March 21, 1788 Almost the entire city was destroyed by fire

Almost the entire city of New Orleans, Louisiana, was destroyed by fire on March 21, 1788.

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  • Today in New Orleans History
    • August 18, 1988 Republican National Convention in the Super Dome
    • 1800 Oct. 1, Spain ceded Louisiana to France in a secret treaty.
    • 1802 Apr 19, Spain reopened the New Orleans port to American merchants.
    • 1803 Dec 20, The Louisiana Purchase was completed
    • 1803 Dec 30, The United States took possession of the Louisiana area from France at New Orleans
    • 1803- American troops arrive in New Orleans.
    • 1803 Declaration...the town of Bayou St. John shall be a port of delivery
    • 1803 New Orleanians Become Americans
    • 1804 Louisiana Purchase was divided into Territories of
    • 1804 - The first English language newspaper in New Orleans
    • 1805 Jul 25, Aaron Burr visited New Orleans with plans to establish a new country, with New Orleans as the capital city.
    • 1806 Andrew Jackson Duel
    • 1806 Norbert Rillieux is Born
    • 1812 Louisians Becomes a State
    • 1812 The first steamboat arrived in New Orleans
    • 1814 - Battle of New Orleans
    • 1814 - General Andrew Jackson announces martial law in New Orleans
    • 1814 Andrew Jackson Arrives in New Orleans
    • 1814 British Use Fireworks in The Battle of New Orleans
    • 1814 The Steamboat New Orleans Sinks
    • 1815 The Battle of New Orleans
    • 1816 -- 1st double decked steamboat, Washington, arrives in New Orleans
    • 1816 - Jacques Philippe Villere - Governor
    • 1816 The town of Covington is Chartered
    • 1818 Garbage Boat
    • 1819 Coffee Ad
    • 1823 Overcrowded Jails
    • 1830 The Pontchartrain Railroad is Chartered
    • 1831 - First
    • 1831 The Pontchartrain Railroad begins running on what is now the Elysian Fields Avenue neutral ground
    • 1832 Schooner Robert Burns Sails to New Orleans
    • 1832 The Pontchartrain Railroad
    • 1834 Madame Lalaurie's Legend
    • 1835 The Medical College of Lousiana Opens--Later Becomes Tulane University
    • 1837 A New Jail
    • 1839 Debtors Prison
    • 1844 - Union Forces Advance toward New Orleans
    • 1851 Passenger List
    • 1854 The Great State Post Stakes
    • 1855 Rematch of at the Metairie Race Track
    • 1857 Comus, the god of revelry, became the first New Orleans Mardi Gras parade
    • 1860 Fireworks Drive Man Crazy
    • 1861 - a
    • 1861 - Free Negroes of the City meet and then tender their services to the Confederate Government
    • 1862 Gen. Benjamin “Beast” Butler orders Mrs. Philip Philips imprisoned on Ship Island
    • 1862 - Harper's Weekly Illustration
    • 1862 - Women's Order
    • 1862 Henriette Delille Dies
    • 1862 The Capture of New Orleans
    • 1862, New Orleans fell to Union forces during Civil War
    • 1863 Feux de Joie Aid Confederate Army
    • 1863 Governor John M. Parker is Born
    • 1864 The New Orleans Tribune, 1st African-American daily newspaper was founded
    • 1867 Comus Parade
    • 1867 New Orleans dedicated its first synagogue
    • 1870 Algiers was annexed as part of New Orleans
    • 1870 The New Orleans Pelicans Debut
    • 1870 The U.S. government’s first simultaneous weather report was made from 23 weather stations across the country-including N.O.
    • 1870 Twelfth Night Revelers - 2nd N.O. Carnival Krewe
    • 1876 NOLTC is the country’s first lawn tennis club
    • 1876 Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church
    • 1877 Federal troops were ordered out of New Orleans, ending the North's post-Civil War rule in the South.
    • 1878 J. F. Doescher opens Lutheran Sunday school for Negroes
    • 1884 Oscar Papa Celestine is born
    • 1887 The N.O. The Pelicans make their professional debut
    • 1889 - Death of Confederate President Jefferson Finis Davis
    • 1889 David C. Hennessey becomes the city’s first Superintendent of Police
    • 1890 Superintendent of Police, David C. Hennessey is Murdered
    • 1892 Sullivan vs Corbett Fight
    • 1893 The Longest Prizefight in History
    • 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson
    • 1896 First Movie in New Orleans
    • 1896 First Movie Theater in the United States
    • 1897 Sidney Bechet is Born -- and died on his 62nd Birthday in 1959
    • 1897 The Great Steamboat Race
    • 1898 - McDonogh Monument is Dedicated
    • 1898 Gustave Joseph (Sharkey) Bonano is Born
    • 1903 United Confederate Veterans Reunion
    • 1909 - Robert Tallant is Born
    • 1909 Danny Barker was born
    • 1909 Napoleon's Death Mask...
