An apocryphal comment by Louis XV, but perhaps the dismissal of Turgot, Calonne, Brienne, or Necker (that is the rearrangement of the chairs on the deck of the Titannic) might be the better historical metaphor to today's news from Egypt.
- 1776 Louis XVI dismisses his finance minister, Turgot
- 1786 August 20: Finance minister Calonne informs Louis that the royal finances are insolvent
- April 8: Louis dismisses both Calonne & the keeper of the seals, or minister of justice, Miromesnil, in an attempt to break the impasse.
- April 30: The Archbishop of Toulouse & vocal leader of the higher clergy, Loménie de Brienne is appointed chief minister of state
- 1788 June: Outcry over the enforced reforms ensues, & courts across France refuse to sit
- July 5: Brienne begins to consider calling an Estates-General
- Late August: Brienne resigns, & Jacques Necker replaces him as Minister of Finance.
- 1789 June 30: Large crowd storms left bank prison & frees mutinous French Guards
- July 11: Necker dismissed by Louis; populace sack the monasteries, ransack aristocrats homes in search of food & weapons
- July 14: Storming of the Bastille(adapted from Timeline of the French Revolution)
- 2011 Jan. 29. Mubarak appoints the former head of Egyptian military intelligence (Omar Suleiman) his vice president (and therefore likely successor). He appoints the Air Force Chief of Staff (Ahmad Shafiq) as prime minister. ("Mubarak’s Response to Demand for end of Military Rule," 01/29/2011, Informed Comment by Juan Cole)
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