On what date was King Louis XVI executed by guillotine?

King Louis XVI was executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793. The execution took place at the Place de la Révolution in Paris, after the National Convention convicted the former king of treason and condemned him to death.

Louis had ceased to be king when the monarchy was abolished in September 1792. His trial became one of the Revolution's defining political confrontations: revolutionaries argued that his attempted escape, foreign contacts, and resistance to revolutionary measures made him a danger to the republic.

The executioner was Charles-Henri Sanson, who had previously served as royal executioner. Louis reportedly proclaimed his innocence and concern for France from the scaffold, but drums drowned out much of his speech. The guillotine blade fell at approximately 10:22 a.m.

Several dates are commonly confused with this event. Marie Antoinette was executed on 16 October 1793, while Maximilien Robespierre died on 28 July 1794. The storming of the Bastille occurred earlier, on 14 July 1789, nearly three and a half years before Louis's execution.