France
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Crash of Air France flight 4590
Upon the departure of a Continental Airlines DC-10 from Charles de Gaulle International Airport on 25th July, 2000, a metal wear strip used during a recent repair of the aircraft was dislodged and fell onto the runway. The titanium alloy piece was approximately 1.4 mm thick, a little over an inch wide and roughly 17 inches long. A scheduled 3pm clean-up of the runway failed to take place, and the debris remained where it fell. French President Jacques Chirac was inbound on a 747 from Japan, following his attendance at a G8 summit. The arrival of his flight forced the adjustment of Air France flight 4590 to a different take-off…
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Stephen of Blois
Following on from my recent post on the civil war known as The Anarchy ( http://www.historynaked.com/the-anarchy/ ), I thought I would delve a bit further into the major players in this period. Stephen was born in the County of Blois in central France in 1092 or 1096; there are conflicting reports of the date of his birth, probably due to the fact he was not an heir to the throne, nor a major member of the royal family, so there would not have been a lot of publicity surrounding his birth. He was however, a Grandson of William the Conqueror. His mother, Adela was the daughter of William the Conqueror…
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Did you know part 2?
Entries for the World Fair in Paris included a giant guillotine and a 300ft high lighthouse. These were declined in favour of Eiffel’s now famous structure! JJ Related posts: No related posts.
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The Eiffel Tower
In 1889 France hosted a World Fair to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. In preparation for this, designs were submitted by around 100 designers, artists and engineers for an entranceway for the exhibition that was to constructed in the centre of Paris. The winning design was that of Eiffel et Compagnie, owned by Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, who had collaborated on the Statue of Liberty. Controversy surrounded the design from the outset however, with it being described as ‘a belfry skeleton’ amongst other derogatory things by Parisian artisans and satirists and the general public. Not only did many consider it an eyesore, but there were doubts about its structural…
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Madame Du Barry
A lover, a prostitute, a royal mistress, a wife, a disgrace, and a traitor. All of these are words often used to describe Madame Du Barry in a time of terrible unrest in France. Born as the illegitimate child of a seamstress and a friar, little Jeanne Becu was brought into the world with little prospects on August 19, 1743. Her father was not a part of her upbringing leaving Jeanne’s mother sole custody of her until it became too difficult as a single parent. Fortunately for Jeanne, a wealthy benefactor offered his financial support to have her educated at a convent school as a child. Once school at the…
