborhoods. The new council is dominated by anarchists, radical socialists and revolutionary candidates.
  • 27 March – The new Commune officially takes power. It replaces the French tricolor with the red flag and proposes a revolutionary program.
  • 16 May – At the suggestion ofGustave Courbet, the column in thePlace Vendôme is pulled down in a civic ceremony.
  • 21–28 May – The Paris Commune is suppressed by the French Army during "The Bloody Week" (La Semaine sanglante) with seven to ten thousandCommunards killed in the fighting or executed afterwards and buried in mass graves in the city's cemeteries, and forty three thousand Parisians taken prisoners.^[139] TheTuileries Palace,Hôtel de Ville and other government buildings are burned down by theCommunards; and theParis city archives [fr] are destroyed. Afterwards, Paris is placed under martial law.^[140]
  • September – Installation of the firstWallace fountain, to encourage Parisians to drink water instead of wine or liquor.
• 1872
  • Population: 1,850,000^[99]
  • 13 January – opening of theÉcole libre des sciences politiques, or Sciences-Po.
• 1873
• 24 July – Law passed supporting the construction of the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur on Montmartre, financed by private contributions.
• 1874
  • French government returns to Paris.MacMahon, first president of theFrench Third Republic moves into theÉlysée Palace.
  • 7 May –Société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Île-de-France founded at theÉcole nationale des chartes.^[141]
  • 15 April – First Paris exhibit byImpressionist painters in the studio of the photographerNadar.^[138]
  • 12 August – Opening of canal bringing the water of the Vannes river to Paris.Réservoir de Montsouris opened.
• 1875

  

  • 5 January – Opening of thePalais Garnier opera house.
  • 3 March: Premiere of Bizet's operaCarmen.^[75]
  • 15 June – first stone placed of the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur.
• 1877
  • Population: 1,985,000^[99]
• 1878
  • 1 May – Opening of theExposition Universelle (1878) held at the Trocadero Palace and on theChamp de Mars.^[23]
  • 30 May – The first test of electric lighting on theavenue de l'Opéra and thePlace de l'Etoile.^[142]
• 1879
  • July – Installation of first telephone system in Paris.

• 1880
  • 3 January – The ice on the Seine thaws suddenly, and the river rises more than two meters in three hours, sweeping away thepont des Invalides, under reconstruction.^[142]
  • 10 July – Amnesty for those imprisoned or exiled after theParis Commune.
  • 14 July –Bastille Day is celebrated officially for the first time since 1802
  • Brasserie des Bords du Rhin opens.^[129]
  • TheDirection régionale de la police judiciaire de Paris opens its headquarters at36 Quai des Orfèvres.
  • The History of ParisCarnavalet Museum opens.
• 1881
  • 15 August (through 15 November) – TheExposition internationale d'électricité is held, highlighted by the illumination of theGrands Boulevards with electric lights.
  • 18 August – Opening of theChat Noir, the first modern cabaret in Montmartre.^[143]
• 1882
  • January – Crash of theUnion générale bank, causing theParis Bourse crash of 1882
  • 10 January – Opening of themusée Grévin, the first Paris wax museum, in the passage Jouffroy.
  • 12 April – Inauguration of the ethnographic museum at Trocadéro.
  • 13 July – Opening of the reconstructedHôtel de Ville, burned by the Commune in 1871.
• 1883
  • 16 June – The Catholic daily newspaperLa Croix begins publication.
  • 14 July – Inauguration of the statueMonument à la République on thePlace de la République.
  • August – First municipal summer camp for students of the schools of the 9th arrondissement.
  • 22 September – The opening of the first lycée for girls, theLycée Fénelon.
• 1884
  • 7 March – Decree requiring the use of trash cans, nicknamedpoubelles after the Prefect of ParisEugène Poubelle, who introduced it.^[143]
  • 8 July – Opening of the first municipal swimming pool at31 rue du Château-Landon.
  • 23 July – Law allowing construction of residential buildings up to seven stories high.
  • 7 November – Last serious cholera epidemic in Paris.
  • Students' General Association of Paris [fr] founded.
  • Les Deux Magots café opens,
  • Samuel Bing art gallery opens.
  • Premiere of Massenet's operaManon.'^[75]

• 1885
  • 2 February – Municipal Council allows women to work as interns in Paris hospitals.
  • 1 June – Huge crowds observe the funeral procession ofVictor Hugo, whose remains are placed in thePanthéon.
  • 3 August – First stone laid for the new buildings of theSorbonne.
• 1887
  • January – Construction begins of theEiffel Tower. The structure is strongly condemned by leading Paris writers and artists.^[144]
  • 25 May – A fire destroys theOpéra-Comique during a performance ofMignon; more than a hundred persons are killed.
• 1888
  • 14 November – Dedication of theInstitut Pasteur byLouis Pasteur.
  • Lycée Molière (Paris) opens.
• 1889
  • First Paris telephone book published.
  • 30 January – First cremation in France atPère Lachaise Cemetery.
  • 2 April – Opening of the Eiffel Tower. Guests must climb to the top by the stairs, because the elevators are not finished until May 19.^[144]
  • 6 May – Opening of theExposition Universelle (1889). Before it closes on 6 November, the Exposition is seen by twenty-five million visitors.^[144]
  • 14 July – SocialistSecond International founded in Paris.
  • 5 August – Opening of the grand amphitheater of the new Sorbonne.

• 1890
  • 1 May – First celebration of May 1Labor Day by socialists in France, leading to confrontations with police.
• 1891 – Population: 2,448,000^[99]
  • 15 March – One time zone, Paris time, is established for all of France.
  • 20 May – First professional cooking school founded onrue Bonaparte.^[145]
• 1892
  • Le Journal newspaper begins publication.^[146]
  • First use of reinforced concrete to construct a building in Paris, at 1 rue Danton.
  • 4 October – Launch of the first weather balloon fromParc Monceau.
• 1893
  • 7 April – CaféMaxim's opens.
  • 12 April – opening of theOlympia music hall onboulevard des Capucines.
  • 3 July – Disturbances in the Latin Quarter between students and supporters ofSenator René Bérenger over supposedly indecent costumes worn at theBal des Quatre z'arts. One person is killed.^[145]
  • December – Opening of theVélodrome d'hiver cycling stadium on therue Suffren, in the formerGalerie des Machines from the 1889 Exposition.
  • 9 December – the anarchistAuguste Vaillant explodes a bomb in the National Assembly, injuring forty-six persons.

