What Day Is July 14? Bastille Day and the French Revolution
July 14 is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years). With 170 days remaining, it marks Bastille Day — France's national holiday, commemorating the 1789 storming of the Bastille prison.
About July 14
July 14 is the 195th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (196th in leap years). There are 170 days remaining until the end of the year. It is France’s most important public holiday and one of the defining dates in Western political history.
The Significance of July 14
On July 14, 1789, a crowd of roughly 900 Parisians stormed the Bastille, a fortress prison that had become a symbol of royal tyranny. Only seven prisoners were held there at the time, but the act itself — seizing the garrison, killing the governor, and parading his head through the streets — signaled that the old order had cracked. The French Republic celebrates Bastille Day every year with a military parade down the Champs-Élysées and fireworks at the Eiffel Tower. Born on this day in 1913, Gerald Ford went on to become the only person in U.S. history to serve as both vice president and president without winning a national election for either.
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On This Day in History
- 1789An armed crowd stormed the Bastille prison in Paris, marking the symbolic start of the French Revolution and launching an era that reshaped modern governance.
- 1913Gerald Ford was born in Nebraska. He became the 38th President of the United States — the only person to serve as president without being elected president or vice president.
Baby Names for This Day
July 14 falls under Cancer. Names tied to freedom, loyalty, and the public good:
- LibertéGirl
Freedom — the first word of the French Revolutionary motto.
- GeraldBoy
Old German: 'ruler with the spear' — Gerald Ford was born July 14, 1913.
- MarionUnisex
Gerald Ford's birth name was Leslie Lynch King Jr., later taking his stepfather's name; Marion was an early nickname.
- BastilleUnisex
The fortress whose fall changed history — now a word for breaking oppression.
- HugoBoy
Victor Hugo, who wrote about revolutionary France, was born in 1802.
- CamilleUnisex
Camille Desmoulins gave a speech the day before the Bastille's fall that helped spark the crowd into action.
Frequently Asked Questions
What day is July 14?add
July 14 is Bastille Day — France's national holiday commemorating the 1789 storming of the Bastille, the symbolic start of the French Revolution.
What number day of the year is July 14?add
July 14 is the 195th day of the year, or the 196th in leap years, with 170 days remaining.
What sign is July 14?add
July 14 falls under the sign of Cancer.