On this day in history: Louisiana claimed for France, 1682

On 9th April, 1682, René-Robert Cavelier claimed the Mississippi basin in the name of the France by erecting a cross and a column, and by burying a inscribed copper plate. He named the region, la Lousiane (Lousiana), in honour of King Louis XIV.

Cavelier, a destitute ex-Jesuit, had travelled in search of a new life in the Americas in 1667. He became an explorer based in what is now Canada and journeyed extensively throughout North America. He was murdered whilst on an expedition in Texas on 19th March, 1687, by mutinous members of his party.

You can read more about Cavelier in his biography on the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online site.

On this day in history: French Protestants granted freedom of worship, 1802

Following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louix XIV in October 1685, Protestant worship was illegal in France. This was the case until they received limited toleration during the French Revolution culminating on 8th April 1802, when Napoleon Bonaparte promulgated the law of 18 Germinal an X, also known as the Organic Articles, which granted full religious tolerance to Protestants.

Under the terms of this legislation there was to be no national synod, rather the law established regional church organisations known as consistoires; there was to be no state within the state. This same law also set down the relationship between the French state and the Catholic church, which was effectively nationalised.

You can read more about the Organic Articles in an article on the Catholic Encyclopedia site.

On this day in history: First modern Olympiad, 1896

On 6th April 1896, the Greek King, George I, officially opened the first summer Olympic games of the modern period, at the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, Greece. The event was the culmination of the work of the French educator and historian, Pierre de Coubertin, who said of the games:

"May joy and good fellowship reign, and in this manner, may the Olympic Torch pursue its way through ages, increasing friendly understanding among nations, for the good of a humanity always more enthusiastic, more courageous and more pure."

You can read more about the 1896 games on the official site of the International Olympic Committee.