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History 410 St Honorat settles on the isle of LÉrins 427 Isle of LÉrins expands to become an important monastery 11th C Monks of St Honorat build a tower-keep on Le Suquet hill to defend themselves against the Saracen pirates 11th C First appearance of the name 'Cannes' 1356 Fishermen from Cannes defend their rights to fish in the bay of La Napoule 1441-53 Lord Abbot's statutes regulate Cannes' fishing 1635 Spaniards take control of St Honorat for two years and expel the monks 1687-98 Imprisonment of the 'Man in the Iron Mask' in the Fort prison on Ile Ste Marguerite 1787 Monastery on St Honorat is dissolved 1793 Fishermen of Cannes found the Fisheries Court of Cannes 1834 Lord Henry Brougham, Chancellor of Great Britain, discovers Cannes, heralding the birth of winter tourism here 1838 Construction of the Vieux Port (Old Port) 1838 French aristocracy discover Cannes 1846 AllÉes de la Marine are planted with date palms, acacias, elms and micocouliers. This is the first mention of palm trees in Cannes 1859 Creation of the yachting club 1859 Cistercian community of SÉnanque refounds a community on St Honorat 1865 Foundation of the SociÉtÉ de l'Avenir de Cannes (Association for the Future of Cannes) to defend winter residents and promote tourism 1865 Prosper MÉrimÉe begins to visit Cannes to cure his asthma 1868 La Croisette is built 1878 Cannes becomes a 'Health Resort' as physicians declare its climate beneficial 1880 The first mimosa plants arrive from Australia 1883 Dr Buttura publishes Winter in Cannes and Le Cannet advocating the city's restorative qualities 1887 Writer/poet Stephen LiÉgard invents the term 'Côte d'Azur' 1907 Construction of the winter casino (present location of the Palais des Festivals) 1910-30 Period of major hotel construction 1929 Construction of the Palm Beach (summer casino) 1930 Beginning of the summer season in Cannes 1931 Managers of leading hotels in Cannes make the joint decision to stay open in the summer 1939 First Film Festival planned but annulled by outbreak of World War II 1960s Cannes becomes a leading centre of business tourism 1982 Opening of the present Palais des Festivals et des Congrès 1989 Palais Croisette is destroyed 1992 Opening of Noga Hilton on La Croisette 1992 Vladimir Gaudrat is elected Abbot of LÉrins 1998 Construction of the extension to the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès: the Espace Riviera Cannes Film Festival History 1939 First Cannes Film Festival is scheduled for 1 September - postponed due to World War II 20 Sep 1946 First Cannes Film Festival takes place; 18 countries are represented 12 Sep 1947 Second Film Festival begins in the purpose-built Palais. Occasionally it rains inside 1948 & 1950 No festival due to lack of funding 1952 Palais is completed and inaugurated on 23 April 1953 Brigitte Bardot charms all at the festival 1955 The Grand Prix International is renamed the Palme d'Or 1956 François Mitterand inaugurates the 10th Anniversary Festival on 23 April 1962 La Croisette is doubled in size by extending the beach 1963 Marcel Pagnol, author of Jean de Florette, exclaims, 'Cinema is dead; long live television' 1965 Olivia de Havilland is the first woman to preside over the jury 1968 Festival is closed due to May 1968 uprising 1978 Gilles Jacob creates an official non-competitive section called Un Certain Regard and the Camera d'Or, an award for a first feature film 1984 Stars are asked to leave handprints in the clay outside the Palais 1986 The ship from Roman Polanski's film, Pirates, anchors in Cannes bay 1997 50th anniversary of the Film Festival 1998 Standing ovation for Erick Zonka, director of the hugely successful film The Dream Life of Angels |