New Orleans is known for it’s Cajun culture, rich folklore and history, exceptional music scene, and devastating events like Hurricane Katrina. For all the cities ups and downs this city is a staple of uniquely American culture that puts the city’s cultural melting pot on full, colorful, musical, and historical display. Learn more about it with these four facts.
4 New Orleans Facts
1. New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville. (Source)
What started as a trading camp on the Mississippi River became a fortified community, which later became New Orleans’ famed French Quarter. French history abounds in New Orleans with the French Quarter streets named after French royalty.
2. The first opera in the United States took place in New Orleans. (Source)
While New Orlans is most famous for it’s jazz scene and being the hometown of musicians like Louis Armstrong and Buddy Bolden, it has other reasons for cementing itself music history. The first opera was performed there, a piece called “Sylvain” played in 1796. This paved the way for New Orleans to become the opera capital of North America.
3. New Orleans is the birthplace of Jazz. (Source)
New Orleans native, Charles “Buddy” Bolden was instrumental in the creation of jazz music, credited for creating loud, improvised ragtime pieces mixed with blues, gospel, and the marching band music New Orleans is so known for.
4. New Orleans has the highest rate of firearms homicides. (Source)
Unfortunately, not all New Orleans facts are fun. The city has high crime rates and the county that contains New Orleans has the highest firearms homicide rates in the U.S.
