* 1875 – Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel, traveling from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in 22 hours.

The Order of Preachers (), after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III ( 1216 – 27 ) on 22 December 1216 in France.

The 22 regions of France | regions and 96 departments of France | departments of metropolitan France include Corsica ( Corse, lower right ).

Figures from the CIA World Factbook show the main export markets in 2006 were United Kingdom 30. 8 %, Spain 22. 7 %, Germany 13. 7 %, Turkmenistan 10. 4 %, Switzerland 8. 3 %, Italy 6. 7 % while the corresponding figures for imports are Spain 23. 4 %, Russia 12. 3 %, Italy 12 %, UK 9 %, France 8. 9 %, Netherlands 6. 8 % and United States 4. 7 %.

Of the about 22, 000 Guinean soldiers in French service, about 10, 000 decided to remain with France.

On 22 September 1804, Dessalines, preferring Napoleon's style rather than the more liberal yet vulnerable type of political government of the French Republican Radicals ( see liberalism and radicalism in France ), proclaimed himself Emperor Jacques I.

On 22 November 1831 in Lyon ( the second largest city in France ) the silk workers revolted and took over the town hall in protest of recent salary reductions and working conditions.

Patents were eventually granted in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, (, filed May 16, 1991, issued June 22, 1994 and expiring not later than May 16, 2011 ), the United States (, issued May 25, 1993 and expiring not later than January 7, 2012 ) and Japan ( JP 3225440 ).

" Mayotte, geographically a part of the Comoro Islands, was the only island of the four to vote against independence from France ( independence losing 37 %- 63 %) in the referendum held December 22, 1974.

On 22 August, one day after the talks broke down with France and Britain, Moscow revealed that Ribbentrop would visit Stalin the next day.

26. 6 % of imports came from Metropolitan France, 16. 1 % from other European countries, 13. 6 % from Singapore ( essentially fuel ), 10. 7 % from Australia, 4. 0 % from New Zealand, 3. 2 % from the United States, 3. 0 % from Japan, and 22. 7 % from other countries.

Japan 22. 4 %, Metropolitan France 15. 2 %, China 14. 2 %, Taiwan 13. 2 %, other European countries 20. 5 %, Oceania 5. 9 %, Africa 4. 8 %, Americas 2. 7 %, other Asian countries 1. 1 % ( 2007 )

Metropolitan France 26. 6 %, other European countries 16. 1 %, Singapore 13. 6 %, Australia 10. 7 %, New Zealand 4. 0 %, United States 3. 2 %, Japan 3. 0 %, other countries 22. 7 % ( 2007 )

* The French Revolutionary Calendar, in force in France from 1793 to 1805 and briefly under the Paris Commune in 1871, began the calendar year on the day of the Southward equinox-September 22, 23 or 24.

During the Second World War, following the armistice of 22 June 1940, continental Normandy was part of the German occupied zone of France.

Marshal Philippe Pétain surrendered to Germany on 22 June 1940, and this gave birth to the so-called Vichy France republic.

In the decision, France kept the 12 nautical mile ( NM ) ( 22. 2 km ) territorial sea surrounding the islands and was given an additional 12 NM ( 22. 2 km ) contiguous zone as well as a 10. 5 NM ( 19. 4 km ) wide corridor stretching 200 NM ( 370 km ) south.

France 22. 2 %, Netherlands 9. 6 %, PR of China 7. 4 %, Thailand 5. 2 %, Belgium 4. 5 % ( 2007 )

parties-( 22 ) Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine

In addition to the third devaluation of the Thai Baht, on September 22, 1985, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and West Germany agreed to sign the Plaza Accord to depreciate the U. S. Dollar in relation to the Japanese Yen and the German Deutsche Mark.

* January 22 – British foreign secretary Bevin proposes the formation of a Western Union between Britain, France and the Benelux countries to stand up against the Soviet Union.

* August 22 – WWII – France: The German Occupation Authority announces that anyone found either working for or aiding the Free French will be sentenced to death.

There must have been special feelings of joy and patriotism in the heart of Daniel Morgan too, when the news was received on April 30th of the recognition by France of the independence of the United States.

Alain Connes (; born 1 April 1947 ) is a French mathematician, currently Professor at the Collège de France, IHÉS, The Ohio State University and Vanderbilt University.

U. S. Secretary of State Colin Powell launched the talks on April 3, 2001, and the negotiations continued with mediation by the U. S., Russia, and France until April 6, 2001.

A mutual defense accord signed with France in April 1961 provides for the stationing of French Armed Forces troops in Côte d ' Ivoire.

In 2003, the NZBS further extended restrictions to preclude permanently donors who had received a blood transfusion in the United Kingdom since January 1980, and in April 2006, restrictions were further extended to include the Republic of Ireland and France.

On 9 April 1908, France declared the protectorates and Mayotte a single colony, Mayotte and dependencies.

France preemptively declared war on Austria ( 20 April 1792 ) and Prussia joined on the Austrian side a few weeks later.

Prussia, having effectively abandoned the coalition in the fall of 1794, made peace with revolutionary France at Basel in April 1795, and soon thereafter Spain, too, made peace with France.

The Concordat of 1801 re-established the Roman Catholic Church in France with effect from Easter Sunday, 18 April 1802, restoring the names of the days of the week with the ones they had in the Gregorian Calendar, while keeping the rest of the Republican Calendar, and fixing Sunday as the official day of rest and religious celebration.

The 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment ( 1 < sup > e </ sup > Régiment Étranger Parachutiste, 1 < sup > e </ sup > REP ) was established in 1955 during the Algerian War and disbanded in April 1961 as the entire regiment rose against the French government of Charles de Gaulle ( Algiers Putsch ), in protest against moves to negotiate an end to the Algerian War and providing Algeria's independence from France.

Allied armies invaded France in early 1814, Paris fell, and in April Napoleon surrendered.

It was a deception ; Toussaint was seized and deported to France, where he died of pneumonia while imprisoned at Fort de Joux in the Jura Mountains in April 1803.

The Committee of Public Safety, set up by the National Convention on 6 April 1793, formed the twelve-member de facto executive government of France.

*" Becoming France ," David Bell, The New Republic, 1 April 2009 ( in English )

On April 2, 2011, Polgár finished in a four-way tie for first in the European Individual Chess Championship in Aix-les-Bains, France.

The French government then proposed that France, West Germany and Italy jointly develop and produce nuclear weapons and delivery systems, and an agreement was signed in April 1958.

After a post World War I League of Nations mandate was established over Lebanon in April 1920, France formed the Army of the Levant, which was later reorganized into the " Troupes Spéciales du Levant " ( Special Troops of the Levant ).

Louis IX ( 25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270 ), commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death.

Louis was born on 25 April 1214 at Poissy, near Paris, the son of Prince Louis the Lion and Blanche of Castile, and baptised in La Collégiale Notre-Dame church. His grandfather was King Philip II of France.

Mean Streets was released on Blu-ray for the first time on April 6, 2011 in France.

Air Mali was liquidated in April 2003, but intercontinental services from Bamako are provided by Air France and a Belgian airline, among others.

On 13 April 2010, Agence France Press reported that French training would be given to the 62nd Motorized Infantry Regiment of the 6th Military Region, based at Sévaré.

On April 7 of that year France officially relinquished its protectorate in Morocco.