1884 in France

Incumbents

• President: Jules Grévy
• President of the Council of Ministers: Jules Ferry

Events

• 7 March – Eugène Poubelle introduces the dustbin to Paris.
• June – At Bắc Lệ, Chinese forces attack a French column sent to occupy Tonkin in accordance with earlier treaties, starting the Sino-French War.
• 6 June – Treaty of Hué is signed between representatives of Vietnam and the French Empire.
• 29 July – Société des Artistes Indépendants is founded in Paris.
• 23 August – Battle of Fuzhou: Admiral Amédée Courbet's Far East Squadron virtually destroys China's Fujian Fleet.
• 1 October – French begin occupation of Keelung (Jilong).
• 23 November – Siege of Tuyên Quang begins in Indochina: The French Foreign Legion is besieged by forces of the Empire of China.

Literature

• Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly - Ce qui ne meurt pas
• Alphonse Daudet - Sappho
• Joris-Karl Huysmans - À rebours
• Xavier de Montépin - La porteuse de pain
• Rachilde - Monsieur Vénus
• Jules Verne
  • L'Archipel en feu
  • L'Étoile du sud
• Émile Zola - La joie de vivre

Births

January to June

• 5 January – Arnaud Denjoy, mathematician (died 1974)
• 7 February – Achille Liénart, Cardinal (died 1973)
• 24 March – Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant, Cardinal (died 1972)
• 26 March – Paul Legentilhomme, military officer (died 1975)
• 31 March – Henri Queuille, Radical-Socialist politician and Prime Minister of France (died 1970)
• 5 May – Jean Decoux, Governor-General of French Indochina (died 1963)
• 13 June – Étienne Gilson, Thomistic philosopher and historian of philosophy (died 1978)
• 18 June – Édouard Daladier, Radical-Socialist politician and Prime Minister of France (died 1970)
• 19 June – Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, writer and artist (died 1974)
• 27 June – Gaston Bachelard, philosopher (died 1962)
• 30 June – Georges Duhamel, author (died 1966)

July to December

• 4 July – Pauline Carton, actress (died 1974)
• 7 July – André Dunoyer de Segonzac, painter and graphic artist (died 1974)
• 10 July – Pierre Larquey, actor (died 1962)
• 12 July – Edgar Stehli, French-born American actor (died 1973)
• 3 August – Georges Boillot, motor racing driver and World War I fighter pilot (died 1916)
• 25 August – Léon Poirier, film director, screenwriter and film producer (died 1968)
• 27 August – Vincent Auriol, politician, President of France (died 1966)
• 4 September – Henri Meslot, athlete (died 1973)
• 24 September – Gustave Garrigou, cyclist, 1911 Tour de France winner (died 1963)
• 25 September – Rita Jolivet, American-born actress (died 1971)
• 4 October – Félix Gouin, politician (died 1977)
• 27 October – André Le Troquer, politician and lawyer (died 1963)
• 2 December – Jean Paulhan, writer, literary critic and publisher (died 1968)

Full date unknown

• Jacques Maroger, painter (died 1962)

Deaths

• 3 February – Eugène Rouher, statesman (born 1814)
• 4 April – Adolphe Dugléré, chef (born 1805)
• 10 April – Jean-Baptiste Dumas, chemist (born 1800)
• 6 May
  • Judah P. Benjamin, American-born Jewish United States Senator from Louisiana from 1853 to 1861 (born 1811)
  • Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne, Jew who became a Jesuit Catholic priest and missionary (born 1814)
• 10 September – Jean-Augustin Barral, agronomist (born 1819)
• 13 December – Eugène Pelletan, writer, journalist and politician (born 1813)

References

References

1. Lafon, Cathy. (2023-03-29). "Fin de la grève des éboueurs à Paris : de l'invention de la poubelle au recyclage, voici l’histoire de nos déchets".
2. (2017-03-07). "7 mars 1884: invention des poubelles".
3. (2004). "Les canonnières françaises du Yang-tsé: de Shanghai à Chongqing, 1900-1941". Indes savantes.
4. (1995). "Schneider & Cie et les travaux publics, 1895-1949". École nationale des chartes.
5. (1996). "The Sino-Vietnamese Difference on the Hoàng Sa and Trường Sa Archipelagoes: Lưu Văn Lợi". Thé̂ giới Publisher.
6. (2017). "Missions au pays de la soie: l'ambassade Lagrené (1843-1846) entre science, commerce et diplomatie". Collège de France, Institut des hautes études chinoises.
7. (2008). "Beware the dragon : China--a thousand years of bloodshed". Andre Deutsch.