1. In 1812, Louisiana became the 18th state to join the United States. The Louisiana Purchase brought the vast territory under American control, and it took almost two decades to organize and prepare it for statehood.

2. On April 30, 1862, Union forces under General Benjamin Butler captured New Orleans – the largest city in the Confederacy – in a surprise attack. This was a major turning point in the Civil War, as it gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in half.

3. In 1898, Louisiana played a key role in the Spanish-American War when the USS Maine was destroyed in Havana Harbor. Many of the victims were from Louisiana, and the state's governor at the time, Murphy J. Foster, Jr., was a strong advocate for war with Spain.

4. Louisiana has a long and vibrant jazz tradition, with New Orleans being considered the birthplace of the genre. On April 30, 1971, Louis Armstrong – one of the most famous jazz musicians of all time – died in New York City at the age of 70. Armstrong was born in New Orleans and helped popularize jazz around the world.

5. On April 30, 2005, Hurricane Katrina formed in the Atlantic Ocean – a storm that would devastate Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region. The hurricane made landfall on August 29 of that year, causing over 1,800 deaths and billions of dollars in damages. The storm remains one of the costliest and deadliest natural disasters in U.S. history.