1907 - Pierre Mendès France, born on the 11th of January in Paris, France. He was a1982), French politician, was born in Paris, into a family of Portuguese Sephardic Jewish origin (Mendes de França).
1924 - He joined the Radical Socialist Party, the traditional party of the French middle-class centre-left (not to be confused with the mainstream socialist party of the time, the SFIO).
1928 - He was educated at the University of Paris, graduating with a doctorate in law and becoming the youngest member of the Paris Bar association.
1932 - Was elected to the National Assembly as a deputy for the Eure département; he was the Assembly's youngest member.
1936 - Popular Front government of Léon Blum, he was appointed Secretary of State for Finance.
1942 - He was arrested by the Vichy government authorities and sentenced to six years' imprisonment on a fallacious charge of desertion.
1956 - He served as Minister of State in the cabinet headed by the SFIO leader Guy Mollet, but resigned over the issue of Algeria, which was coming to dominate French politics.
1958 - Opposed de Gaulle's seizure of power in May, when the mounting crisis in Algeria brought about a breakdown in the Fourth Republic system and the creation of a Fifth Republic.
1959 - He was expelled from the Radical Party, whose majority faction supported de Gaulle.
1967 - Returned to the Assembly as a PSU member for the Isère.
1982 - Died on the 18th of October.
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