    

• 1894
  • 10 to 30 January – ThePhoto-club de Paris, founded in 1888 byConstant Puyo,Robert Demachy and Maurice Boucquet, holds the first International Exposition of Photography at theGaleries Georges Petit,^[147]8 rue de Sèze (8th arrondissement), devoted to photography as an art rather than a science. The exhibit launches the movement calledPictorialism.
  • First championship of France football tournament between six Parisian teams.
  • 12 February – The anarchistÉmile Henry explodes a bomb in the café of theGare Saint-Lazare, killing one person and wounding twenty-three.
  • 15 March – The anarchist Amédée Pauwels explodes a bomb in the church ofLa Madeleine. One person, the bomber, is killed.
  • 22 July – The first automobile race, organized byLe Petit Journal, from Paris to Rouen.
  • Asile George Sand (women's shelter) opens.^[148]
• 1895
  • Opening of the firstGaleries Lafayette department store^[149]
  • 22 March – first projected showing of a motion picture byLouis Lumière at a conference on the future industry of cinematography at44 rue de Rennes.^[150]
  • 10 August – The founding ofGaumont, the first major French film studio.
  • Le Cordon Bleu cooking school opens.
  • Maison de l'Art Nouveau art gallery^[111] opens.
  • 12 November –French Automobile Club (Automobile club de France) is founded.
  • 28 December – First public projection of a motion picture by theLumière Brothers in the basement of theGrand Café, on the corner ofRue Scribe andboulevard des Capucines.^[89] Thirty-eight persons attend, including future directorGeorges Méliès.
• 1896
  • 6 October – CzarNicholas II of Russia lays the first stone for thepont Alexandre III.
  • 7 December – the Municipal Council approves the project to build the first Paris Metropolitan subway line.
• 1897
  • TheThéâtre du Grand-Guignol opens.
  • TheParc des Princes velodrome opens.
  • 4 April – The first women are allowed to attend theÉcole des Beaux-Arts.
  • 4 May – Fire of theBazar de la Charité, at 17rue Jean Goujon, over 325 victims, of which 126 lost their life.
  • 13 July – The opening of theMusée de l'Armée (Army Museum) atLes Invalides.
  • 3 September – opening of the first movie theater, in thetheatre Robert-Houdon onboulevard des Italiens. The theater is rented for three months byGeorges Méliès to show films.
  • 4 December – The first Paris automobile show held as part of theSalon du Cycle at thePalais des Sports onrue de Berri.
• 1898
  • 13 January –Émile Zola publishes his open letter to the president of France on theDreyfus affair,J'accuse inL'Aurore newspaper.
  • 20 April – The first motorcycle race at Longchamp.
  • 19 September – The work begins on the Paris Metro.
  • 20 October – The first wireless communication made between the Eiffel Tower and the Panthéon byEugène Ducretet and Ernest Roger.
  • TheHôtel Ritz Paris opens.
  • Le Dôme Café opens.
• 1899
  • Inauguration of the monumental statueTriomphe de la République byJules Dalou on the place de la Nation.

• 1900
  • 13 February – Whistles are issued to Paris traffic policemen.
  • 24 February – The first newsreel films, of theBoer War, are shown at the Olympia Theater.
  • 14 April – The opening of theExposition Universelle (1900), including theGrand Palais, thePetit Palais, and thePont Alexandre III. Before it closes on 12 November, the Exposition attracts more than fifty million visitors.^[151]
  • 13 May – Right wing candidates win the municipal elections, after twenty years of domination by the left.
  • 14 May – The opening of the1900 Summer Olympics, held for the second time in Paris.
  • 19 July – The opening of the first line of theParis Métro betweenPorte de Versailles andPorte Maillot.
  • 15 September – automatic ticket gates for the metro are replaced by ticket agents, because of the high number of people jumping the gates.
  • 4 December – Law passed permitting women to practice law.
• 1901

  

  • Population: 2,715,000^[99]
  • ThePathé opens film production studio inVincennes.
  • April 1 – The opening of the newGare de Lyon train station, including the restaurantLe Train bleu.^[129]
  • 1 July – The opening of the first electric train line in Europe betweenLes Invalides and Versailles.
  • 28 September – First Europeanlawn tennis championship held in Paris.
• 1902
  • 26 January – FirstGitanes cigarettes go on sale.
  • 16 October – First use of fingerprints by Paris police to identify a murderer.
  • Premiere of Méliès' filmA Trip to the Moon.^[152]
  • Premiere of Debussy's operaPelléas et Mélisande.^[153]
• 1903
  • 1 July – Start of the firstTour de France, ending 19 July, with a parade of the winners at theParc des Princes.
  • 10 August – first serious metro accident at Couronnes station – eighty-four persons killed.
  • 4 September – Opening of the high-fashion house ofPaul Poiret.
  • FirstVélodrome d'hiver cycling stadium opens in the formerGalerie des Machines of the 1900 Paris Exposition.
  • Premiere ofMirbeau's playBusiness is Business.

    

• 1904
  • 6 February – Opening of theAlhambra music hall onrue de Malte.
  • 18 April – The socialist (later Communist) newspaperL'Humanité newspaper begins publication.^[154]
  • 8 May – Socialists and radicals win the Paris municipal elections.
  • 23 November – Consecration of the first Paris church built of concrete,Saint-Jean-l'Évangéliste de Montmartre.
  • 20 December – first automobile taxis go into service.
• 1905
  • After viewing the boldly colored canvases ofHenri Matisse,André Derain,Albert Marquet,Maurice de Vlaminck,Kees van Dongen,Charles Camoin, andJean Puy at theSalon d'automne of 1905, the criticLouis Vauxcelles disparaged the painters as "fauves" (wild beasts), thus giving their movement the name by which it became known,Fauvism.^[155]
  • Gaumont'sCité Elgé studios open at Buttes-Chaumont.
  • First underground public toilets open atplace de la Madeleine.
• 1906

  

  • Population: 2,722,731.^[4]
  • 22 March – First England-France Rugby match played atParc des Princes.
  • 11 June – first motorized bus line begins service between Montmartre andSaint-Germain-des-Prés. Horse-drawn omnibuses continued to run until January 1913.
  • 23 October – First airplane flight in Paris bySantos Dumont, flying sixty meters at an altitude of three meters at theParc de Bagatelle.
• 1907
  • 22 February – First woman receives a license to drive a taxi in Paris.
  • 25 March – first traffic roundabout created in Paris atPlace de l'Étoile.
  • Summer.Pablo Picasso, living in theBateau-Lavoir in Montmartre, paintsLes Demoiselles d'Avignon, a major turning point in modern art.
  • Kahnweiler art gallery opens.
  • An exhibition at theGalerie Notre-Dame-des-Champs includesJean Metzinger,Georges Braque,Sonia Delaunay,André Derain,Raoul Dufy,Auguste Herbin,Jules Pascin andPablo Picasso.^[156]
• 1909
  • 1 March – Firstescalator installed in a Paris metro station.
  • 29 May – opening ofLuna Park amusement park at Porte Maillot.
  • 2 June – Paris premiere of the balletLes Sylphides bySergei Diaghilev'sBallets Russes at theThéâtre du Châtelet, Paris, withVaslav Nijinsky andAnna Pavlova in the leading roles.
  • 13 December – Creation of first one-way streets in Paris onrue de Mogador andrue de la Chaussée-d'Antin.
• 1910

  

  • January 21–28 –Great flood of Paris. The Seine rises 8.5 meters, the highest level since 1658, and overflows its banks. The flood affects one sixth of the buildings in Paris.^[157]
  • 13 February – Opening of theVélodrome d'hiver cycling stadium onrue de Grenelle.
  • 3 December – First use ofneon lights on theGrand Palais. The first neon advertising sign appears onBoulevard Montmartre in 1912.
  • Coco Chanel Opens her first boutique, calledChanel Modes, at21 rue Cambon.^[158]
  • FirstGauloises cigarettes go on sale.
  • Odéon metro station opens.
  • According toRobert Delaunay, theSalle II of the 1910Salon des Indépendants was "the first collective manifestation of a new art (un art naissant), known two years later asCubism.^[159]
  • At theSalon d'automne of 1910, held from 1 October to 8 November,Jean Metzinger introduced an extreme form of what would soon be labeledCubism.^[160]
• 1911
  • 24 January – Departure of the first Paris-Monte Carlo automobile race.
  • 22 August – TheMona Lisa is stolen from theLouvre. It was recovered in Florence in December, 1913.^[161]
  • Gaumont-Palace cinema opens.^[89]
  • FictionalFantômas crime series begins publication.^[162]
  • The 1911Salon des Indépendants officially introduced "Cubism" to the public as an organized group movement.
• 1912

