16 June – 108 die as two passenger trains hit debris of a collapsed railway tunnel near Soissons.
1 July – Canadian ketch Vega, flying the Greenpeace III banner, collides with the French naval minesweeper La Paimpolaise while in international waters to protest French nuclear weapon tests in the South Pacific.
5 July – President Pompidou dismisses prime minister Chaban-Delmas following rumours of financial misdoing.[1]
October – The Peugeot 104, the smallest four-door car in the world, is launched.[3]
28 October – The first flight of the Airbus A300, the first airliner built by Airbus.
19 November – Almost 2,000 people demonstrate in support of Saïd and Faouzia Bouziri at the square within Quartier de La Chapelle, forcing the expulsion order to be dropped[4]