The Daguerreotype, a photographic process, was first developed by Joseph Nic�phore Ni�pce and Louis Daguerre. On January 9, 1839, The French Academy of Sciences announced the daguerreotype process. A few months later, on August 19, 1839, the French government announced the invention as a gift "Free to the World".
According to information I gathered over the net, this is the reason 19th August is celebrated as �World Photography Day�. I would have been blissfully ignorant of this little detail, as well as the celebratory day itself, had it not been for an invite which landed in my mail, for the �Google Plus World Photography Day celebration� held at Tote on the Turf, at the Mahalakshmi Race Course, Mumbai.