La Nouvelle-Orléans was founded in the spring of 1718 and named after the Regent of France at the time, who was also the Duke of Orléans – the French city from which New Orleans takes its name.
The French colony was then ceded to the Spanish empire in 1763 and remained Spanish until the beginning of the 19th century.
Nearly all of the architecture in the famous French Quarter was built in this period.
New Orleans fell back under the control of France with Napoleon Bonaparte now in command of a French republic.
But Napoleon sold Louisiana in 1803 to the United States for $15M, roughly equivalent to $245M in today’s money.
The sale included much more than what we know today as Louisiana.
It also included Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska – as well as parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, Texas, Montanta, Wyoming and Colorado.
La Nouvelle-Orléans was founded in the spring of 1718 and named after the Regent of France at the time, who was also the Duke of Orléans – the French city from which New Orleans takes its name. Pictured: A carnival in the city in 1885
The staggering deal doubled the size of the United States, with New Orleans at the heart of the new province.
In 1812, British forces fought the young nation of the USA in the Battle of New Orleans, where General Andrew Jackson led a ragtag army to a great victory.
During the American Civil War, New Orleans was captured early on by the Union Army, meaning it was spared the destruction suffered by many cities in the South.
After the abolition of slavery in the United States, New Orleans was host to a struggle for civil rights as the large black population fought against institutionalized racism.
Ruby Bridges was the first African-American child to attend a desegregated school in New Orleans in 1960.
As the years passed, the French language slowly died in the city, but as late as the 1930s there were old women who still spoke only French and knew no English.
In the 21st century, New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Katrina, a catastrophic event that led to floodwalls and levees failing and leaving 80 per cent of the city flooded.
An estimated 1,500 people died in Louisiana, most of them in New Orleans.