    • 1910 - Moisant vs. a Packard
    • 1911 - Hubert Humphrey (LSU graduate and Vice-President) is born.
    • 1911 Mahalia Jackson is Born
    • 1911 Mahalia Jackson was born
    • 1912 USS South Carolina in New Orleans
    • 1913 Storyville
    • 1914 - Dorothy Lamour was Born
    • 1914 Kitty Carlisle is born in New Orleans
    • 1915 Pelican Stadium Opens
    • 1915 Storm
    • 1920 The Desire streetcar began operating
    • 1921 - 24 ton Hibernia Bank vault door
    • 1924 - Lee Dorsey is Born
    • 1925 -- Roy James Brown Was Born
    • 1925 Pulitzer Brothers Begin a Tie Empire
    • 1927 -- Charles Lindbergh, flew the Spirit of St. Louis into Alvin Callender Field
    • 1927 Milneburg Camps (now UNO area)
    • 1928 The first Pontchartrain Beach at Spanish Fort
    • 1928 World's Longest Bridge
    • 1929 Streetcar Strike
    • 1930 The First Coffee Break
    • 1931 First Night Game Played at Tiger Stadium
    • 1932 The Smokey Mary makes its' last trip to Milneburg
    • 1933 The National Bank of Commerce
    • 1934 Lodge No. 30 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Approve the Idea of a Truck Parade for Mardi Gras
    • 1934 Mayor of New Orleans Big Police Force ready to do battle with Senator Huey P. Longs Guardsmen
    • 1935 - The Bonnet Carre Spillway is Dedicated
    • 1935 - The Huey P. Long Bridge is Dedicated
    • 1935 Huey P. Long Bridge Dedication
    • 1937 - FDR in New Orleans
    • 1937 - Legal documents bound by WPA Bookbinding Project.
    • 1937 Lagoon Bridge (City Park)
    • 1937 New Orleans Item Political Cartoon,
    • 1938 Allen Toussaint was born
    • 1938 Fascism or Freedom
    • 1939 -- Fire Station #1 at Elysian Fields and Pelopidas St.
    • 1939 Robert E. Lee Blvd. Bridge
    • 1939 Oretha Castle Haley is Born
    • 1940 - St. Mark's Community Center
    • 1940 Dr. John (born Malcolm Rebennack, aka Mac Rebennack) is Born
    • 1940 Duke Ellington Records Ko-Ko
    • 1940 WPA Bookbinding Project
    • 1941 Linclon Beach
    • 1941 Pontchartrain Beach
    • 1941 Pontchartrain Beach
    • 1942 Air Raid Warning Truck
    • 1944 West End Street Car
    • 1946 Chep Morrison Inauguration
    • 1948 - WDSU TV Channel 6 in New Orleans begins broadcasting.
    • 1948. The Desire Streetcar Ceases Operation
    • 1952 De La Salle High School is Officially Dedicated
    • 1952 Evarts Ambrose Graham Dies
    • 1952 The Falstaff Weather Ball is First Lit
    • 1953 Homer Plessy is Born
    • 1954 - The new Union Railroad Station opens
    • 1954 Oscar
    • 1956 - Daniel Mukes, traditional jazz snare drummer from New Orleans, Louisiana died
    • 1956 -- John F. Kennedy at the Roosevelt Hotel
    • 1956 Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Opens
    • 1956 Audubon Park Fishing rodeo
    • 1957 Pelican Stadium Closes
    • 1960 - Gov. Davis seeks funding for private education
    • 1960 - Jimmie Davis is elected governor
    • 1960 Jessie Hill recorded Ooh Poo Pah Doo
    • 1961 Ernie K-Doe's Mother-In-Law hits the Billboard Charts
    • 1961 Imprisonment for debt is abolished legally in Louisiana
    • 1962 New Orleans Citizens Committee gave a free one-way ride to blacks to move North.
    • 1962 Archbishop Joseph Francis Rummel ordered all Roman Catholic schools in the New Orleans diocese to end segregation.
    • 1962 Vic Schiro's Inauguration
    • 1963 - Tidelands Officially Deeded
    • 1964 - Louis Armstrong hit the top of the pop charts for the first time in his career with
    • 1964 Mayor Morrison's Funeral
    • 1965 - Joe Rotis, traditional jazz trombonist, dies
    • 1967 Mayor Schiro confers with his legislative leaders
    • 1967 Saints launched their first season-ticket drive
    • 1967 The Notorious Riverfront Expressway
    • 1967 Vic Schiro and Alton Ochsner
    • 1968 - Christopher 'Black Happy' Goldston, traditional jazz drummer from New Orleans, Louisiana died
    • 1968 Scoop Kennedy's Birthday
    • 1969 Fire on Oak Street
    • 1970 the Doors made their last appearance with Jim Morrison.
    • 1971 Louis Armstrong Dies
    • 1972 - Lous Saint at WTIX Radio
    • 1972 Mahalia Jackson Dies
    • 1973 Mardi Gras
    • 1976 Times-Picayune Article About Pralines
    • 1978 - Harold Cooper died
    • 1980 - The New Orleans Saints end their 14 game losing streak
    • 1981 Oliver Alcorn Dies
    • 1983 Sweet Emma Barrett Dies
    • 1989 - Deep Cold in the Deep South
    • 1989 - New Orleans native Bobby 'I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday' Mitchell passed away at the age of 53, on this day.
    • 1989 Professor Longhair (born Henry Roeland Byrd) Dies
    • 1993 The Pelican Brief
    • 1994 Danny Barker Passes Away
    • 1997 Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel
    • 1997 Termites threaten New Orleans' treasures
    • Apr 11, 1713 The French colony of Acadia was ceded to Great Britain
    • April 1, 1778 Oliver Pollock created the $ sign
    • April 1, 1778 Oliver Pollock created the dollar sign
    • April 15, 1958 Greater New Orleans Bridge opening
    • April 15, 1958 Greater New Orleans Bridge opening
    • April 27, 1999 Al Hirt, Dies
    • April 4, 1812 The Territory of Orleans admitted to the Union
    • April 4, 1812 The territory of Orleans became the 18th state
    • April 8, 1812 Louisiana Territory become Missouri Territory
    • April 9, 1682 La Salle discovers New Orleans
    • Aug 25, 1718 Hundreds of French colonists arrived in Louisiana
    • Aug. 7, 1727 Ursaline Nuns Arrive in New Orleans
    • August 4, 1901 Louis Armstrong was born
    • August 17, 1969 Hurricane Camille
    • August 18, 2000 Dorothy Mae Delavallade Taylor Dies
    • August 25, 1718 City of New Orleans founded
    • August 25, 1718 City of New Orleans founded
    • August 25-26, 1992 Hurricane Andrew
    • August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina
    • August 3, 1975 Superdome (New Orleans) opened.
    • Benjamin F. Butler, U.S. Civil War General, died on this day in 1893
    • Comic performer Ellen DeGeneres was born on this day in 1958 in New Orleans.
    • December 10, 1914 Dorothy Lamour is born .
    • December 20, 1802 U.S. purchases Louisiana Territory
    • December 23, 1794 - Cathedral Dedicated
    • December 27, 1741 - Jean Etienne Bore is Born
    • December 31, 1910 - John B. Moisant Crashes
    • December 31, 1910 John B. Moisant Crashes
    • December 7, 1861 CSS Pamlico
    • December 7, 1978 The Falstaff Weather Ball Goes Dark
    • Feb. 1, 1700 First Buildings
    • Feb. 16, 1811 Territory of Orleans Constitutional Convention
    • Feb. 27, 1979 Mardi Gras cancelled due to New Orleans Police strike
    • February 1, 1937 Garrett Morriss is born
    • February 25, 1964 Eastern flight 304 crashes in Lake Pontchartrain
    • February 27, 1827
    • February 27, 1949 - New Orleans Wedding
    • February 28, 1849 - The Odd Fellows Dedicate Their New Cemetary
    • February 8, 1922 Ground Breaking for the Notre Dame Seminary
    • January 1
    • January 31, 1752 First American Nun
    • January 7-8, 1973 Howard Johnson sniper (Mark Essex) incident
    • Jayne Mansfield died in an automobile, on her way from Biloxi to New Orleans - June 29, 1967
    • Jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain was born on July 3, 1930 in New Orleans
    • Jazz singer Fats Domino was born on this day in New Orleans in 1928.
