he rose at half-past six every morning, made himself some French coffee, had his corn flakes and more coffee, smoked four cigarettes while reading last Sunday's Herald Tribune and yesterday's Pittsburgh Gazette, then put on his high-topped farmer's shoes and walked under a vine bower to his workshop.

Nostalgia week at Lewisohn Stadium, which had begun with the appearance of the 70-year-old Mischa Elman on Tuesday night, continued last night as Lily Pons led the list of celebrities in an evening of French operatic excerpts.

* 1863 – A 65-man French Foreign Legion infantry patrol fought a force of nearly 2, 000 Mexican soldiers to nearly the last man in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico.

In French, the period only follows an abbreviation if the last letter in the abbreviation is not the last letter of its antecedent: " M ." is the abbreviation for " monsieur " while " Mme " is that for " madame ".

Bardot wrote a 1999 letter to Chinese President Jiang Zemin, published in French magazine VSD, in which she accused the Chinese of " torturing bears and killing the world's last tigers and rhinos to make aphrodisiacs ".

In France he was considered as the restorer of the art, which had declined after the time of Louis XIV, and during the last twenty years of his life the French government commissiond him to undertake several works.

Hume reinforced his crew with musket-armed soldiers and joined up with HMS Seaford to track the two ships, to no avail, though they discerned that the two ships had sunk a French vessel off St Christopher Island, and reported also that they had last been seen " gone down the North side of Hispaniola ".

On the other wing the French at last routed the Flemish cavalry and captured Ferrand, Count of Flanders, one of the leaders of the coalition.

This set of British triumphs which left Cape Sable as the only major French holding in North America was not destined to last.

The British and French armies dismounted many of their cavalry regiments and used them in infantry and other roles: the Life Guards for example spent the last months of the War as a machine gun corps ; and the Australian Light Horse served as light infantry during the Gallipoli campaign.

The prohibitive cost of maintaining the colony, France's last outpost on the continent, was another factor that compelled observers to doubt that the French would attempt to hold on to the territory.

The last article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was adopted on 26 August 1789, by the National Constituent Assembly ( Assemblée nationale constituante ), during the period of the French Revolution, as the first step toward writing a constitution for France.

This day, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday when Lent begins, is also known as Mardi Gras, a French phrase which translates as " Fat Tuesday " to mark the last consumption of eggs and dairy before Lent begins.

The emperors of the last dynasty of Vietnam hold this title with true power until the French conquered Vietnam and established their domination on the land.

* 1897 – Queen Ranavalona III, the last monarch of Madagascar, is deposed by a French military force.

Conflict broke out between the French and the indigenous islanders in November 1649 and fighting lasted for five years until 1654, when the last opposition to the French on Grenada was crushed-although the island continued for some time after to suffer raids by war canoe parties from St. Vincent, who had aided the local Grenadan islanders in their struggle and continued to oppose the French.

This situation should last until 2012 when Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy will send their own deputies to the French National Assembly.

In 1894, Verdi composed a short ballet for a French production of Otello, his last purely orchestral composition.

A French horror film Brotherhood of the Wolf ( 2001 ) became the second-highest-grossing French language film in the United States in the last two decades.

After a last brief reunification ( 884 – 887 ), the imperial title ceased to be held in the western realm, which was to form the basis of the future French kingdom.

French military missions were sent to Japan in 1872 – 1880, in 1884 – 1889 and the last one much later in 1918 – 1919 to help modernize the Japanese army.

* 1945 – Puyi, the last Chinese emperor and ruler of Manchukuo, is captured by Soviet troops.

* 1944 – World War II: American forces defeat the last Japanese troops on Guam.

Alicante was the last city loyal to the Republican government to be occupied by dictator Franco's troops on 1 April 1939, and its harbour saw the last Republican government officials fleeing the country.

* 1865 – American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.

* 1945 – The last German troops retreat from Finland's soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War.

In Ramillies the Allied infantry, now reinforced by the English troops brought down from the north, at last broke through.

For example, Baldrick is reduced to making coffee from mud and cooking rats, while General Melchett hatches a plan for the troops to walk very slowly toward the German lines, because " it'll be the last thing Fritz will expect.

Depending on what terms one uses to define the end, the movement extended until 1821 ( when the Spanish were expelled from mainland Chile ) or 1826 ( when the last Spanish troops surrendered and Chiloé was incorporated to the Chilean republic ).

The last country known to maintain a regiment of bicycle troops was Switzerland, who disbanded their final unit in 2003.

In the early morning of December 10, 1949, Communist troops laid siege to Chengdu, the last KMT controlled city in mainland China, where Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo directed the defense at the Chengdu Central Military Academy.

The last Belgian troops left the country by 23 July, as United Nations forces continued to deploy throughout the Congo.

** Nazarov was Dictator of the Don Republic ( which before, since its founding on 2 December 1917 at Novocherkassk, had been governed by a Triumvirate including the last pre-Soviet Ataman, Aleksei Maksimovich Kaledin ) from 11 February 1918 till 25 February 1918 when Bolshevik troops ended their existence

The last Salvadoran troops left Iraq on January 2009 with 5 soldiers lost in their 5 and a half year involvement.

Following the liberation of Denmark and the end of World War II, the last British troops left in September 1945.

This is the last time Swedish and Danish troops meet on Swedish soil.

The Tampere City Hall was among the last strongholds of the Red troops.

The last Guinean troops were withdrawn in 1974.

The prospect for tranquility was further advanced in 1931 when Ferrera and his insurgents were killed, while leading one last unsuccessful effort to overthrow the government, after government troops discovered their hiding place in Chamelecon.

He loads them all up in his no-ship, finally leading his troops out on a last suicidal defense of Rakis, designed to attract the rage of the Honored Matres.

Shortly after Bernard Montgomery had been appointed to command II Corps, Alexander was, while still on the beachhead, placed in command of I Corps, and left the beach on the last destroyer on 3 June after ensuring that all British troops had been evacuated.

The last time that a British monarch would command troops in the field.

* 1932 – Great Depression: in Washington, D. C., troops disperse the last of the " Bonus Army " of World War I veterans.

In return, British aircraft would be able to transit through Kenya, RN ships of the East Indies Station and other units could visit Mombasa, communications facilities could be used until 1966, and troops could exercise in Kenya twice a year ( of which the last commitment continues to this day ).

He was the last emperor to lead his troops onto the battlefield.