1) On December 1, 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was finalized, officially transferring Louisiana territory from France to the United States for $15 million.
2) On December 1, 1831, the first issue of the New Orleans Picayune, one of the oldest newspapers in the United States, was published.
3) On December 1, 1935, the Huey P. Long Bridge, spanning the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, was completed. It was named after Louisiana's governor at the time, and is still one of the longest cantilever bridges in the world.
4) On December 1, 1955, civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, sparking the Civil Rights Movement. Although this did not happen in Louisiana, the state played a significant role in the movement as well.
5) On December 1, 2005, Hurricane Katrina Relief Bill was signed into law by President Bush, allocating $29 billion in federal funds for Louisiana's recovery efforts after the devastating hurricane that hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region in August of that year.