Events

• 25 January - The foreign ministers of the United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
  , Britain
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
  , France and the Soviet Union
  Soviet Union
  The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
  
   meet at the Berlin Conference.
• 13 March - Battle of Dien Bien Phu
  Battle of Dien Bien Phu
  The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that...
  
   begins in Vietnam
  Vietnam
  Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
  
  .
• 23 March - In Vietnam, the Viet Minh
  Viet Minh
  Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
  
   capture the main airstrip of Dien Bien Phu
  Battle of Dien Bien Phu
  The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that...
  
   - French forces are partially isolated.
• 29 March - C-47
  C-47 Skytrain
  The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
  
   with French nurse Genevieve de Galard
  Geneviève de Galard
  Geneviève de Galard is a French nurse who was dubbed l'ange de Dien Bien Phu during the French war in Indochina by the press in Hanoi, although in the camp she was known simply as Geneviève....
  
   on board is incapacitated on Dien Bien Phu
  Battle of Dien Bien Phu
  The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that...
  
   runway.
• 7 May - Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in defeat for French forces.
• 18 June - Pierre Mendès-France
  Pierre Mendès-France
  Pierre Mendès France was a French politician. He descended from a Portuguese Jewish family that moved to France in the sixteenth century.-Third Republic and World War II:...
  
   becomes prime minister of France.
• 24 June - Battle of Mang Yang Pass
  Battle of Mang Yang Pass
  The Battle of Mang Yang Pass was the last official battle of the First Indochina War. It was one of the bloodiest defeats of the French Union together with the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 and the battle of Cao Bang in 1950.-Background:Groupement Mobile No. 100 The Battle of Mang Yang Pass...
  
   begins, the last official battle of the First Indochina War
  First Indochina War
  The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
  
  .
• 17 July - Battle of Mang Yang Pass ends in defeat for French forces.
• 20 July - Battlefield ceasefire announced.
• 21 July - The Geneva Conference
  Geneva Conference (1954)
  The Geneva Conference was a conference which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, whose purpose was to attempt to find a way to unify Korea and discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina...
  
   partitions Vietnam
  Vietnam
  Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
  
   into North Vietnam
  North Vietnam
  The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
  
   and South Vietnam
  South Vietnam
  South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
  
  .
• 1 August - Armistice effected, sealing French defeat.
• 31 October - The Algerian National Liberation Front begins a revolt against French rule.
• 1 November - The FLN
  National Liberation Front (Algeria)
  The National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Algeria. It was set up on November 1, 1954 as a merger of other smaller groups, to obtain independence for Algeria from France.- Anticolonial struggle :...
  
   attacks Representative and public buildings of the France colonial power.

Sport

• 8 July - Tour de France
  1954 Tour de France
  The 1954 Tour de France was the 41st Tour de France, taking place from July 8 to August 1, 1954. It consisted of 23 stages over 4656 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.229 km/h....
  
   begins.
• 1 August - Tour de France ends, won by Louison Bobet
  Louison Bobet
  Louis 'Louison' Bobet was a French professional road racing cyclist. He was the first great French rider of the post-war period and the first rider to win the Tour de France in three successive years, from 1953 to 1955...
  
  .

Births

• 13 February - Dominique Bathenay
  Dominique Bathenay
  Dominique Bathenay is a retired football midfielder from France, who last worked as Head Coach of United Arab Emirates.- Career :...
  
  , international soccer player.
• 4 March - François Fillon
  François Fillon
  François Charles Armand Fillon is the Prime Minister of France. He was appointed to that office by President Nicolas Sarkozy on 17 May 2007. He served initially until 13 November 2010 when he resigned from being prime minister before a planned cabinet reshuffle.On 14 November 2010, Sarkozy...
  
  , Prime Minister of France
  Prime Minister of France
  The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
  
  .
• 1 May - Fred Chichin
  Fred Chichin
  Frédéric "Fred" Chichin was a French musician and songwriter. He was born in Clichy, France.He was the lead member of the band Les Rita Mitsouko, along with Catherine Ringer, whom he met in 1979...
  
  , musician and songwriter (d.2007
  2007 in France
  See also:2006 in France,other events of 2007,2008 in France.----Events from the year 2007 in France.-Incumbents:* President - Nicolas Sarkozy* Prime Minister - François Fillon* Interior Minister - Michèle Alliot-Marie...
  
  ).
• 27 July - Philippe Alliot
  Philippe Alliot
  Philippe Alliot is a former racing driver who participated in Formula One from to and from to . He raced for RAM, Ligier, Larrousse and McLaren....
  
  , former motor racing driver.
• 9 August - Loïc Amisse
  Loïc Amisse
  Loïc Amisse is a French football manager and former winger.-External links:*...
  
