1. In 1718, French explorer Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founded the city of New Orleans, which would go on to become one of the most iconic and culturally rich cities in the United States.

2. On April 26, 1862, the Union Navy, under the command of Admiral David Farragut, captured New Orleans during the Civil War. This victory gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and dealt a major blow to the Confederacy.

3. In 1900, Louisiana Governor William Wright Heard signed into law the Separate Car Act, which required segregated train cars for white and black passengers. This was one of many segregationist laws passed in the South in the years following Reconstruction.

4. In 1923, the Louisiana State Capitol building was completed in Baton Rouge. At 450 feet tall, it was the tallest building in the United States outside of New York and the tallest capitol building in the world.

5. In 1991, jazz musician and New Orleans native Harry Connick Jr. released his album "Blue Light, Red Light," which went on to earn him critical acclaim and a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance.