May 7th

On this day - may 7th 1664 - Construction of Palace of Versailles was started 

Construction of Palace of Versailles was started by King Louis XIV of France in 1664. The Palace is about 20 km outside of France and one of the biggest palaces in the world. The building was the center for French politics between 1682 and 1789 and it was expanded several times during this period. The first building period started in 1664 and lasted until 1668. The royal family lived in the palace at this time, and the palace came to be seen as a symbol of monarchy during the French revolution. The palace is still used for french political meetings today, as well as it being a major turist attraction.

April 12th

On this day - April 12th 1992 - Disneyland Paris opened 

Disneyland Paris is a theme park 32 km outside of Paris in France. The plans for a European theme parked emerged in 1972. Construction started in 1988 and it took four years to finish the park. It was the fourth Disney park to be built after California, Florida and Tokyo. When the park opened in 1992 was the name "Euro Disney Resort", but Disneyland soon discovered that "Euro" didn't sound as exciting for Europeans as for Americans, and the name was changed. As many people as 90 thousand was expected to visit the par on the first day of its opening. Only 25 thousand actually did and the park struggled financially in the beginning. It was able to adjust to the European market in the next few years after its opening and the park is one of Europe's most visited theme park today.