1804 in France

Incumbents

• French Consulate then Napoleon I

Events

• 21 March - The Napoleonic Code entered into force, forbidding privileges based on birth, allowing freedom of religion, and specifying that government jobs should go to the most qualified
• 14 May - Napoleon Bonaparte was given the title of Emperor by the French Senate.
• 18 May - First French Empire established.
• 2–3 October - Raid on Boulogne
• November - Constitutional referendum concerning the establishment of the French Empire
• 2 December - Coronation of Napoleon I

Births

• 3 October - Allan Kardec, writer
• 19 October - Francisque Joseph Duret, sculptor
• 24 December - Édouard Chassaignac, surgeon

Deaths

• 28 February - Marie Louise Marcadet, opera singer and actress
• 20 September - Pierre Méchain, astronomer
• 2 October - Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, inventor
• 15 October - Antoine Baumé, chemist
• 2 November - Armand-Gaston Camus, revolutionist
• 1 December - Philippe le Bon, engineer