Places & Events > Cities
New Orleans
1682: The French lay claim to the land at the mouth of the Mississippi River and the upriver Louisiana territory.
Mardi Gras Day, 1699: French Canadian Pierre D'Iberville establishes a camp called Point du Mardi Gras (Mardi Gras Point) 60 miles below the present-day New Orleans.
1718: The city of New Orleans is founded by the French as La Nouvelle-Orléans. It is named for Philip II, Duke of Orléans, the king of France at the time.
1722: New Orleans becomes the capital of French Louisiana, replacing Biloxi.
1724: Jews are officially forbidden to enter New Orleans. Despite this, many Jews are able to enter by not admitting to being Jewish.
1762: France cedes New Orleans to Spain under the Treaty of Fontainebleau.
1788: The Great Fire destroys many of the French-built structures in the original French Quarter of the city.
1795: A second fire destroys much of the remaining French architecture. The Spanish rebuild using Spanish colonial architecture.
1795: The United States is granted "Right of Deposit" in New Orleans, allowing them to use the city's port facilities.
1801: Louisiana reverts back to French control after Napoleon regains the territory under a treaty agreement with Spain.
1803: Napoleon sells the Louisiana territory to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase.
1812: The War of 1812 brings British forces who try to conquer New Orleans.
Jan. 8, 1815: The British are defeated by Andrew Jackson and his army in the Battle of New Orleans.
1830s: The population of New Orleans doubles.
1840: The population is approximately 102,000, making it the fourth largest city in the United States at the time.
1849: Loses its status as the capital of Louisiana to
1853: During the Great Scourge of 1853, almost 10,000 New Orleans citizens die from yellow fever.
1865: Once again becomes the capital of Louisiana.
1872: The official Mardi Gras colors - purple, green, and gold - are chosen by the King of Carnival, Rex. Purple stands for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.
1880: Loses its status as the capital of Louisiana to
1884: New Orleans hosts the 1884 World's Fair, The World Cotton Centennial.
1910s: A. Baldwin Wood, an engineer and investory, oversees his plan to drain the city and install large pumps to drain rainwater from the canals into Lake Pontchartrain. The drainage allows the city to expand.
1920s: The old cast-iron balconies are removed from Canal Street in an attempt to modernize the city.
1960s: The Canal Streetcar Line is replaced with buses.
1984: New Orleans hosts its second World's Fair, the Louisiana World Exposition.
1990s: Streetcars are restored to a section of Canal Street.
Dec. 14, 1996: The Bright Field freightliner/bulk cargo vessel crashes into the Riverwalk mall and hotel complex on Poydras Street Wharf, injuring 116 people, and destroying 15 shops and 456 hotel rooms.
Jan. 6, 1997: The freightliner is finally removed from the crash site.
April 2004: Contruction to restore the entire Canal Street streetcar line is completed.
Aug. 27, 2005: Mayor Ray Nagin calls for a voluntary evacuation of New Orleans
Aug. 28, 2005: Hurricane Katrina reaches a Category 5 intensity.
Sept. 24, 2005: Hurricane Rita makes landfall in Texas. The eastern bands of the storm cause flooding in already-devastated New Orleans.
Aug. 29, 2005: Hurricane Katrina makes landfall on the Gulf Coast, with the eye hitting just east of New Orleans.
Oct. 5, 2005: Mayor Ray Nagin holds a press conference to announce that, due to the financial crisis caused by Katrina, 3,000 city employees will lose their jobs.