On this day in 1789 angry French citizens, tired of the pompous Bourbon dynasty and inspired by the successful revolution of the Americans against the British, stormed the Bastille prison in Paris.
http://sweet.ua.pt/~fmart/images/icono/bastille.gif
Long a symbol of oppressive French royalty, the incident was more of a symbolic victory than anything else. There were barely any prisoners inside the Bastille at the time except for one very famous one -- Voltaire. But the incident set in motion the French Revolution, which despite its bloodiness and savagery, laid the seeds for the first true representative democracy in Western Europe.
It wasn't a perfect transition. But four republics, two monarchies, two emperors, and one puppet Nazi regime later, France is one of the premier democracies in the world. Although the French and the Americans don't always see eye to eye, they actually have a lot in common -- a fierce independent streak and an tireless committment to equality for all.
So today, when your former allies in the Revolutionary War celebrate their independence, watch a French movie, buy some French bread, drink an Orangina, read "Candide", listen to Serge Gainsbourg, or do something else French. Or better yet, celebrate the fact that you are free, and that your example inspired others to seek their own freedom.
"Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite!"
http://phototravels.net/paris/N0031/...tower-30.3.jpg
