The Bastille was a prison and fortress built in the 14th century to protect Paris's eastern entrance. At the height of its use, it held political prisoners, but by 1789, it was mostly vacant except for supplies like gunpowder. In fact, the Bastille was supposed to be demolished and replaced with a town square. Revolutionaries had other ideas, though—they wanted to get at that gunpowder, so they stormed the Bastille on July 14, 1789, losing about 100 people in the process. However, they ended up winning the day and proceeded to execute the Bastille's governor and dismantle the building entirely. Interestingly enough, they don't even call it Bastille Day in France—they use la Fête nationale or le 14 juillet.