Events from the year 1855 in France.
Incumbents Monarch – Napoleon III
Events 1 March – Compagnie Générale des Omnibus established to secure a monopoly over horse-drawn omnibuses in Paris. 16 April – Emperor Napoleon III, with Empress Eugénie, begins a 6-day state visit to Britain. 18 April – The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, requested by Napoleon III for the Exposition Universelle (opening 15 May), first appears. 15 May–15 November – Exposition Universelle (an early World's fair) officially opens in Paris. 16 June – Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Ouest formed by amalgamation. 16 August – Battle of Chernaya River: Russian troops are defeated by French and Sardinian forces in the Crimean War. 18 August – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, with Prince Albert, begins a 10-day state visit to Paris, the first visit of a reigning British monarch to France since 1413. While there, she visits the Exposition Universelle. 7 September – Battle of Malakoff, French victory over Russian forces, part of the siege of Sevastopol in the Crimean War. 11 September – Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) ends in Franco-British victory. 17 October – Battle of Kinburn (Crimean War) – Combined French and British forces subdue Russian shore forts. The successful use of French floating batteries makes this the first use of modern ironclad warships in action. 17 December – London General Omnibus Company established in Paris as the Compagnie Générale des Omnibus de Londres; in the following year it will absorb a substantial proportion of horse-drawn omnibus operators in London. Undated – Réunion des Organismes d'Assurance Mutuelle (ROAM) association is founded.
Births 20 January – Ernest Chausson, composer (died 1899) 15 February – Jean-Joseph Carriès, sculptor, ceramist, and miniaturist (died 1894) 18 February – Jean Jules Jusserand, author and diplomat (died 1932) 16 March – Achille Maffre de Baugé, poet (died 1928) 27 April – Caroline Rémy de Guebhard, socialist, journalist and feminist (died 1929) 27 September – Paul Émile Appell, mathematician (died 1930) 5 November – Léon Teisserenc de Bort, meteorologist (died 1913) 10 November – Alexandre Darracq, automobile manufacturer (died 1931)
Deaths 15 January – Henri Braconnot, chemist and pharmacist (born 1780) 26 January – Gérard de Nerval, poet, essayist and translator (born 1808) 3 March Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure, lawyer and Prime Minister (born 1767) Antoine-Geneviève-Héraclius-Agénor de Gramont, aristocrat (born 1789) 18 April – Jean-Baptiste Isabey, painter (born 1767) 26 May – Jean Isidore Harispe, Marshal of France (born 1768) 10 June – Jacques-Jean Barre, engraver (born 1793) 22 July – Raymond Gayrard, sculptor (born 1807) 23 October – François André Michaux, botanist (born 1770) 25 November – Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart, entomologist (born 1778) 2 December – Frédéric Berat, poet and songwriter (born 1801)
The arts 15 May–15 November – The Exposition Universelle includes a retrospective of the paintings of Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Gustave Courbet, having had several paintings rejected for the Exposition, exhibits in a temporary "Pavillon du Réalisme" adjacent. 13 June – Verdi's opera Les vêpres siciliennes (The Sicilian Vespers) is premiered in Paris. 5 July – Jacques Offenbach inaugurates performances of operettas as director of his own Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens. October – Victor Hugo moves to Hauteville House, Saint Peter Port, Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, accompanied by his mistress, Juliette Drouet. Jean-François Millet produces the engraving "Study of a Woman Churning Butter".
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