<Li> 10 November 1793: the Festival of Reason . </Li> <Ul> <Li> 2 December 1804: the coronation ceremony of Napoleon I and his wife Joséphine, with Pope Pius VII officiating . </Li> <Li> 1831: The novel The Hunchback of Notre - Dame was published by French author Victor Hugo . </Li> <Li> 1900: Louis Vierne is appointed organist of Notre - Dame de Paris after a heavy competition (with judges including Charles - Marie Widor) against the 500 most talented organ players of the era . On 2 June 1937 Louis Vierne dies at the cathedral organ (as was his lifelong wish) near the end of his 1750th concert . </Li> <Li> 11 February 1931: Antonieta Rivas Mercado shot herself at the altar with a pistol property of her lover Jose Vasconcelos . She died instantly . </Li> <Li> 26 August 1944: The Te Deum Mass takes place in the cathedral to celebrate the liberation of Paris . (According to some accounts the Mass was interrupted by sniper fire from both the internal and external galleries .) </Li> <Li> 12 November 1970: The Requiem Mass of General Charles de Gaulle is held . </Li> <Li> 26 June 1971: Philippe Petit surreptitiously strings a wire between the two towers of Notre - Dame and tight - rope walks across it . Petit later performed a similar act between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center . </Li> <Li> 31 May 1980: After the Magnificat of this day, Pope John Paul II celebrates Mass on the parvis of the cathedral . </Li> <Li> January 1996: The Requiem Mass of François Mitterrand is held . </Li> <Li> 10 August 2007: The Requiem Mass of Cardinal Jean - Marie Lustiger, former Archbishop of Paris and famous Jewish convert to Catholicism, is held . </Li> <Li> 12 December 2012: The Notre - Dame Cathedral begins a year long celebration of the 850th anniversary of the laying of the first building block for the cathedral . </Li> <Li> 21 May 2013: Around 1,500 visitors were evacuated from Notre - Dame Cathedral after Dominique Venner, a historian, placed a letter on the Church altar and shot himself . He died immediately . </Li> <Li> 8 September 2016: Notre Dame Cathedral bombing attempt . Arrests made after an explosives - filled car was discovered parked alongside the cathedral . </Li> <Li> 10 February 2017 Police arrested 4 people in Montpellier, France, including a 16 - year - old girl and a 20 - year - old man already known by authorities to have ties to extremist Islamist organizations, on charges of plotting to travel to Paris and attack the cathedral . </Li> <Li> 6 June 2017 2017 Notre Dame attack Lone attacker armed with hammer arrested for attacking police officer outside the Cathedral . </Li> </Ul> <Li> 2 December 1804: the coronation ceremony of Napoleon I and his wife Joséphine, with Pope Pius VII officiating . </Li> <Li> 1831: The novel The Hunchback of Notre - Dame was published by French author Victor Hugo . </Li>

Why is the cathedral of notre dame considered an important landmark in music history