Bastille Day in France

On July 14, 1789, ordinary citizens of France stormed the Bastille prison and freed prisoners held there. The event has come to symbolize the opening salvo in the French Revolution. One year later, France celebrated the establishment of a short-lived constitutional monarchy in Fête de la Fédération. The anniversary, Bastille Day, is celebrated today as a major French national holiday.

Learn more about Bastille Day from the Government of France.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US signed peace treaty with Germany ending World War I

On August 25, 1921, the United States, which never ratified the Versailles Treaty ending World War I, finally signed its own peace treaties with Germany, Austria and Hungary.

Former East Germany leader convicted of manslaughter for Berlin Wall policy

On August 25, 1997, Egon Krenz, the former of East Germany was convicted of manslaughter for promulgating a policy of shooting any East Germans who attempted to cross the Berlin Wall. Krenz was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison, of which he served four before being released into retirement from political life.