Bastille Day July 14th (1789)

An extremely important day in France, signifying the beginning of the end of the Monarchy, 1789, ( Autocracy as it was known) and the eventual forming of the Republic of France . (Beheading of Louis and Marie to come later, end of the Monarchy! ). Only a few people, 9, killed, thankfully , 7 prisoners in the Bastille, none of political significance , Feudalism abolished and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaimed (4th August ) .

This is celebrated in Paris by parades of French infantry troops , motorised troops, aviation displays, red arrows flying in the air, fireworks and some of the Allies are invited to participate . Prior to 2007 the then President had the authority to pardon people who had committed petty crimes ( eg traffic offences) if the he saw sees fit . Healso gave a speech, but the current President , Nicolas Sarkozy ,declines to continue these practices.

( motto - pay your fines your wont get pardoned in France )

Wikipedia definition below , for those of you who want the historical stuff rather than my historical synopsis .

Bastille Day is the French national holiday which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale (The National Celebration) and commonly le quatorze juillet (the fourteenth of July). It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789; the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. Festivities are held on the morning of 14 July, on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic.