• 1765 : Birth of Joseph Niépce in Chalon-sur-Saône (he will change his name to Nicephore later). His father is a King counseller and deposits collector for Chalonnais.He has one sister & two brothers.

• 1786 : Joseph studies in Angers at the Oratorian Brothers. Physics and Chemistry are his passions.

• 1788 : Leaves the Oratoire and enlists in the National Guard in Chalon-sur-Saône ;
He signs his letters using Nicephore as a first name.

Niépce young

French Revolution
• 1789 : French Revolution

• 1792 : Enlistment in the Revolutionary Army (south of France & Sardinia campaigns).

• 1794 : Nicephore leaves the Army and lives in Nice. He gets married. His elder brother Claude comes to join him.

• 1795 : Birth of his son Isidore


• 1797 : Travels to Sardinia with his family and his brother. It is believed that during this journey Nicephore and his brother first had the idea of Photography .

• 1798 : Back in Nice, the two brothers perform their first inventors’ projects and work toward the development of a new engine principle based on air expansion during an explosion.

• 1801 : Nicephore, his family and Claude travel back to Chalon-sur Saône where they manage the familial estate that had been managed by Nicephore Niépce’s mother since her husband’death in 1785.

• 1807 : The two brothers obtain a ten-year patent, signed by Napoleon , for their engine, which they name Pyreolophore. It is the first internal combustion engine in the world. A boat model two meters long goes upstream on the Saône river against the current with this engine.

• 1807 - 1809 : Elaboration of a project for a hydraulic pump to replace the Marly machine that provided water to the Château de Versailles.