August 26 through History

Explanation: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, adopted by the National Constituent Assembly gathered at Versailles, was largely inspired by the American Declaration of Independence of 1776. It proclaims natural and inalienable rights such as liberty, property, and resistance to oppression.

Explanation: Charles de Gaulle had returned to Paris the day before, on August 25, 1944, following the liberation of the capital by General Leclerc's 2e DB. The parade on August 26 along the Champs-Élysées, followed by sniper fire, remains one of the most iconic moments of the Liberation.

Explanation: The Women's Liberation Movement (MLF) was born from this highly symbolic act. The banner carried that day, "There is someone more unknown than the unknown soldier: his wife", became a famous slogan of French feminism. The MLF played a central role in the struggles for abortion rights in the following years.

Explanation: The 19th Amendment guarantees women's right to vote in the United States, after decades of suffragist struggle. Figures like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton had championed this cause since the Seneca Falls convention in 1848, but neither lived long enough to see this victory.

Explanation: The Battle of Crécy is famous for the massive use of the Welsh longbow by the English, which allowed them to decimate the French cavalry. Among the dead was John of Luxembourg, the blind King of Bohemia, whose motto "Ich dien" (I serve) was later adopted by the English Prince of Wales.

Explanation: The Fronde (1648-1653) was a series of civil wars that shook France during the regency of Anne of Austria. It was triggered by the opposition of the Paris Parlement to the taxes raised by Mazarin to finance the war against Spain. The young Louis XIV kept a traumatic memory of it, which later influenced his decision to settle in Versailles.

Explanation: Antoine Lavoisier is particularly famous for establishing the law of conservation of mass and for naming oxygen and hydrogen. Accused of collaborating with the tax farmers, he was guillotined in 1794 during the Reign of Terror. The mathematician Lagrange then declared: "It took only a moment to cut off that head, and perhaps a hundred years will not be enough to produce another like it."

Explanation: The Charter of the French Language, adopted by René Lévesque's Parti Québécois government, made French the only official language of Quebec. It notably required commercial signage in French and mandated French-language education for the children of immigrants. It remains one of the most debated laws in Canadian history.

Explanation: The Byzantine defeat against the Seljuks at Manzikert (in present-day Turkey) is considered one of the most decisive battles of the Middle Ages. It opened Anatolia to Turkish colonization and was one of the triggering factors of the First Crusade in 1095, called by Pope Urban II in response to Byzantium's calls for help.

Explanation: Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1950. Born in Albania under the name Anjezë Gonxha Bojaxhiu, she settled in India in 1929. Canonized by Pope Francis in 2016, she became one of the most recognized religious figures of the XXth century.