January
January: The Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès publishes his famous pamphlet, "What is the Third Estate?"
 he writes; "What is the Third Estate?
Everything.
What has it been until now in the political order?
Nothing.
What does it demand to be?
Something."

January 24: King Louis XVI convokes elections for delegates to the Estates-General
February
March
April
April 27: Riots in Paris by workers of the Réveillon wallpaper factory in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine.
Twenty-five workers were killed in battles with police.

May
May 2: Presentation to the King of the Deputies of the Estates-General at Versailles.
The clergy and nobles are welcomed with formal ceremonies and processions,  the Third Estate is not.

May 5: Formal opening of the Estates-General at Versailles.

May 6: The Deputies of the Third Estate refuse to meet separately from the other Estates, occupy the main hall, and invite the clergy and nobility to join them.

May 11: The nobility refuses to meet together with the Third Estate, but the clergy hesitates, and suspends the verification of its deputies.

May 20: The clergy renounces its special tax privileges, and accepts the principle of fiscal equality.

May 22: The nobility renounces its special tax privileges.
 However, the three estates are unable to agree on a common program.

May 25: The Third Estate deputies from Paris, delayed by election procedures, arrive in Versailles.

June
June 3: The scientist Jean Sylvain Bailly is chosen the leader of the Third Estate deputies.

June 4: Upon the death of seven-year-old Louis Joseph Xavier François, Dauphin of France, the eldest son and heir of Louis XVI, his four-year-old brother, Louis-Charles, Duke of Normandy, becomes the new Dauphin.

June 6: The deputies of the nobility reject a compromise program proposed by finance minister Jacques Necker.

June 10: At the suggestion of Sieyès, the Third Estate deputies decide to hold their own meeting, and invite the other Estates to join them.

June 13–14: Nine deputies from the clergy decide to join the meeting of the Third Estate.

June 17: On the proposal of Sieyés, the deputies of the Third Estate declare themselves the National Assembly.
To ensure popular support, they decree that taxes need only be paid while the Assembly is in session.

June 19: By a vote of 149 to 137, the deputies of the clergy join the assembly of the Third Estate.

June 20: On the orders of Louis XVI, the meeting hall of the Third Estate is closed and locked.
At the suggestion of Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, the deputies gather instead in the indoor tennis court, where they swear not to separate until they have given France a new Constitution (the Tennis Court Oath).

June 21: The Royal Council rejects the financial program of Minister Necker.

June 22: The new National Assembly meets in the church of Saint Louis in Versailles.
One hundred fifty deputies from the clergy attend, along with two deputies from the nobility.

June 23: Louis XVI personally addresses the Estates-General (a Séance royale), where he invalidates the decisions of the National Assembly and instructs the three estates to continue to meet separately.
The king departs followed by the Second- and most of the First-Estate deputies, but the Third-Estate deputies remain in the hall.
When the king's master of ceremonies reminds them that Louis has invalidated their decrees, the Comte de Mirabeau, Third-Estate deputy from Aix, boldly shouts that "we are assembled here by the will of the people" and that they would "leave only at the point of a bayonet".

June 25: 48 nobles, headed by Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, join the Assembly.

June 27: Louis XVI reverses course, instructs the nobility and clergy to meet with the other estates, and recognizes the new Assembly.
At the same time, he orders reliable military units, largely composed of Swiss and German mercenaries, to Paris.

June 30: A crowd invades the prison of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and liberates soldiers who had been imprisoned for attending meetings of political clubs.

July
July 6: The National Assembly forms a committee of t
January
January: The Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès publishes his famous pamphlet, "What is the Third Estate?"  he writes; "What is the Third Estate? Everything. What has it been until now in the political order? Nothing. What does it demand to be? Something."
January 24: King Louis XVI convokes elections for delegates to the Estates-General
February
March
April
April 27: Riots in Paris by workers of the Réveillon wallpaper factory in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Twenty-five workers were killed in battles with police.
May
May 2: Presentation to the King of the Deputies of the Estates-General at Versailles. The clergy and nobles are welcomed with formal ceremonies and processions,  the Third Estate is not.
May 5: Formal opening of the Estates-General at Versailles.
May 6: The Deputies of the Third Estate refuse to meet separately from the other Estates, occupy the main hall, and invite the clergy and nobility to join them.
May 11: The nobility refuses to meet together with the Third Estate, but the clergy hesitates, and suspends the verification of its deputies.
May 20: The clergy renounces its special tax privileges, and accepts the principle of fiscal equality.
May 22: The nobility renounces its special tax privileges.  However, the three estates are unable to agree on a common program.
May 25: The Third Estate deputies from Paris, delayed by election procedures, arrive in Versailles.
June
June 3: The scientist Jean Sylvain Bailly is chosen the leader of the Third Estate deputies.
June 4: Upon the death of seven-year-old Louis Joseph Xavier François, Dauphin of France, the eldest son and heir of Louis XVI, his four-year-old brother, Louis-Charles, Duke of Normandy, becomes the new Dauphin.
June 6: The deputies of the nobility reject a compromise program proposed by finance minister Jacques Necker.
June 10: At the suggestion of Sieyès, the Third Estate deputies decide to hold their own meeting, and invite the other Estates to join them.
June 13–14: Nine deputies from the clergy decide to join the meeting of the Third Estate.
June 17: On the proposal of Sieyés, the deputies of the Third Estate declare themselves the National Assembly. To ensure popular support, they decree that taxes need only be paid while the Assembly is in session.
June 19: By a vote of 149 to 137, the deputies of the clergy join the assembly of the Third Estate.
June 20: On the orders of Louis XVI, the meeting hall of the Third Estate is closed and locked. At the suggestion of Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, the deputies gather instead in the indoor tennis court, where they swear not to separate until they have given France a new Constitution (the Tennis Court Oath).
June 21: The Royal Council rejects the financial program of Minister Necker.
June 22: The new National Assembly meets in the church of Saint Louis in Versailles. One hundred fifty deputies from the clergy attend, along with two deputies from the nobility.
June 23: Louis XVI personally addresses the Estates-General (a Séance royale), where he invalidates the decisions of the National Assembly and instructs the three estates to continue to meet separately. The king departs followed by the Second- and most of the First-Estate deputies, but the Third-Estate deputies remain in the hall. When the king's master of ceremonies reminds them that Louis has invalidated their decrees, the Comte de Mirabeau, Third-Estate deputy from Aix, boldly shouts that "we are assembled here by the will of the people" and that they would "leave only at the point of a bayonet".
June 25: 48 nobles, headed by Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, join the Assembly.
June 27: Louis XVI reverses course, instructs the nobility and clergy to meet with the other estates, and recognizes the new Assembly. At the same time, he orders reliable military units, largely composed of Swiss and German mercenaries, to Paris.
June 30: A crowd invades the prison of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and liberates soldiers who had been imprisoned for attending meetings of political clubs.
July
July 6: The National Assembly forms a committee of t
Timeline of the French Revolution