  , soccer player and manager.
• 21 August - Humbert Balsan
  Humbert Balsan
  Humbert Balsan, born Humbert Jean René Balsan was a French film producer and chairman of the European Film Academy. He was renowned for securing financing and distribution for diverse and often challenging films.In February 2005, Balsan was found dead in the offices of his production company,...
  
  , film producer (d.2005
  2005 in France
  See also:2004 in France,other events of 2005,2006 in France.----Events from the year 2005 in France.-Incumbents:* President - Jacques Chirac* Prime Minister - Jean-Pierre Raffarin then Dominique de Villepin...
  
  ).
• 17 September - Joël-François Durand
  Joël-François Durand
  Joël-François Durand is a French composer.-Biography:Born in Orléans, Durand studied mathematics, music education and piano in Paris, then composition with Brian Ferneyhough in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany , and at Stony Brook University, New York, with Arel and Semegen...
  
  , composer.
• 8 October - Frédéric Antonetti
  Frédéric Antonetti
  Frédéric Antonetti is a football manager, currently managing Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais.-Manager:-References:...
  
  , soccer player and manager.
• 18 October - Edouard Stern
  Edouard Stern
  Édouard Stern was a Jewish banker who lived in France. Born in Paris, he was son of the banker Antoine Jean Elie Stern and Christiane Laroche, and was a personal friend of French President Nicolas Sarkozy...
  
  , banker (d.2005
  2005 in France
  See also:2004 in France,other events of 2005,2006 in France.----Events from the year 2005 in France.-Incumbents:* President - Jacques Chirac* Prime Minister - Jean-Pierre Raffarin then Dominique de Villepin...
  
  ).

Deaths

• 10 April - Auguste Lumière
  Auguste and Louis Lumière
  The Lumière brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean , were among the earliest filmmakers in history...
  
  , filmmaker (b.1862
  1862 in France
  See also:1861 in France,other events of 1862,1863 in France.----Events from the year 1862 in France.-Events:*6 January - French, Spanish and British forces arrive in Veracruz, Mexico, beginning the French intervention in Mexico....
  
  ).
• 28 April - Léon Jouhaux
  Léon Jouhaux
  Léon Jouhaux was a French trade union leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1951.Jouhaux's father worked in a match factory in Aubervilliers. His secondary schooling ended when his father's earnings were stopped by a strike. He gained employment at the factory at age sixteen and immediately...
  
  , trade union
  Trade union
  A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
  
   leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize
  Nobel Peace Prize
  The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
  
   in 1951 (b.1879
  1879 in France
  See also:1878 in France,other events of 1879,1880 in France.----Events from the year 1879 in France.-Events:*1 June - Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial , great-nephew of Napoléon Bonaparte, Bonapartist Pretender to the throne, died in Africa during the Anglo-Zulu War.*Ferdinand Cheval begins to...
  
  ).
• 3 August - Colette
  Colette
  Colette was the surname of the French novelist and performer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette . She is best known for her novel Gigi, upon which Lerner and Loewe based the stage and film musical comedies of the same title.-Early life and marriage:Colette was born to retired military officer Jules-Joseph...
  
  , writer (b.1873
  1873 in France
  See also:1872 in France,other events of 1873,1874 in France.----Events from the year 1873 in France.-Events:*16 September - German troops leave France upon completion of payment of indemnity for Franco-Prussian War....
  
  ).
• 3 November - Henri Matisse
  Henri Matisse
  Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
  
  , artist (b.1869
  1869 in France
  See also:1868 in France,other events of 1869,1870 in France.----Events from the year 1869 in France.-Events:*23 May - Legislative election held.*6 June - Legislative election held to elect the fourth legislature of the French Second Empire....
  
  ).
• 8 December - Claude Cahun
  Claude Cahun
  Claude Cahun was a French artist, photographer and writer. Her work was both political and personal, and often played with the concepts of gender and sexuality.-Early life:...
  
  , photographer and writer (b.1894
  1894 in France
  See also:1893 in France,other events of 1894,1895 in France.----Events from the year 1894 in France.-Events:* 15 February - 04:51 GMT, French anarchist Martial Bourdin attempts to destroy the Royal Greenwich Observatory, London, England with a bomb.* 14 May - Meteor shower in Southern France.* 22...
  
  ).
• 23 December - René Iché
  René Iché
  For the town in Morocco see Iche, MoroccoRené Iché was a 20th century French sculptor.-Life and work:...
  
  , sculptor (b.1897
  1897 in France
  See also:1896 in France,other events of 1897,1898 in France.----Events from the year 1897 in France.-Events:*9 December - First issue of the feminist newspaper La Fronde is published by Marguerite Durand.-Arts and literature:...
  
  ).