  

  • 15 February – Opening of theMaison de Beauté salon ofHelena Rubenstein at 255rue Saint-Honoré.^[161]
  • 4 May – Criminal Brigade of theSûreté formed to deal with major crimes and criminals.
  • 1 June – First world tennis championship held at thestade de la Faisanderie in Saint-Cloud.
  • 29 May – Premiere of Nijinsky's balletAfternoon of a Faun.
  • TheCubist contribution to the 1912Salon d'automne created a controversy in the Municipal Council of Paris, leading to a debate in theChambre des Députés about the use of public funds to provide the venue for such art. The Cubists were defended by the Socialist deputy,Marcel Sembat.^[163][164]
• 1913
  • 31 March – Opening of theThéâtre des Champs-Élysées.
  • 29 May – Premiere of Stravinsky'sThe Rite of Spring.^[60]
  • 1 October – First collection of trash my motorized trucks instead of handcarts.
  • 24 December – First presidential Christmas tree, placed atTrocadéro, is lit by PresidentRaymond Poincaré.

• 1914
  • 31 July –Jean Jaurès, leader of the French socialists, assassinated by mentally disturbed man in theCafé du Croissant onrue du Croissant in Montmartre.
  • 1 August – Mobilization of army reservists.
  • 3 August – France declares war on Germany. The beginning of the First World War.

    

  • 29 August – As German army approaches, French government and National Assembly depart Paris forBordeaux.^[165]
  • September 6–9 – Army requisitions 600–1000 Paris taxis to transport six thousand soldiers fifty kilometers to the front lines in theFirst Battle of the Marne.^[166]
  • December 9 – Government and National Assembly return to Paris.

    

  • El Ajedrecista automaton introduced at University of Paris.
• 1915
  • 10 September – the Satirical magazineCanard enchaîné begins publication.
  • 30 October – official prices of food are posted on doorways of public schools, to deter speculation.
• 1916
  • 20 January – Frozen meat goes on sale in two Paris butcher shops.
  • 29 January – First bombing of Paris by a GermanZeppelin. Twenty-six persons are killed and thirty two wounded at Belleville.
  • 27 August – 1,700 Chinese workers arrive at theGare de Lyon to work in Paris armaments factories, replacing men mobilized into the army. One of the Chinese workers wasZhou Enlai, future Communist leader in China, who worked in theRenault factory atBoulogne-sur-Seine, town renamedBoulogne-Billancourt in 1924.^[167]
  • 15 December – The first woman conductor is hired for the Paris tramways.
  • The Renault factory atBoulogne-sur-Seine begins manufacturing the first Frenchtanks.
• 1917
  • 9 February – Shortage of coal and grain. Bakers are permitted to sell only one kind of bread, sold the day after it is baked.
  • 15 May – Wave of strikes in Paris workshops and factories, demanding a five-day week and an extra franc a day to compensate for higher prices. Most demands are granted.^[168]
  • 1 September – Rationing of coal begins.
  • 25 November – Seats are reserved on Paris public transportation for the blind and those wounded in the war.
  • 15 October – Execution by firing squad of theDutchMata Hari, a spy for the Germans, in the moat of theChâteau de Vincennes.

    

• 1918
  • 29 January – Rationing of bread is imposed; a card allows three hundred grams per day per person.
  • 30 January – Night bombing raid by twenty-eight German aircraft kills sixty-five persons and injures two hundred. Further raids took place on 8 and 11 March.
  • 11 March – German bombing raid causes a panic in the Bolivar metro station, killing seventy one persons.
  • 21 March – German long-rangeartillery fires eighteen shells into Paris, killing fifteen and wounding sixty-nine. The shelling continued until 16 September.
  • 29 March – a German shell hits theSaint-Gervais church during mass, killing eighty-two persons and injuring sixty-nine.
  • October – Epidemic ofSpanish influenza, which began at the start of the year, kills 1,778 persons in one week.
  • 11 November – Signing of armistice ends the war.Victory celebrations on theChamps-Élysées.
  • 16 December – U.S. PresidentWilson addresses crowd at theHôtel-de-Ville.

• 1919

  

  • 8 February – Beginning of the world's first commercial air service between Paris and London.^[169]
  • March –Lignes Farman airline begins operating itsBrussels-Paris route.^[170]
  • 19 April – Law passed approving the demolition of the ring of fortifications built around Paris in 1840–1841.
  • 1 June – End of bread rationing.
  • 21 July – General strike by Paris workers.
  • August –Aircraft Transport and Travel airline begins operating its dailyLondon-Paris route.^[170]
  • 16 October – Consecration of theBasilica of Sacré-Cœur.
  • Musée Rodin opens.
  • The firstShakespeare and Company, owned bySylvia Beach, an American expatriate, opened at 8rue Dupuytren. It moved to a larger location at 12rue de l'Odéon in the 6th arrondissement in 1922 but closed in 1940 and never re-opened.
• 1920
  • 19 August – National Assembly votes a credit of 500,000 francs to build a mosque near theJardin des Plantes.
  • The Paris edition of the American fashion magazineVogue begins publication.
  • Théâtre National Populaire opens at thePalais de Chaillot.^[171]
  • American Library in Paris founded.
• 1921
  • Population: 2,906,472 (historic high)^[172]
  • 28 January – Remains of an unknown French soldier killed in the war placed in a tomb beneath theArc de Triomphe.
  • 26 November – first concert broadcast by radio from the transmitter on the Eiffel Tower.
  • November –Ernest Hemingway arrives in Paris as a correspondent for theToronto Star with his wife Hadley and settles at 74rue du Cardinal-Lemoine on the Left Bank. He remains in Paris at different addresses and with a different wife until 1928.
• 1922
  • 19 March – First stone placed for theGrand Mosque of Paris.
  • April – installation of the first three-colored stoplights in Paris at the corner ofrue de Rivoli andboulevard de Sébastopol.
  • International Union of Railways headquartered in Paris.^[173]
• 1923
  • 27 February –Paris-Soir evening newspaper begins publication.^[146]
  • 24 May – The old morgue of Paris is replaced by the opening of theInstitut médico-légal at 2place Mazas.
  • 29 May – Municipal council approves the construction of low-cost housing projects. 300 million francs are voted for this purpose on 27 August 1924.
• 1924

  

  • 22 January – A bronze star is placed on the parvis of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. Henceforth, distances on French highways are measured from this point.
  • 5 July – opening of1924 Summer Olympics at thestadium of Colombes. Among the medal winners were the AmericansJohnny Weissmuller (three gold medals in swimming) andDuke Kahanamoku (silver in swimming). These Olympics are depicted in the filmChariots of Fire.
• 1925
  • 23 April – Street battles between the Communists and a nationalist group, theJeunesses Patriotes, onrue Damrémont. Four persons are killed, forty injured.^[174]
  • 9 July – Opening of theCité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, a private park and residences for foreign students.
  • 2 October –Josephine Baker stars inLa Revue nègre at theThéâtre des Champs-Élysées.^[175][176]
  • 3 October – First radio news broadcast from the transmitter on the Eiffel Tower.

