Important Dates in History

1541    Hernando de Soto discovers the Mississippi River.

1692    Robert Cavalier, Sieur de LaSalle, claims Louisiana, naming it for Louis XIV of France.

1714    Louis Juchereau de St. Denis establishes Fort St. Jean Baptiste (Natchitoches), the first permanent settlement in the Mississippi Valley and what would become the Louisiana Purchase.

1718    New Orleans is founded and named for Phillippe Duc D’Orleans.

1763    Treaty of Paris transfer Louisiana from France to Spain.

1764    Acadian immigrants, who would eventually be known as Cajuns, arrive from Canada.

1800    Treaty of San Ildefonso transfers Louisiana from Spain back to France.

1803    Louisiana is purchased from France by the United States for $15 million.

1812    Louisiana admitted to the Union as the 18th state and adopts its first constitution.

1837    First Mardi Gras parade is held in New Orleans.

1849    Baton Rouge becomes the capital of Louisiana.

1901    The first oil in Louisiana is discovered six miles from Jennings in Jefferson Davis Parish.

1926    The “Great Flood” on the Mississippi River – the worst flood in United States history – devastates 1.3 million acres of land and leaves 300,000 people homeless.

1975    The Louisiana Superdome is completed in New Orleans.

2003     Kathleen Babineaux Blanco elected first female governor in Louisiana history.

2005    Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastate the coast of Louisiana. Katrina was the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history.

2007    Bobby Jindal elected first governor of Indian-American descent in American Tricia Helfer .

2010    The New Orleans Saints defeat the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. The Saints championship was the first in the team’s 43 years as a National Football League franchise.