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Social Class Chronology
| 1800s | Railroad companies go public, investors go crazy; many companies later fail. |
| 1801 | Paris population about 400,000. |
| 1804 | Invention of steam locomotive. |
| 1806 | Revoluntionary calendar abandoned (30-day months of three ten-day weeks, the last day being Sunday). |
| 1810 | Column Vendome by Gondoin and Lepere completed. |
| 1815 | Madame Tussaud's wax works opens. |
| 1824 | Ministry of Public Education created. |
| 1830s | Silk weavers fire employees and use family labor instead. |
| 1830 | Revolution results in expanded middle class voting system. |
| 1831 | Paris
population is 861,400. Huge labor strikes occur in silk industry. |
| 1834 | Labor strikers seek minimum wage for all workers. |
| 1836 | Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile erected. |
| 1839 | Photography invented by Fox Talbott and Dagguerre. |
| 1840s | Telegraph allows stock market prices, quotes, and incoming orders to be communicated quickly between cities; earliest "electronic" trading. |
| 1846 | Major recession disables economy. |
| 1947 | Recession ends. |
| 1848 | Upsurge
of professional and trade organization founding and membership among
shopkeepers, master artisans, and petit bourgeois. February: Police action and street uprising ousts monarchy; universal male suffrage established. June: Uprising of Parisian workers suppressed by army led by Cavaignac. |
| 1849 | France invades Algeria, acquires new colonial lands. |
| 1850s | Stock exchanges briskly traded shares in canal and railway companies; firms rarely disclosed profitmaking strategies to investors. |
| 1852 | Bois
de Boulogne annexed to city of Paris. Vast Paris urban redevelopment begins, clearing of areas on Ile de la Cite and near Louvre; construction begins to join Louvre to Tuileries Gardens. Railway to Strasbourg opens. New bridges built across River Seine. |
| 1853 | Baron
George Haussmann is made Prefect of the Seine River and begins reconstruction
of Paris. Boulevard de Strasbourge and rue Soufflot opened. Emperor Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) marries Eugenie de Montijo of Spain; the Empress become the leader of fashion and society. rue de Rivoli begun. |
| 1854 | Crimean War begins as France sides with Great Britain and Turkey against Russia. |
| 1855 | World's
Fair on Champs-Elysees includes Palais de l'Industrie. Railway to Lyon and Mediterranean opens. Emperor Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) and Empress Eugenie exchange cross-Channel visits with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Great Britain. March: Crimean War ends in Paris treaty. June: Prince Imperial baptized. |
| 1856 | avenue
de l'Imperatrice opens. Flaubert writes Madame Bovary. |
| 1857 | Transatlantic
telegraph cable laid. Completion of Bois de Boulogne and Longchamp racetrack. Arc de Triomphe avenues open. rue de Rivoli opens. Army completes conquest of Kabyles of Algeria. Emperor Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) and Empress Eugenie visits with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Great Britain again. |
| 1858 | boulevard
de Sebatopol opens. Anglo-French expeditionary forces invade China. Suez Canal company formed by de Lesseps. |
| 1859 | boulevard
Saint-Michel completed. Baron George Haussmann's powers increased by decree. June: Empress Eugenie creates fashion with "Magenta red." |
| 1860 | Bois
de Vincennes annexed to Paris. Montmartre annexed to Paris. |
| 1861 | adjacent
suburbs annexed to Paris. boulevard Malesherbes opens. Rebuilt Parc Monceau opens. Brothers Edmund Louis Antoine Hout de Goncourt and Jules Alfred Hout de Goncourt publish "Soeur Philomene." |
| 1862 | New
Opera construction begins. French expeditionary forces battle Juarez in Mexico. Treaty of Saigon confirms French role in Annam. Victor Hugo publishes "Les Miserables." |
| 1863 | Provisional
French government established in Mexico. New Deauville built on Channel coast; railway opens. Cambodia made French protectorate. Last of eight new bridges across the River Seine completed. New quais (piers) along River Seine opened. |
| 1864 | Regular
steamship service starts between France and New York. New Deauville racetrack opens. Workers win right to strike. |
| 1865 | Japan
trade with west resumes. Communist International established in Paris. Goncourt brothers publish novel "Germinie Lacerteux" and play "Henriette Marechal." |
| 1866 | boulevard Saint-Germain opens. |
| 1867 | Singing
of Le Marseillaise forbidden due to its evocation of revolution.
English newspapers held from readers at post offices due to content deemed hostile to French government. Exposition Universelle (World's Fair) in Paris draws 11 million visitors. Liberalization of theatre legislation results in rapid expansion of cafes-concerts and vaudeville. Stock ticker is introduced at stock exchanges. |
| 1868 | Gare
Saint-Lazare enlarged and adjacent streets redone. New legislation improves freedom of press and right of pubic assembly. |
| 1869 | Suez
Canal opens. Folies Bergere opens. George Haussmann falls out of political favor. Suez Canal opens. |
| 1870 | Siege
of Paris by Germany. Baron George Haussmann dismissed. Victor Hugo returns from exile. |
| 1873 | Old
Opera destroyed by fire. Construction of Sacre Cour begins. French financial crisis occurs and depression begins. |
| 1874 | Place du Vendome column destroyed during Commune is reerected. |
| 1875 | New
Opera opens. Sacre-Cour construction begins. |
| 1877 | avenue
de l'Opera opens. Paris population exceeds 2 million. Goncourt brothers publish "La Fille Elisa." Emile Zola publishes "L'Assommoir." Electric lamp invented. |
| 1878 | May
1: Exposition universelle (World's Fair). First public playing of "La Marseillaise" since Commune. Stock exchange traders begin to use telephones to communicate between cities. |
| 1879 | Emile
Zola publishes "Nana." Goncourt brothers publish "Les Freres Zemganno." |
| 1880 | Halftone
photograph invented. Jesuits expelled from France; exclusively secular instruction mandated for public schools. July 14: First Bastille Day celebrations held. |
| 1881 | Electric price board is introduced at stock exchanges. |
| 1882 | France
establishes compulsory primary education. Founding of French Socialist Party. |
| 1883 | Orient Express starts run fro Paris to Instanbul, Turkey. |
| 1884 | Faberge
makes first jewelled eggs for Tzar of Russia. Trade unions legalized in France. |
| 1886 | Statue of Liberty dedicated in New York. |
| 1887 | Police reported over 150 revolutionary or anarchist groups in Paris; at least 15 had over 500 members and many had at least 1000 sympathizers. |
| 1889 | Kodak
camera introduced. Eiffel Tower completed, world's tallest structure. Exposition universelle (World's Fair). Le Moulin Rouge opens. |
| 1890 | France
leads world in production of motor cars. Maxim's reastaurant opens. |
| 1895 | Roentgen discovers x-rays. |
| 1898 | Paris Metro construction begins and first lines opened. |
| 1900 | Paris
Metro extends to Montmartre. Exposition Universelle (World's Fair). |
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