1960 in France

Incumbents

• President: Charles de Gaulle
• Prime Minister: Michel Debré

Events

• 6 January – Manifesto of the 121 is published.
• 22 January – President Charles de Gaulle fires General Jacques Massu from Algeria following an interview in a German newspaper where he stated that the army may have made a mistake in returning him to power.
• 24 January – A major insurrection occurs in Algiers against French colonial policy.
• 13 February – France tests its first atomic bomb in the Sahara.
• 23 March – Nikita Khrushchev meets Charles De Gaulle in Paris.
• 12 April – Eric Peugeot, youngest son of the founder of Peugeot, is kidnapped in Paris. Kidnappers release him 15 April in exchange for $300,000 ransom.
• 27 April – Togo gains independence from French-administered UN trusteeship.
• 11 May – The SS France is launched for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire by Yvonne de Gaulle.
• 3 June – The first Carrefour store opens in Annecy.
• 20 June – The Mali Federation between Senegal and Sudanese Republic (now Mali) gains independence from France.
• 5 August – Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) declares independence from France.
• 17 August – Gabon gains independence from France.
• 28 November – Mauritania becomes independent of France.
• 5 December – Pierre Lagaillarde, who led 1958 and 1960 insurrections in Algeria, fails to appear in a Paris court. He has reportedly fled with his four fellow defendants to Spain, en route to Algeria.
• 9 December – President Charles de Gaulle's visit to Algeria is marked by bloody riots by European and Muslim mobs in Algeria's largest cities, killing 127 people.
• 14 December – The OECD is formed in Paris.
• 27 December – France sets off its third nuclear test blast at its atomic proving grounds at Reggane, Algeria.

Arts and literature

• 25 March – Tom Pillibi by Jacqueline Boyer (music by André Popp, text by Pierre Cour) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 for France.
• 10 November – Édith Piaf's recording of "Non, je ne regrette rien" is released.

Sport

• 26 June – Tour de France begins.
• 17 July – Tour de France ends, won by Gastone Nencini of Italy.

Births

• 2 January - Dominique Bailly, politician
• 23 January – Patrick de Gayardon, skydiver, skysurfer and BASE jumper (died 1998)
• 18 March – Jean-Pierre Bade, soccer player
• 18 May – Yannick Noah, tennis player and musician
• 15 June – Patrick Edlinger, rock climber (died 2012)
• 8 July – Yann LeCun, computer scientist
• 12 July – Corynne Charby, actress, singer and model
• 24 July – Catherine Destivelle, rock climber and mountaineer

Deaths

• 4 January – Albert Camus, author, philosopher, and journalist who won the Nobel Prize in 1957 (born 1913)
• 13 March – Louis Wagner, motor racing driver (born 1882)
• 1 April – Madeleine Rolland, translator and peace activist (born 1872)
• 23 May – Georges Claude, engineer, chemist and inventor (born 1870)
• 14 July – Maurice, 6th duc de Broglie, physicist (born 1875)

References

References

1. (1999). "International Directory of Company Histories". St. James Press.
2. Mansoor, Menahem. (1972). "Political and Diplomatic History of the Arab World, 1900-1967: 1960-64". NCR Microcard Editions.