    

• 1926
  • 15 July –Grand Mosque of Paris opens.^[177]
  • 18 October –Louis Lumière demonstrates a talking motion picture at theFrench Academy of Sciences.
• 1927
  • 15 January –Boulevard Haussmann, betweenrue Drouot andrue Taibout, the last unfinished project ofHaussmann's renovation of Paris, is inaugurated.
  • 21 May –Charles Lindbergh lands atLe Bourget airport, completing the first solo transatlantic flight.
  • TheParamount Opéra cinema opens.^[178]
  • 27 December –La Coupole opens, competing withLe Dôme Café, the other prominent literary café in the Montparnasse neighborhood.^[129]
• 1928
  • 29 July – Opening of theStade Roland-Garros, built for the matches of theDavis Cup.
  • George Gershwin composesAn American in Paris while staying at theHôtel Majestic.
• 1929
  • 20 June – Fifteen-hundred seatThéâtre Pigalle opens, designed to be the most modern theater in the world. It presented plays staged bySacha Guitry,Max Reinhardt and other leading directors, before closing in 1948 and being replaced by a parking garage in 1958.
  • 5 October – Communists attack a rally of young socialists at theGymnase Japy; more than two hundred persons injured.^[179]

• 1930
  • 5 April – Opening of the first municipalkindergarten in Paris atPlace du Cardinal-Amette.
• 1931
  • Population:2,891,020^[172]
  • 14 April – First broadcast of a television signal byRené Barthélemy at theÉcole Supérieure d'électricité (Supélec) deMalakoff.
  • 6 May –Paris Colonial Exposition, celebrating the products and cultures of France's overseas colonies, opens in theBois de Vincennes. Before it closes on 15 November, it attracts thirty-three million visitors.^[179]
  • 10 June – First publication of detective novels featuringCommissaire Maigret byGeorges Simenon.
  • Corbusier designs thePavillon Suisse, one of his rare buildings in Paris, for theCité Universitaire.
• 1932
  • 6 May – Assassination ofPaul Doumer, President of the French Republic, on rue Berryer, by awhite Russianémigré,Paul Gorguloff. President Doumer died the following day, on 7 May.
  • TheGrand Rex cinema opens.^[178]
• 1933
  • 30 August –Air France founded.
  • 7 November – First drawing of the National Lottery.
• 1934
  • 3 January – First metro line to the suburbs, toPont de Sèvres, opens.
  • 12 January – National Assembly debates theStavisky Affair, a case of high-level political corruption. Violent anti-government street demonstrations break out.
  • 6 February – Riots outside theNational Assembly protesting corruption of parliament members. Eleven persons are killed and more than three hundred injured.^[180] (See also6 February 1934 riots)
  • 2 June – Opening of theParis Zoo in theBois de Vincennes.
• 1935

  

  • 26 April – First official television broadcast from the Ministry of the post, telegraph and telephone (PTT) onrue de Grenelle.
  • 5 July – First stone placed for theMusée national d'art moderne (Museum of Modern Art), in the western wing of thePalais de Tokyo, on theavenue de Tokio (renamedavenue de New York in 1945). (TheMusée national d'art moderne is now in theCentre Georges Pompidou.)
  • 14 July – The Communists and socialists hold a joint demonstration on Bastille Day, the first demonstration of the newFront populaire, orPopular Front of the left.
• 1936 – Population: 2,829,753^[172]

  

  • 3 May – TheFront populaire wins the parliamentary elections.
  • 26 May – Strikes in many Paris industries and businesses settled by a salary agreement made with the new government on 7 June.
• 1937
  • 1 May – May Day is celebrated as an official holiday for the first time.
  • 24 May – Opening of theParis International Exposition of 1937 at the Trocadéro. The pavilions ofNazi Germany andSoviet Russia face each other across the main promenade.
  • 27 August – Opening of theMusée des Monuments français (Museum of French Monuments) in thePalais Chaillot, at Trocadéro.
• 1938
  • 30 September – Prime MinisterÉdouard Daladier receives a triumphant welcome on his return from theMunich Conference, which gaveCzechoslovakia to Nazi Germany.
• 1939
  • 10 March – First gas masks distributed to Paris population.
  • 19 March – Bomb shelters designated throughout Paris.
  • 25 August – The Communist newspaperL'Humanité is closed by the French government for praising theHitler-Stalin pact as a "new and appreciable contribution to peace, constantly threatened by the warmongering fascists."^[181]
  • 31 August – Children are evacuated from Paris.
  • September 1 – Government orders mobilization and a state of siege.
  • 3 September –Declaration of war on Germany.

• 1940
  • 29 February – Food rationing begins in city.
  • 3 June – Germans bomb city for first time. 254 persons are killed, 652 injured.
  • 10 June – French government leaves Paris forTours, thenBordeaux. Paris is declared an open city.^[182]
  • 14 June –German troops enter Paris.
  • 23 June –Hitler comes to Paris for one day. He makes a brief visit to the terrace of thePalais de Chaillot to see theEiffel Tower.
  • 18 October – German occupation authorities announced that Jews will have a special status.
  • 11 November – First anti-occupation demonstration by students at theArc de Triomphe.^[181]
  • 26 December – Germans suspend the powers of the Municipal Council.
• 1941
  • 14 May – Five thousand non-French Jews, mostly refugees, arrested.
  • 22 June – Germany invades the Soviet Union. The French Communist Party actively joins theResistance.
  • 1 July – Rationing of textiles begins.
  • 20 July – Opening of the transitDrancy internment camp to hold Jews before deportation.
  • 21 August – A German officer is killed at theBarbès-Rochechouart metro station by a member of the Communist Party, Pierre Georges, later known asColonel Fabien. The Germans respond by taking civilian hostages and threatening to execute them if more assassinations take place.
  • 29 August – First execution atFort Mont-Valérien of the members of the resistance, including the French naval officerHonoré d'Estienne d'Orves.
  • 2 September – Paris magistrates are required to take an oath of loyalty toMarshal Pétain. Only one,Paul Didier, refuses.^[181]
  • 16 September – Execution by the Germans of the first ten hostages.

    

• 1942
  • 10 May – Anti-German demonstration at theLycée Buffon. Five students are arrested later on and executed several months later.
  • 7 April – All Parisians over sixteen years are required to carry an identity card.
  • 29 April – All Jews in the occupied zone are required to wear a yellow star of David.
  • 16–17 July – 13,000 Parisian Jews arrested and confined at theVélodrome d'hiver, before being sent toAuschwitz.^[183]
• 1943
  • 8 February – Execution by firing squad of thefive Lycée Buffon students.
  • 15 February – Germans require Frenchmen between ages of twenty and twenty-three to work for two years in war industries in France and Germany.^[184]
  • 27 May – First meeting of theNational Council of the Resistance atrue du Four, led byJean Moulin. It includes both the Communists and the followers ofCharles de Gaulle in London.
  • 3 September – First Allied bombing of factories and railroad yards in Paris; four hundred five persons killed.

