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1964
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1965
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7.16.1965
The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens. |
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11.26.1965
In the Hammaguir launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, ''Asterix-1'' on board, becoming the third country to enter outer space. |
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1968
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8.24.1968
France explodes its first hydrogen bomb, thus becoming the world's fifth nuclear power.
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1969
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8.4.1969
Vietnam War: at the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, American representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuan Thuy begin secret peace negotiations. The negotiations will eventually fail.
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1970
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3.4.1970
French submarine ''Eurydice'' explodes.
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11.1.1970
Club Cinq-Sept fire in Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, France kills 146 young people.
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1973
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1974
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12.22.1974
Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration. |
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1975
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7.6.1975
The Comoros declare independence from France. |
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9.15.1975
The French département of Corse (the entire island of Corsica) is divided into two: Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud. |
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1977
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6.27.1977
France grants independence to Djibouti.
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9.10.1977
Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, is the last person to be executed by guillotine in France. |
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1978
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2.1.1978
Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees the United States to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl. |
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1979
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7.9.1979
A car bomb destroys a Renault motor car owned by famed "Nazi hunters" Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. A note purportedly from ODESSA claims responsibility.
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11.20.1979
Grand Mosque Seizure: About 200 Sunni Muslims revolt in Saudi Arabia at the site of the Kaaba in Mecca during the pilgrimage and take about 6000 hostages. The Saudi government receives help from French special forces to put down the uprising. |
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1981
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10.9.1981
Abolition of capital punishment in France.
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1983
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10.23.1983
Lebanon Civil War: The U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut is hit by a truck bomb, killing 241 U.S. Marines. A French army barracks in Lebanon is also hit that same morning, killing 58 troops. |
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1985
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7.10.1985
Greenpeace vessel ''Rainbow Warrior'' is bombed and sunk in Auckland, New Zealand harbour by French DGSE agents, killing Fernando Pereira.
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9.1.1985
A joint American– French expedition locates the wreckage of the RMS Titanic. |
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1987
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7.4.1987
In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (aka the "Butcher of Lyon") is convicted of crimes against humanity and is sentenced to life imprisonment. |
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1990
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9.15.1990
France announces it will send 4,000 troops to the Persian Gulf |
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1996
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1997
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6.13.1997
American fugitive Ira Einhorn is arrested in France for the murder of Holly Maddux after 16 years on the run, though he would not return for another four years.
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2000
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7.20.2000
Carlos the Jackal sues France in the European Court of Human Rights for allegedly torturing him.
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2001
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9.21.2001
AZF chemical plant explodes in Toulouse, France, killing 31 people |
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2003
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2.10.2003
France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.
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7.20.2003
France: Sixteen people are injured after two bombs explode outside a tax office in Nice. |
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2004
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12.14.2004
The Millau viaduct, the highest bridge in the world, near Millau, France is officially opened.
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2005
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4.27.2005
The superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France. |
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11.27.2005
The first partial human face transplant is completed in Amiens, France.
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2006
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3.28.2006
At least 1 million union members, students, and unemployed take to the streets in France in protest at the government's proposed First Employment Contract law.
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8.4.2006
A massacre, is carried out by Sri Lankan government forces, killing 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF). |
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2010
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6.24.2010
John Isner of the United States defeats Nicolas Mahut of France at Wimbledon, in the longest match in tennis history.
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