Storming of the Bastille
A symbol of absolutism falls and the French Revolution begins
On 14 July, insurgent Parisians stormed the Bastille, a fortress-prison and symbol of royal absolutism. It marked the start of the French Revolution, which proclaimed liberty, equality and the rights of man.
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Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1764 Founding of the Hermitage — 25 years earlier
- c. 1768 Extinction of Steller's sea cow — 21 years earlier
- 1772–1795 Partitions of Poland — 17 years earlier
- 1783 Russian annexation of Crimea (1783) — 6 years earlier
- 1812 Napoleon's invasion of Russia — 23 years later
Africa
- 1798 Battle of the Pyramids — 9 years later
- 1804–1903 Usman dan Fodio's jihad and the Sokoto Caliphate — 15 years later
- 1805–1848 Muhammad Ali becomes ruler of Egypt — 16 years later
Americas
- 1776 US Declaration of Independence — 13 years earlier
- 1787 US Constitution — 2 years earlier
- 1791–1804 Haitian Revolution — 2 years later
- 1803 Louisiana Purchase — 14 years later
- 1810–1826 Spanish American wars of independence — 21 years later
Oceania
- 1768–1771 Cook's first voyage — 21 years earlier
- 1788 First Fleet arrives in Australia — 1 year earlier
Alive at the time
- Benjamin Franklin (aged 83)
- Catherine the Great (aged 60)
- George Washington (aged 57)
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (aged 40)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (aged 33)
- Napoleon Bonaparte (aged 20)
- Ludwig van Beethoven (aged 19)
- Simón Bolívar (aged 6)
- Qianlong Emperor (aged 78)
- Adam Smith (aged 66)