    

    

• 1944
  • 20–21 April – Allied bombing of gare de la Chapelle-Saint-Denis in 18th arrondissement kills 650 persons.Marshal Pétain attends the funeral on 23 April, his first visit to Paris since 1940.
  • 6 June – Allied forces land at Normandy. French Resistance groups in Paris, largely led by the Communist Party, begin organizing an uprising.
  • 19 August – As Allied forces approach Paris, the French resistance seizes the telephone exchange, ministries and public buildings, including thePrefecture of Police, which is defended against the Germans by two thousand policemen. About 1,500 resistance fighters are killed in the uprising, including about six hundred civilians.^[184]
  • 24 August – At General de Gaulle's insistence, The2nd French Armored Division of GeneralPhilippe Leclerc and the U.S.4th Infantry Division head for the city. They encounter heavy resistance from the Germans in the suburbs, but less in the center.
  • 25 August – The German commander, GeneralCholtitz, refuses to carry out Hitler's order to destroy the city's monuments. At four in the afternoon, atgare Montparnasse, he surrenders the city to General Leclerc.
  • 25 August – GeneralCharles de Gaulle arrives atgare Montparnasse, and is shown Choltitz' surrender. In the evening, he gives a speech to the crowd from the balcony of theHôtel de Ville.
  • 26 August – General de Gaulle arrives at three in the afternoon at theArc de Triomphe and walks down theChamps-Élysées to thePlace de la Concorde, acclaimed by a huge and delirious crowd.
  • 29 August – Parade of theUS 28th Infantry Division down theChamps Élysées toPlace de la Concorde.
  • 1 September – Provisional French government led by de Gaulle established in Paris.
  • 18 December –Le Monde newspaper begins publication.^[185]
  • Épuration, or purge, of Parisians who collaborated with the Germans. 9,969 persons were arrested, of whom 211 were executed, and 1616 acquitted. The others received prison sentences. Many suspected collaborators left Paris and went abroad.^[186]
• 1945
  • 29 April – First municipal elections after the war, and the first French elections in which women could vote. Six parties take part: the Communists take thirty percent of the vote and 27 council seats out of ninety, making them the largest group in the council.
  • 9 May – FilmLes Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) byMarcel Carné, made during the German occupation, opens in Paris.
  • 21 October – Communists and socialists win majority of seats in the first parliamentary elections after the war.

• 1946
  • Population: 2,725,374^[172]
  • 1 January – Rationing of bread re-established, and continues until 1 February 1949.
  • 3 February – First issue of the sports newspaperL'Équipe published.
  • 5 April – Socialist government nationalizes the private gas and electricity companies.
  • 23 April – Houses of prostitution ordered closed.
• 1947
  • 12 February – First major fashion show after the war organized byChristian Dior at 30Avenue Montaigne. High fashion became an important French export industry and foreign – currency earner.
  • 25 April – Communist trade union begins strike atRenault factory.
  • 5 May – Split between communists and socialists. New socialist Prime MinisterPaul Ramadier dismisses communist ministers from French government.
  • June – Communist unions organize strikes and work stoppages of railroad and bank employees.^[184]
  • The Bread ration reduced to 200 grams per person, less than during the German Occupation.
  • Founding of theMagnum Photos agency.
  • 20 October – TheRassemblement du peuple français, a new center-right party led byCharles de Gaulle, wins Paris municipal elections, with 52 seats on the council out of ninety. The Communists win twenty-five seats, the socialists win five.^[184]
  • November – Communist trade unions organize strikes of metal workers, public employees, teachers, and railroad workers in an effort to bring down the government, and call a general strike for December 1. Railroad lines are sabotaged. The navy, army and firemen are called in to keep electricity networks and the metro running.^[184]
  • 9 – The Communists call off the general strike.
• 1948
  • 21 March – TheRégie autonome des transports parisiens (RATP) organized, a single authority to manage Paris public transport.
  • 26 June – Inauguration ofParis-Orly airport, at the time the largest airport in Europe.
  • 10 December – TheUnited Nations General Assembly adopts theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights at thePalais de Chaillot.
  • 15 December – Startup ofZoé, the first French nuclear reactor, designed byFrédéric Joliot-Curie, located at theFort de Châtillon.^[184]
  • TheWorld Association of Newspapers opens headquarters in city.
• 1949
  • 25 March –Paris Match magazine begins publication.
  • 29 June – First Paris television newscast. Only a few hundred Parisians have television sets to watch it.
• 1950
  • 11 February – Minimum wage (Salaire minimum interprofessionnel garanti, or SMIG), established by government.
  • 13 April – First issue of the magazineL'Observateur, laterLe Nouvel Observateur.
  • Founding of theCentre d'études et de recherches internationales [fr].^[187]
• 1951
  • 1 May – First demonstrations in Paris of Algerians demanding independence from France.
• 1952
  • 18 May – Large demonstration on the Champs-Élysées of Algerians supporting independence for Algeria.
  • 28 May – Violent confrontations between Communist demonstrators and police over visit of U.S. GeneralMatthew Ridgway. Several hundred persons injured.
• 1953
  • 26 April to May 3 – The Paris municipal elections won by center right – coalition formed with left republicans (RGR), Gaullists (RPF) and independents.^[184]
  • 14 July – Violent confrontations between Communists and Algerian independence supporters and the police. Seven persons are killed, and one hundred twenty-six injured.
• 1954
  • Population: 2,850,189^[172]
  • 1 February –Abbé Pierre issues an appeal for the city to aid the homeless.
  • 1 August – Ordnance forbids Parisians to honk their car horns "except in case of danger."
  • 1 November – War of independence begins in Algeria, with serious repercussions in Paris. Numerous killings in Paris of members of two rival Algerian factions, theFront de Libération Nationale (FLN), orNational Liberation Front, and theMouvement national algérien (MNA), and large demonstrations are organized by the Communists and Algerian nationalists.^[188]
• 1955
  • 15 September –Renault workers win three weeks of paid vacation.
• 1956
  • Short film –The Red Balloon released, set in Paris. It won theAcademy Award in 1956 for best original screenplay.
  • 7 November – Following the suppression of the Hungarian uprising by Soviet troops, large demonstrations take place outside Communist Party headquarters in Paris. When the name of the place outside their building is changed to the name ofLajos Kossuth, a Hungarian anti-Russian patriot, the Communists move to a new location on place du Colonel-Fabien.^[189]
  • 8 November – New metro cars running on rubber wheels instead of steel wheels begin service betweenChâtelet andMairie des Lilas.
• 1958
  • 19 May – Following a revolt by the French military in Algiers on 13 May,Charles de Gaulle holds a press conference at thePalais d'Orsay offering to form a new government, "If the people wish."
  • 1 June – De Gaulle is invested as head of government by the National Assembly.
  • 28 September – Proposed Constitution of theFifth French Republic approved by the National Assembly.
• 1959
  • 27 April – Demolition begins of theVélodrome d'Hiver.
  • 30 December – Rock singerJohnny Hallyday performs on radio programParis-Cocktail and becomes an instant star.
• 1960
  • 20 March – Paris police creates an auxiliary force of Muslim policemen to combat increasing terrorist attacks coming from theAlgerian War.
  • 12 April – Inauguration of theautoroute du Sud a highway from Paris to the south of France viaLyon.
• 1961
  • 6 January – First bomb attacks in Paris by theOrganisation armée secrète (OAS), an armed terrorist group fighting to keep Algeria as part of France.
  • 24 April – Opening of expandedParis-Orly airport.
  • 29 August – The Paris wing of the FLN, the major underground group fighting for Algerian independence, begins a campaign of killing French policemen, particularly Muslim auxiliaries. Thirteen policemen are killed between 29 August and 3 October.^[190]
  • 5 October – Paris municipality imposes a curfew on Algerians (French Muslim of Algeria), advising them to be off the streets between 8:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.
  • 17 October – Between thirty and forty thousand Algerians stage an illegal but peaceful march against the curfew, marching in four columns to the center of the city. The police violently breaks up the demonstration, arresting six to seven thousand persons. Trapped by the police, some demonstrators jump or are thrown off thepont Saint-Michel. The number of persons killed has never been reliably established; estimates vary widely from thirty to fifty dead^[190] to over two hundred.^[191] (SeeParis massacre of 1961 for one point of view of the events).
• 1962
  • Population: 2,790,091.^[172]*
  • 17 January – Seventeen bombs explode planted by the OAS, demanding continued French rule over Algeria.
  • 8 February – Illegal anti-OAS demonstration by FLN and Communists is suppressed by the police. Eight persons are killed, most of them crushed by the crowd trying to take sanctuary in theCharonne metro station. (For one point of view of the event, seeThe Charonne Metro Station Massacre.)
  • 4 August – Malraux Law, named for French Culture MinisterAndré Malraux, requires that façades of Paris buildings be cleaned of decades of soot and dirt. Cleaning begins.
• 1963
  • Landmarks such as the Cathedral ofNotre-Dame-de-Paris change in color from dark grey to white after cleaning.^[192]
  • 5 November – Construction begins of theuniversity campus of Nanterre.
  • 14 December – Inauguration ofMaison de la Radio.
• 1964
  • 13 January – Decision made to build a new airport atRoissy-en-France to replaceLe Bourget.
  • 14 March – France is divided into twenty-one regions, including Paris.
  • June – FirstFestival du Marais [fr] takes places.^[171]
  • 10 July – New law divides the Paris region into eight departments.
• 1965
  • 29 October –Mehdi Ben Barka, leader of the opposition in Morocco, is kidnapped in front of theBrasserie Lipp. His body is never found.
  • 27 December – SingerMireille Mathieu performs for the first time at theOlympia Theater.
• 1966
  • 4 May – Founding of theBanque Nationale de Paris (BNP).
• 1967
  • 21 April – The lastduel is fought in theBois de Boulogne between two members of the French National Assembly,Gaston Defferre and René Ribière (who lost the duel).^[193]
  • 29 November – Autoroute opens from Paris toLille.
  • 22 December – Highway opens along the Left Bank of the Seine (now thePromenade des Berges de la Seine.)

