Top ten facts about…the Bastille

Today is Bastille Day, Le Quatorze Juillet, celebrating the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris on July 14, 1789, which started the French Revolution.

1. The event was largely symbolic: the Bastille housed only seven elderly prisoners at the time. 

2. The Bastille was built in the 14th century as a fortress to defend eastern Paris from an attack by the British during the 100 Years War. 

3. From 1420-1436, after Paris had been captured by the forces of Henry V, the English used the Bastille as a prison.

4. Bastille Day has been celebrated since 1790 and became a French national holiday in 1880.

5. Ninety-eight attackers and one defender died in the fighting. 

6. The Bastille’s governor, Bernard-René de Launay, was also killed and his head displayed around Paris on a spike. 

7. The object of the storming was mainly to seize the large ammunition supplies held at the Bastille. 

8. The prisoners in the Bastille when it was stormed were four forgers, two “lunatics” and one “deviant” aristocrat. 

9. Other events that have happened on July 14 include the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. 

10. A massive solar flare on July 14, 2000, is known as the “Bastille Day event”.