- He was eldest son of French merchant Jean Calas.
1762 - His death occurred under mysterious circumstances, and his father was tortured to death on a breaking wheel on the 10th of March after being convicted of killing his son.
- Many believed Calas' motive was to keep his son from converting to Catholicism, and the case was taken up by Voltaire, who began a successful campaign to get Calas' sentence overturned.