On 14 July 1789, Parisian revolutionaries and mutinous troops stormed the Bastille fortress in Paris. The prison held only seven inmates at the time, but symbolised royal tyranny. Its fall is widely regarded as the start of the French Revolution.
France still celebrates Bastille Day as its national holiday. The Revolution that followed dismantled the ancien régime and gave rise to principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity that influenced democratic movements worldwide.