1756 in France

Incumbents

• Monarch - Louis XV

  Events

• 12 April - French invasion of Minorca, at this time under British control.
• 1 May - Treaty of Versailles.
• 18 May - The Seven Years' War formally begins when Great Britain declares war on France.
• 20 May - Battle of Minorca: The French fleet under Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière defeats the British under John Byng.
• 29 June - The 2-month Siege of Fort St Philip at Port Mahon ends when the British garrison in Minorca surrenders to the French after two months' siege by Armand de Vignerot du Plessis.
• 14 August - French and Indian War: Fort Oswego falls to the French.

  Arts and literature

• François Boucher paints portraits of Madame de Pompadour.
• The Vincennes porcelain factory moves to Sèvres as the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres.

  Births

• 3 January - Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve, writer and politician
• 23 May - Charles Clément Balvay, engraver.
• 28 November - Marie-Madeleine Postel, Roman Catholic saint
• 24 December - Joseph François Augustin Monneron, banker and politician
• Full date missing - Antoine-François Momoro, printer, bookseller and politician

  Deaths

• 27 June - Marie Sallé, dancer and choreographer
• 16 April - Jacques Cassini, astronomer