Interesting Facts about France - Week 2 - History

• The name "France" comes from "Frank", a Germanic tribe that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 6th century and founded the first independent kingdom covering most of today's France.

• The French state is one of the oldest in Europe; it was founded in 843, splitting from the Carolingian empire based in Aachen on the Belgo-German border.

• France had 3 Revolutions. the famous French Revolution of 1789, in getting rid of Louis XVI to become a Republic. In 1830 also known as the July Revolution abdicating Charles X, and in 1848 also known as the February Revolution, abdicating Louis-Philippe and establishing the second French Republic. 3 years later in 1851, Napoleon III initiated a coup d' état and became Emperor of the French. He holds the unusual distinction in being both the first titular president and the last monarch.

• The region of Paris was settled since around 4200 BCE. The city itself was founded by the Parisii, a Celtic tribe around 250 BCE. The Roman renamed it Luteca from 53 BCE, and it only became known as "Paris" after the fall of the western Roman Empire in the 5th Century.

• Foie Gras may be part of French cuisine, but its origins go back to 4,500 years ago in Ancient Egypt, from where it spread the Greece (500 BCE), then to the Romans, ancestors of the modern French.

• Gothic art has origins in the middle of the 12th century in the north of France. The world's first Gothic building is said to be the Basilica of Saint Denis, just north of Paris, which is the burial place for many Frankish kings since Clovis, as well as most Kings of France including Louis XVI. Gothic architecture then spread to Picardy, notably with the cathedrals of Noyon, Laon and Senlis, Followed by the Île de France (Notre Dame de Paris).

• Nicotine was named after Jean Nicot (1530-1600), a French diplomat and scholar who introduced the tobacco plant to France in 1559 (from Portugal).

• "La Marseillaise", France's national anthem was composed in Strasbourg in 1792, not in Marseille as its name suggests.

• The world's first international scientific conference was held in Paris on 2 February 1799.

• The world's first true department store was Le Bon Marché  in Paris, founded by Aristide Boucicaut in 1838.

• At its peak, between 1919 and 1939, the second French colonial empire extended over 12,347,000 km2 of land, or 6.8% of the world's land area. This is over 22 times the size of modern Metropolitan France.

• France has hosted the Summer Olympic five times, the winter olympic Games three times, and the FIFA World Cup twice.

• France has won the most nobel Prizes for literature of any country (13 so far) and the second highest number of field medals (mathematics) after the USA.

• On 10 June 2007. a sabre having belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte was sold at an auction for 4.8 million euros - the most expensive weapon of it's kind ever sold.

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