• 1968
  • Population: 2,590,771^[194]
  • 22 March – Coalition ofTrotskyists,Maoists and anarchists organizes anti-government demonstrations at University of Nanterre.^[195]
  • 3 May – Student demonstrations spread to theSorbonne campus, and police are called in.
  • 6 May – The violent confrontations between demonstrators and police in the Latin Quarter leave eight hundred persons injured.
  • 10 May – Barricades go up onrue Gay-Lussac, and a night of rioting.
  • 13 May – TheCFDT trade union and other unions support the students, and join in a large joint demonstration.
  • 20 May – A general strike paralyzes the city. The Communists denounceDaniel Cohn-Bendit and other student leaders, because many have a Maoist ideology.^[195][196]
  • 25 May – Prime MinisterGeorges Pompidou negotiates a labor agreement with theCGT and other unions, concluded on May 27.
  • 27 May – Large meeting of students, socialist party and CFDT at the Charléty stadium calls for bringing down the government of PresidentCharles de Gaulle. Socialist leaderFrançois Mitterrand is proposed as a candidate for president, withPierre Mendès France as prime minister.^[195]
  • 30 May – President de Gaulle launches a counter-offensive; he dissolves the National Assembly and calls for new elections 23 June and June 30. A demonstration on the Champs-Élysées.of an estimated one million persons supports de Gaulle.
  • June – The student leaders deny the authority of the President and call for more demonstrations. The Communist-backed unions of the CGT announce that they have no objections to new elections. The government raises the minimum wage by 35 percent, and most union members gradually go back to work. The last barricades are removed 20 June. The official statistics for the May events show 1,910 policemen injured, and 1,459 demonstrators injured. Damage to the streets (the removal of cobblestones to make barricades) is calculated at 2.5 million francs.^[195]
  • June – Gaullist candidates win an absolute majority in the National Assembly. In Paris, the vote for the Communist candidates falls to eighteen percent from thirty percent in the previous elections.^[195]
• 1969
  • 28 February – The central market atLes Halles is moved outside the city toRungis.
  • 14 December – The first line of theRéseau Express Régional or RER, from the city center to the suburbs, opens betweenNation andBoissy-Saint-Léger.
• 1970
  • 20 February – RER suburban line to the west opens betweenPlace de l'Étoile andLa Défense.
  • 26 August – The firstfeminist demonstration, by theMouvement de libération de la femme (MLF) takes place at the Arc de Triomphe.
  • Paris Saint-Germain Football Club formed.
  • Responding to the events of 1968, theUniversity of Paris is broken up into thirteen autonomous universities
• 1971
  • 7 March – Opening of theParis-Orly west airport.
  • In the Paris municipal council elections Gaullist and center-right candidates win forty-six out of ninety seats; the Communists win twenty seats and the socialists seven.
  • 3 July — Death ofJim Morrison, American lead vocalist of therock bandthe Doors.
  • Festival d'automne à Paris [fr] begins.^[171]
  • The demolition begins of the historic pavilions ofLes Halles, the central wholesale food market, whose function had been moved to the suburb ofRungis in 1969.
• 1972
  • 2 February – The opening of theMusée national des arts et traditions populaires (Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions) in theBois de Boulogne.
  • 22 April – Demonstration by theecology movement in Paris; a parade of five thousand cyclists betweenPorte Dauphine andPorte de Vincennes.
  • 14 June – Opening of theMuseum of Cinema at the Palace of Chaillot.Henri Langlois receives anOscar d'honneur
  • Parc des Princes (stadium) rebuilt.
• 1973

  

  • 25 The – Completion of the last segment of theBoulevard périphérique around Paris.
  • 13 September – Opening ofTour Maine-Montparnasse, the first (and last) skyscraper in central Paris—said to have the most beautiful view of the city because it's the one place from which one cannot see the Tour Montparnasse.^[197]
  • The firstParis Fashion Week held.
• 1974
  • 28 February – The opening of thePalais des congrès de Paris convention hall atPorte Maillot.
  • 8 March – TheCharles de Gaulle Airport opens.
  • 27 May –Valéry Giscard d'Estaing is elected President of the French Republic. He abruptly cancels several of the major Paris projects begun by PresidentGeorges Pompidou, including the highway along the left bank of the Seine, a skyscraper atPlace d'Italie, and an international commerce center atLes Halles.^[198]
• 1975
  • Population: 2,299,830^[194]
  • 31 December – The National Assembly gives Paris the same status as other French cities, with an elected mayor.
  • Bazooka (art group) [fr] active.^[85]
• 1976
  • 13 September – TheÉcole polytechnique (Polytechnique) moves from the center of Paris toPalaiseau.
• 1977

