Paris

Paris is the capital city of France, as well as the capital of the Île-de-France région, whose territory encompasses Paris and its suburbs. The city of Paris proper is also a département, called Paris département (French: département de Paris). It is a wonderful city for aimless wandering of which features a wide variety of style and décor and boasts a wide assortment of entertainment to satisfy even the most benign of tastes.

A Short Chronology

• 52 BC - Lutetia, later to become Paris, is built by the Gallo-Romans
• 1113 - Pierre Abélard opens his school
• 1163 - Building of Notre Dame begins
• 1257 - The Sorbonne University is founded
• 1682 - Louis XIV moves the French court from the Tuileries palace to Versailles
• July, 1789 - Storming of the Bastille
• Royal family forced from Versailles back to Paris
• 1814 - Paris occupied by the armies of the Sixth Coalition after the fall of Napoleon
• 1815 - Paris is again occupied, this time by the Seventh Coalition, after the end of the Hundred Days
• 1840 - Napoleon's remains are buried at Les Invalides
• 1853 - Baron Haussmann rebuilds the center of Paris
• 1855 - Exposition Universelle (1855)
• 1856 - Congress of Paris is held
• 1867 - Exposition Universelle (1867)
• 1870 - Prussian Siege of Paris. Gen von Blumenthal refuses to bombard.
• January 28th, 1871 - Paris Commune falls
• 1878 - Exposition Universelle (1878)
• 1889 - Exposition Universelle (1889) - Eiffel Tower
• 1900 - Exposition Universelle (1900)
• Paris Métro is opened
• 1925 - Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (1925)
• 1931 - French Colonial Exposition (1931)
• June 13, 1940 - Nazis enter Paris
• August 24, 1944 - Allies liberate the city
• 1968 - Student riots in Paris, combined with a series of strikes by workers across the country, threaten to bring down the Gaullist government
• 1999 - Opening of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France

Paris hosted the Summer Olympics twice, in 1900 and 1924. The 1998 World Cup was hosted by France; several matches were held in Paris proper at Parc des Princes, and several others, including the final, were held at Stade de France in the suburb of Saint-Denis.

Related Topics:
Summer Olympics - 1998 World Cup - Parc des Princes - Stade de France - Saint-Denis

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