The Place de la Concorde is the largest public square in Paris, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. It was designed by the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel as a royal square for Louis XV, with an equestrian statue of the king in the center, and was finished in the 1770s. During the French Revolution the statue was torn down, the square was renamed and the guillotine was set up there, and Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were among those executed on it. It took its present name in the 1790s as a sign of reconciliation. In the center stands the Luxor Obelisk, a gift from the Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali, erected in 1836.
Before and after
- 1771Discovery of oxygen
- 1771Arkwright opens Cromford Mill, the first modern factory
- 15 August 1771Birth of Walter Scott
- 1772Discovery of barium
- 1772Construction of place de la Concorde
- 1772Discovery of nitrogen
- 8 March 1772Discovery of Biela's Comet
- 18 April 1772Birth of David Ricardo
- 21 October 1772Birth of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
More in Art, literature & culture
- from 18th century to 19th centuryRomanticism
- 1830Publication of Book of Mormon
- 1890Rise of Art Nouveau
- c. 1900sRise of Expressionism
- 1907Rise of cubism
- c. 1910sRise of Dada
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 18th century.