Life expectancy: 84F 73M Food insecurity: 10%(F) 24%(M) Homelessness per 100k: 8(F) 35(M) Without healthcare: 0(F) 10% (M) If you measure society by how wealthy the rich are then the poorest US state is richer than France. If you measure society by how most people live it's clear which is richer.

#OTD 16 May 1916 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland & the French Third Republic sign the secret wartime Sykes-Picot Agreement partitioning former Ottoman territories such as Iraq and Syria. The agreement betrayed the UK's promises to Arabs & led to contested divisions of nations.

French children drinking watered wine at school, sometime before 1956

#OTD 14 May 1643 Four-year-old Louis XIV becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.

#OTD 14 May 1610 Henry IV of France is assassinated by Catholic zealot François Ravaillac, and Louis XIII ascends the throne.

France recently ranked 28th most loved out of 68 major countries; generally positive but could be better. #1 Is Switzerland and in last place is Israel.

A drag ball in Paris, 1931. Police had to give special permission for drag performers. While crossdressing was not illegal for men, dancing with others while dressed as a woman was.

New episode! Dr. Sarah Fishman discusses two popular women columnists who reshaped French society in the 1950s-onward. www.thefrenchhistorypodcast.com/women-talking/

Travel goals

What the whole Europe saw from 1799 to 1814

#OTD 5 May 1789 the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614.

Toulouse Pride Parade, 9 October 2021

New episode! Dr. Chris Millington talks all about how Eastern European terrorists asssassinated the King of Yugoslavia in 1934 Marseille. www.thefrenchhistorypodcast.com/assassinatin...

Hmmm

Would that be such a bad thing?

Most assassination attempts against leaders in history: Fidel Castro: 634-638 Adolf Hitler: 42+ Charles de Gaulle: 30+ Queen Victoria: 8 Louis-Philippe I: 7-8

Childhood deaths by firearms in 2021 by country: France: 38 Germany: 12 Italy: 7 Spain: 7 UK: 6 Japan: 5 South Korea: 2 USA: ~4300

New episode! Wyatt Wiggins talks about how French imperial agents branded human beings as a demonstration of power. www.thefrenchhistorypodcast.com/burning-fles...

#OTD 24 April 1918 The first tank-to-tank combat occurred during the second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux. Three British Mark IVs meet three German A7Vs.

The media needs to stop comparing modern oligarchs to Marie-Antoinette; the Epstein Class is more out of touch with common people than the Ancien Régime were.

Think gas prices are expensive in the US? It's more than double in France. This is because most other countries tax gas sales to fund infrastructure & reduce pollution, while the US largely does not. Credit to The Wall Street Journal

Japanese soldiers watch a battle between Vietminh and French forces, 17 October 1945

#OTD 20 April 1792 France declares war against the "King of Hungary and Bohemia", the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars.

New episode! Dr. Jeff Horn talks about how a young idealist spread The Terror in Revolutionary France. www.thefrenchhistorypodcast.com/becoming-a-t...

A new POLITICO poll finds that most of America's former allies now prefer a China-dominated world to one dominated by the US under President Trump. Polling is close in Europe but Canadians overwhelmingly oppose the US, which is unsurprising given Trump's repeated threats to invade Canada.

Last week Iran demanded Israel stop bombing Hezbollah or it'd keep the Strait closed. The US said, 'no.' Today Israel announced it would stop its assaults on Lebanon & Iran opened the Stait. Trump just said he won. Iran has just dogwalked Trump at every turn but he's passing it off as a victory.

#OTD 16 April 1755 Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun. She created a name for herself in Ancien Régime society by serving as the portrait painter to Marie Antoinette. She enjoyed the patronage of European aristocrats, actors, and writers, and was elected to art academies in ten cities.

#OTD 15 April 2019 The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire.

An 86-year-old French woman who moved to the US last year after rekindling a 1960s romance is being detained at an immigration enforcement centre in Louisiana.

AI slop is the worst. Apparently there is a new AI slop podcast that copies my work. They even copied by logo, except the AI turned the frog legs into stalks of corn, they messed up the Brie cheese and even cut up the baguettes wrong!

Europe in the style of The Lord of the Rings

One U.S. official brought up how French king Philip IV of France had Pope Boniface VIII killed in 1303, the last time a pope died from violence. Perhaps we should go back to the Second Empire policy of French troops defending the pope?

As US President Trump threatens to pull the US out of NATO, European countries are turning to France to protect them. Eight countries are agreeing to house French nuclear weapons as defense against Russia & other threats.

I've had a fair number of brainwashed Americans blame France for Iran's government; as if American governments didn't impose dictatorship in 1953, arm it under Iran-Contra, sponsor a war which killed a million people (1980s) & now bomb it. France has been very consistent with sanctions.

Should parents spend more time with their children or let them develop independently? France bucks the trend as parents spend less time with kids.

White Christian evangelicals still claim Obama is Muslim while Trump can praise Allah on Easter Sunday and they call him a good Christian. Their religion really is just white supremacy.

New episode! Learn all about the French & Germans who tried to overcome the hatred between their two countries after WWI up to the 1960s. www.thefrenchhistorypodcast.com/making-frien...

The last time Americans said something like this was in 2003. If only they had listened to their friends whose criticism was never meant to hurt Americans but to save them from disaster.

#OTD 4 April 2009 France announces its return to full participation of its military forces within NATO

#OTD 4 April 1981 The first march for the rights and liberties of gays and lesbians in France was held in Paris.

Breaking: France blocks Israel from using ‌its air space to transport American weapons ​to be used ​in the war against ⁠Iran. Israel responded by refusing to buy any weapons from France (they hardly buy any now). Trump condemns France for not allowing US-Israel use over their airspace.

Happy Transgender Day of Visibility! Did you know one of the most famous transgender women was singer & actress Coccinelle? In 1958 she became the first major celebrity to undergo sex reassignment surgery.

#OTD 29 March 845 Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.

The original No Kings Protest, 21 January 1793

New episode! Provence suffers civil war, invasion and imperial intrigue but somehow still experiences a miniature golden age under the Counts of Barcelona. www.thefrenchhistorypodcast.com/89-provence-...