  

  • 31 January –Centre Georges Pompidou inaugurated.^[152]
  • 25 MarchJacques Chirac becomes the first elected mayor of Paris since 1793. He centralizes municipal power in the mayor's office, creating the positions of twenty-five deputy mayors and restricting the meetings of the municipal council to one meeting a month, no longer than one day long.^[199]
  • 8 December – New stationGare de Châtelet – Les Halles opens, connecting metro with the regional RER lines.
• 1978
  • 7 March – Radical leftist group called "Les autonomies" pillages twenty-four shops onrue La Fayette.
  • 1 May – "Les autonomes" attack eighty-three Paris stores after the traditional May Day demonstration.
• 1979
  • 13 January – Stores around theGare Saint-Lazare are vandalized by "Les autonomes".
  • 23 March – Following a peaceful demonstration by communist mine workers, "Les autonomes" vandalize 121 stores and shops in Paris. More than two hundred persons are injured.
  • 1 May – The "Nuit bleu" (Blue night). A dozen bombs are set off byCorsican nationalists, who set off more bombs on 2 May and 31 May.
  • 4 September – Inauguration of theForum des Halles, on the site of the former central market.
• 1980
  • 28 January – Firstanisettes, automated individual pay toilets for Paris streets, authorized.
  • 12 June – First terrorist attack at Paris-Orly airport by the anarchist-communist revolutionary organizationAction directe. Seven people wounded.
  • 3 October – Terrorist attack on thesynagogue on rue Copernic. Four persons are killed and twenty injured.

• 1981
  • 10 May –François Mitterrand elected President of the French Republic. He is the first socialist president of theFifth Republic and the first leftist president in 23 years.
  • 22 May – FirstSalon du Livre book fair opens at theGrand Palais.
  • 2 September – The inauguration of theTGV high-speed train line between Paris andLyon.
• 1982
  • Population: 2,176,243.^[194]
  • 7 February – Corsican terrorist group FLNC sets off seventeen bombs in the Paris region.
  • 22 February – Car bomb onrue Marbeuf kills one and injures sixty-three. The Syrian secret services are suspected of organizing the attack.^[200]
  • 21 June – FirstFête de la Musique festival in the Paris streets and parks.
  • 30 June – New socialist majority in the National Assembly tries to make the office of Paris mayor ceremonial, and hand over real power to the mayors of the twenty arrondissements. Their effort, opposed by Mayor Jacques Chirac, fails.^[200]
  • 9 August – A Palestinian terrorist group places a bomb at the Jo Goldenberg restaurant onrue des Rosiers inLe Marais, killing six persons and wounding twenty-two.
  • 17 September – A bomb placed in the car of an Israeli diplomat in front of theLycée Carnot injures forty-seven persons.
• 1983
  • 13 March – In the Paris municipal elections, Jacques Chirac and center-right candidates win 68 percent of the vote and eighteen out of twenty arrondissements. Only the 13th and 20th arrondissements give a majority to the left.
  • 15 July – The Armenian militant groupASALA explodes a bomb at the check-in counter of Turkish Airlines atParis-Orly airport. Eight persons, including a child, are killed, and fifty-four injured.^[200]
• 1984
  • 12 January – Inauguration of theZenith concert hall in theParc de la Villette.
  • 3 February – Inauguration of thePalais Omnisports sports complex in Bercy.
  • 24 June – A million people demonstrate in defense of Catholic and private schools in the capital.
• 1985
  • 26 January – FirstRestaurant du Cœur opens, a charity established by French comedianColuche, providing meals to the indigent.
  • 23 February – Bomb explodes atMarks and Spencer department store onBoulevard Haussmann; one person is killed and fifty injured.
  • 6 May – Opening ofLa Géode at theCité des sciences et de l'industrie atParc de la Villette.
  • 26 August – the artistChristo wraps thePont Neuf in yellow-gray plastic.
  • 23 September –Musée Picasso inaugurated.
  • 7 December – Radical Islamic group explodes bombs atGaleries Lafayette andPrintemps department stores; forty one persons injured.
• 1986
  • 3–5 February – Radical Islamic group explodes several bombs around city; about twenty persons injured.
  • 13 March – opening of theCité des sciences et de l'industrie (City of Science and Industry), a science museum at La Villette.
  • 20 March – Bomb explodes in theGalerie Point-Show on the Champs-Élysées. Two persons are killed.
  • 4 May – FirstParis Marathon takes place, with eleven thousand participants.
  • 9 July –Action-Directe terrorist group explodes a bomb at the headquarters of the police brigade charged with fighting terrorism. One person is killed and twenty-two injured.
  • 17 September – Bomb attack on Tati store onrue de Rennes kills seven and injures fifty-six. Between September 4 and September 17, attacks by radical Islamic groups kill eleven persons and injure city-six.
  • 1 December – Opening of theMusée d'Orsay, featuring 19th century French art.
  • 4–5 December – Students demonstrate against theDevaquet project for university reform. The Minister resigns and the reform plan is withdrawn.
• 1987
  • 29 June – Police lay siege to the Iranian Embassy in France, until an Iranian diplomat implicated in the bombings of 1986 appears before a judge and then is expelled from France back to Iran.
  • 30 November – Inauguration of theArab World Institute (Institut du monde arabe) building.^[152]
• 1988
  • 4 March – President Mitterrand inaugurates theLouvre Pyramid, part of theGrand Louvre, the first of his grand projects for Paris.
  • 14 July – President Mitterrand announces project to construct a new national library.
  • Mayor Jacques Chirac defeats President Mitterrand in Paris in the first round of the Presidential elections, but in the second round Mitterrand wins Paris by 58 to 42 percent. Mitterrand receives an absolute majority in nine Paris arrondissements.^[201]
• 1989

