The Backseat Historian05/18/2026, 19:08:46
On July 14, 1789, a crowd of roughly 900 Parisians stormed a medieval fortress-prison that most of them had never been inside — and accidentally ignited the French Revolution. This is the story of one afternoon, seven prisoners nobody had heard of, and a governor who made one very bad decision at the end of a very bad day.
July 14, 1789: The Day Paris Stormed the Bastille
On July 14, 1789, a crowd of roughly 900 Parisians stormed a medieval fortress-prison that most of them had never been inside — and accidentally ignited the French Revolution. This is the story of one afternoon, seven prisoners nobody had heard of, and a governor who made one very bad decision at the end of a very bad day.
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