*Ø* Fête Nationale (Bastille Day), public holiday, France and all French dependencies

July 14, 1789 French Revolution: Parisians stormed the Bastille Prison in Paris and freed seven political prisoners.

When the revolutionary mob stormed the French prison they were surprised to find most of the cells empty but for the miserable scratchings of prisoners on the walls. 

Only seven prisoners were resident, under the relatively (for his time) lenient penal policies of King Louis XVI. Among those inmates, Marquis de Sade is believed to have triggered the assault by crying that people were being executed inside ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

[The Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame de Paris webcams on today's page should be cool after nightfall. Trouble is, I don't get to check it out till July 15 because I'm in the Eastern hemisphere. :( ]