• • 19 March – Paris municipal elections won by center-rightRassemblement pour la République (RPR) andUnion pour un mouvement populaire (UMP) parties. Of the 163 municipal council seats, 140 are won by the center-right, 18 by the socialists; three communists are elected, and one ecologist.^[201]
  • 14 October – Inauguration of theGrand Louvre.
  • 13 July – Opening of theOpéra Bastille, on the eve of the bicentennial of theFrench Revolution.^[197]
  • 18 July – Inauguration of theGrande Arche de la Défense.
  • 20 September – Inauguration of theTGV Atlantique line from Paris toLe Mans.
  • 3 October – Opening of theCité de la Musique at La Villette.
• 1990
  • Population: 2,152,423.^[194]
• 1991
  • 1 August – First class cars on the metro are taken out of service.
  • 7 November – Prime MinisterÉdith Cresson decrees that about twenty government institutions, including theÉcole Nationale d'Administration, (ENA) will be moved outside of Paris. ENA goes toStrasbourg. The move is highly unpopular with government officials.
• 1992
  • 12 April –EuroDisney opens inMarne-la-Vallée, 25 km east of Paris.^{[152][relevant?]}
• 1993
  • 28 March – Center-right parties dominate legislative elections in Paris. Socialists win only one out of twenty-one seats.
  • 18 May – Opening of the TGV train line between Paris andLille.
  • 8 July – The floating swimming pool Deligny, first placed in the Seine in 1796, sinks.
  • 20 November – Inauguration of the Richelieu wing of theLouvre, the second phase of theGrand Louvre project.
  • 26 December – City of Paris begins a medical doctor service called SAMU (Service d'aide médicale d'urgence) providing emergency medical treatment at home.
• 1994
  • 31 March – Violent demonstrations over changes in French labor laws; cars burned and stores pillaged.
  • 14 July – First Bastille Day parade on Champs-Élysées with participation of 200 German soldiers of theEurocorps.
  • November –Eurostar railway service between Paris and London begins.
• 1995
  • 30 March – Opening of newBibliothèque Nationale de France, the last of Mitterrand's grand projects, at Bercy.
  • 7 May – Paris Mayor Jacques Chirac wins the second round of the French presidential elections overLionel Jospin. He wins 60 percent of the vote in Paris.
  • 22 May – Deputy MayorJean Tiberi replaces Chirac as the new mayor of Paris. He is formally elected by the municipal council on 25 June.
  • 14 June – First scandals emerge about Paris city government, involving attribution of city-owned luxury apartments at low rents to government officials.
  • 25 July – Bomb explodes on anRER train at the Saint-Michel station. Seven are killed, eighty-four injured. The attack is blamed on Algerian Islamists.
  • 17 August – A bomb explodes in a garbage can onavenue de Friedland at corner withPlace Charles de Gaulle-Étoile, injuring seventeen people.
  • 6 October – Bomb explodes nearmetro station Maison-Blanche; thirteen persons are injured.
  • 17 October – Bomb explodes on RER train between Musée-d'Orsay and Saint-Michel stations; twenty-nine persons are injured. The attacks are blamed on theArmed Islamic Group of Algeria.^[202]
  • TheHôtel Costes opens.
• 1997
  • 31 August –Death of Diana, Princess of Wales in an automobile accident in thePont de l'Alma road tunnel.
• 1998
  • Paris hosts the finals of the1998 World Cup, won by France.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(November 2024)

• 2000
  • 1 January – Eiffel Tower lit with sparkling lights for first time, to mark the new century.
• 2001
  • 18 March – Election ofBertrand Delanoë, the first socialist and first openly gay mayor of Paris. The socialists and greens take 49.63 percent of the vote, compared with 50.37 percent for the center-right candidates, but the left wins a majority of the seats in the municipal council, which selects the mayor.
• 2002
  • 5 October – FirstNuit Blanche festival, with museums and cultural institutions remaining open all night long.
  • 5 October – Mayor Delanoë is stabbed but not seriously injured by a deranged unemployed man, outside theHôtel de Ville.
  • Palais de Tokyo art exhibit space opens.
• 2003
  • Inauguration ofFestival Paris Cinéma.
• 2004 –International Salon for Peace Initiatives begins.
• 2005
  • 27 October to 14 November –Riots of young residents of the low-income housing projects of the Paris suburbs and then across France, burning schools, day-care centers and other government buildings and almost nine thousand cars. The riots caused an estimated 200 million euros in property damage, and led to almost three thousand arrests.^[203] On 14 November 2005, as the riots ended. PresidentJacques Chirac blamed the rioters for a lack of respect for the law and for French values, but also condemned inequalities in French society and "the poison of racism."^[204]

• 2006
  • April–June –Protest demonstrations against changes in labor laws take place on the campuses of several Paris universities.^[203]
  • 20 June – Opening ofMusée du quai Branly, museum of Oceania, Africa, Asia and the Americas.
  • Local Urbanism Plan [fr] enacted.
• 2007
  • 15 July – Mayor Delanoë inauguratesVélib', a system for inexpensively renting 15,000 to 20,000 bicycles placed at special stands around the city.
  • Paris City History Committee created.^[205]
• 2008
  • Facing growing costs for social programs, Mayor Delanoë announces a 9.7 percent increase to local taxes and a new 12 percent tax on property owners.
• 2009 – Population: 2,234,105^[206]
• 2013
  • 12 February – Seven activists from the radical feminist groupFemen bare their breasts inside the Cathedral ofNotre Dame de Paris to demonstrate against the doctrines of the Catholic Church.
  • 19 June – Inauguration of thePromenade des Berges de la Seine, a city park located on 2.3 kilometers of the former highway along the left bank of the Seine.
  • Paris Musées, a non-profit organization created in 1985 to manage the fourteen city-owned museums, is turned into public institution overseen by the city government.
• 2014
  • 17 March – One-day limitedtraffic ban in effect due to a peak in air pollution.^[207]
  • 30 March – Election ofAnne Hidalgo, the first woman mayor of Paris.
  • 17 June – Mayor Hidalgo announces that the city budget deficit will increase to 400 million Euros in 2014, due to a reduction in support from the national government and a growth of spending on social services.^[208]
  • 19 September – City officials announce plan to gradually remove more than seven hundred thousand locks attached by tourists to thePont des Arts as symbols of love. Officials said the weight of the locks damaged the bridge and altered its historic appearance.^[209]
  • 20 October –Louis Vuitton Foundation art museum opens.

• 2015
  • 7–9 January – 17 people, including three police officers, are killed infive terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists, one known as theCharlie Hebdo shooting, targeting the headquarters ofCharlie Hebdo, asatirical magazine, andthe other occurring at a Jewish grocery store.^[210]
  • 11 January – An estimated 1.3 million persons demonstrate in Paris against terrorism and for freedom of speech following the terrorist attack atCharlie Hebdo.
  • 14 January 2015 – President Hollande inaugurates the city's new symphony hall, thePhilharmonie de Paris, designed by architectJean Nouvel, atParc de la Villette. The opening concert is dedicated to the victims of theCharlie Hebdo shooting.^[211]
  • 25 June – Three thousand Paris taxicab drivers go on strike, blocking roads to the airports and train stations, burning two cars, and damaging seventy others. Seven policemen were injured. Taxi drivers were protesting against competition from othervehicle for hire companies such asUber.^[212]
  • 13 November –Simultaneous terrorist attacks took place in Paris, carried out by three coordinated teams of terrorists. TheIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the attacks. The gunmen opened fire at several sidewalk cafes, exploded two bombs near the Stade de France stadium, where a match between Germany and France was taking place, and killed more than eighty persons at the Bataclan theater, where a concert was about to take place. In all, the attackers killed 130 persons and injured 368, of whom 42 were still in a critical state on 16 November.^[213] Seven terrorists took part, and killed themselves by setting off explosive vests.^[214] French presidentFrançois Hollande declared that France was in a nationwidestate of emergency, reestablished controls at the French border, and brought fifteen hundred soldiers into Paris. Schools and universities and other public institutions in Paris were ordered closed. It was the most deadly recorded terrorist attack to take place in France.^[215]
• 2016 – May:Car-freeChamps-Élysées begins once per month.^[216]
• 2019 - 15 April: –Notre-Dame de Paris fire destroys the roof of the cathedral and causes extensive damage to the interior.
• 2020 - 16 March -COVID-19 pandemic in France causes Paris to go intoCOVID-19 lockdowns

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• History of Paris
• List of years in France