Timeline of Brest, France

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Brest, France.

Prior to 20th century

1060s – Moat dug around the Château de Brest (approximate date).
1240 - Ceded by a count of Léon to John I, Duke of Brittany
14th C. – Tour Tanguy built (approximate date).
1342 – 18 August: Battle of Brest (1342).
1386 - Siege of Brest (1386)
16th C. Château de Brest construction concluded.^[1]
1512 – 10 August: Naval Battle of Saint-Mathieu occurs offshore.
1631 - Richelieu constructed a harbour with wooden wharves.^[1]
1680/88 - Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban fortified the harbour.^[1]
1694 - (18 June) Battle of Camaret, an English squadron under John Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton, was miserably defeated.^[1]
1702 – Saint-Louis de Brest Church consecrated.
1749 – Saint-Sauveur Church built in Recouvrance.
1751 – Brest Prison built.
1752 – Académie de Marine founded.^[2]
1783 – Questel Fort built.
1784 – Fort Montbarey built.
1793
- 2 January: Childers Incident occurs in the Goulet de Brest.
- Population: 24,180.
1794 - French fleet, under Villaret de Joyeuse, was beaten by the English Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
1805 – Prison de Pontaniou [fr] built.
1848
- Phare du Petit Minou and Phare du Portzic (lighthouses) built.
- Lycée de Brest [fr] (school) founded.
1851 – Chamber of Commerce established.^[3]

Brest in c. 1700

1858
- Nantes-Brest canal begins operating.
- Société académique de Brest [fr] founded.
1861 – Pont National (swing-bridge) built.
1865 – Paris–Brest railway begins operating.
1876 – Population: 66,828.^[4]
1882 – Société de géographie de Brest founded.^[2]
1886
- La Dépêche de Brest [fr] newspaper begins publication.^[5]
- Population: 70,778.^[6]
1898 – Brest tramway begins operating.

1903 – Tramways Électrique du Finistère begins operating.
1905 – AS Brestoise [fr] football club formed.
1911 – Population: 90,540.^[7]
1930 – Plougastel Bridge built near city.
1932 – Gare de Brest built.
1939 – Augustin-Morvan Hospital [fr] built.
1940
- World War II [fr] begins.
- Gegen Engeland German-language newspaper begins publication.
1942 – Brest submarine base [fr] built in the Arsenal.
1944
- August: Battle for Brest begins.
- 9 September: Sadi-Carnot explosion [fr].
- 18 September: Germans ousted by Allied forces.^[8]
1947
- 28 July: Ocean Liberty explosion [fr].
- Brest trolleybus [fr] begins operating.
1951 – Pont de l'Harteloire (bridge) built.
1954
- Pont de Recouvrance (bridge) built.
- Société d'études de Brest et du Léon [fr] founded.^[2]
1957 – Bibus [fr] regional transit network created.
1958 – St. Louis Church, Brest [fr] rebuilt.
1959 – Georges Lombard [fr] becomes mayor.
1961 – Hôtel de Ville completed.^[9]^[10]
1970 – University of Western Brittany founded.^[11]
1973 - Rïnkla Stadium built.
1974 - Urban Community of Brest established.
1975 - Population: 166,826.
1976 – Dialogues (bookshop) [fr] in business.
1982
- Pierre Maille becomes mayor.
- Brest becomes part of the Brittany (administrative region).
1986 – Brest European Short Film Festival begins.
1997 – Socialist Party national congress held in Brest.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Britannica 1910.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Sociétés savantes de France (Brest)" (in French). Paris: Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
^ United States Department of Commerce; Archibald J. Wolfe (1915). "List of Chambers". Commercial Organizations in France. USA: Government Printing Office.
^ "France". Statesman's Year-Book. London: Macmillan and Co. 1882. hdl:2027/nyp.33433081590428.
^ A. de Chambure (1914). A travers la presse (in French). Paris: Fert, Albouy & cie.
^ "France: Area and Population: Principal Towns". Statesman's Year-Book. London: Macmillan and Co. 1890. hdl:2027/nyp.33433081590527.
^ "France: Area and Population: Principal Towns". Statesman's Year-Book. London: Macmillan and Co. 1921. hdl:2027/njp.32101072368440.
^ "Brest". Encyclopédie Larousse (in French). Éditions Larousse. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
^ "Medal – Ville de Brest". Numista. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
^ "Hôtel de Ville de Brest". PSS Architecture. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
^ Walter Rüegg [in German], ed. (2011). "Universities founded in Europe between 1945 and 1995". Universities Since 1945. History of the University in Europe. Vol. 4. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-49425-0.

This article incorporates information from the French Wikipedia.

"Brest". Handbook for Travellers in France. London: John Murray. 1861.
C.B. Black (1876). "Brest". Guide to the North of France. Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black.
"Brest". Northern France. Leipsic: Karl Baedeker. 1899. OCLC 2229516.
"Brest" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). 1910. p. 500.
Benjamin Vincent (1910), "Brest", Haydn's Dictionary of Dates (25th ed.), London: Ward, Lock & Co., hdl:2027/loc.ark:/13960/t89g6g776

Eusèbe Girault de Saint-Fargeau [in French] (1850). "Brest". Guide pittoresque: portatif et complet, du voyageur en France (in French) (3rd ed.). Paris: Firmin Didot frères [fr]. p. 244. hdl:2027/uiug.30112081968700.
Joanne, Paul (1890). "Brest". Bretagne. Guides Joanne (in French).
"Brest". L'Armorique. À la France: sites et monuments (in French). Paris: Touring-Club de France. 1903. OCLC 457600236.