    • Jazz trumpeter Al Hirt was born on this day in 1922 in New Orleans.
    • July 10, 1941- Air Training Base Project
    • July 11, 1938 Mayor Maestri on a WPA Project Tour
    • July 12, 1965 Schiro Fourth Anniversary celebration
    • July 15, 1941 Navy Air Training Base commissioned
    • July 2, 1955 Road Construction
    • July 24, 1940 - Federal Music Project
    • July 25, 1968 - Maison Blanche Fire
    • July 31, 1936 - St. Roch Playground
    • July 9, 1982 Airplane crash (PanAm flight 759) in Kenner
    • June 10, 1937 Pontalba Buildings Renovation
    • June 11, 1955 Jockey Club House
    • June 12, 1967 - New Orleans Fire Department
    • June 13, 1870 - Check written by Benjamin Keyes Fawcett
    • June 14, 1999 - Al Gore in New Orleans
    • June 15, 1881 Marie Laveau Dies
    • June 17, 1911- The Milneburg Playground
    • June 18, 1955 Ruins of house where Pakenham died
    • June 19, 1909, The chartering of Greater New Orleans Homestead
    • June 2, 1938 - New City Park Bridge
    • June 20, 1953 - 600 block of St. Peter Street
    • June 21, 1937 - Rural Letter Carriers' Convention
    • June 22, 1905 George Moore | Burglar |
    • June 23, 1973 Jimani/Upstairs Lounge fire
    • June 25, 1955 St. Patrick's Church
    • June 26, 1910 St. Roch Playground Opens
    • June 27, 1939 Charity Hospital tunnel
    • June 28, 1957 Hurricane Audrey
    • June 3 - Confederate Memorial Day
    • June 6, 1939 - Firestation Construction at Elysian Fields and Pelopidas
    • June 7, 1981 St. Roch Swimming Pool dedication
    • June 9, 1939 - American Legion-WPA baseball team at City Park.
    • Juy 14, 1955 Bob Hope in New Orleans
    • March 13, 1998 Risen Star Dies
    • March 17, 1884 - Alcide 'Yellow' Nunez is born
    • March 2, 1699 Sieur De Iberville Finds the Mouth of the Mississippi
    • March 20, 1687 Cavalier Sieur De La Salle is Assassinated
    • March 21, 1788 Almost the entire city was destroyed by fire
    • March 21, 1788 The Good Friday Fire
    • March 29, 1721 Governor Bienville choses site of New Orleans
    • March 30, 1967 Airplane crash at Airport Hilton in Kenner
    • March 5,1766 Spanish official Don Antonio de Ulloa
    • March 9, 1699 Indians lead Iberville & Bienville to Bayou St. John
    • May 1, 1995 - Harrah's New Orleans Casino grand opening
    • May 11, 1988 Cabildo fire
    • May 12, 1984 Louisiana World Exposition (World's Fair) opening day
    • May 3, 1978 Extensive street flooding in New Orleans
    • May 31, 1958 Race screens are removed from NOPSI buses
    • May 8, 1995 Extensive street flooding in New Orleans
    • November 25, 1947 John Laroquette is born in New Orleans
    • November 29, 1972 Rault Center fire
    • October 1, 1811First steamboat reached New Orleans viâ the Mississippi
    • October 10, 1923 Milneburg (Before and After)
    • October 12, 1844 George Washington Cable is born
    • October 16, 1972 Disappearance of Hale Boggs
    • October 18, 1961 Wynton Marsalis was born in New Orleans
    • October 28, 1768 Germans and Acadians join French Creoles
    • October 31,1803 Congress ratified the purchase of Louisiana
    • October 5, 1799 First Greek church wedding in New Orleans
    • On this day in 1933, a barge towed from New Orleans arrived in Chicago, the first to go from the Great Lakes to the Gulf.
    • One of the coldest days on record
    • Pontchartrain Beach Amusement Park's last day of rides--September 25, 1983
    • Republican convention in New Orleans
    • Richard Simmons & Jay Thomas are born in New Orleans
    • September 1, 1990 Aquarium of the Americas grand opening
    • September 11, 1722 First Recorded Hurricane
    • September 11, 1965 Flood Street Photo -- Aftermath of Hurricane Betsy
    • September 11-13, 1987 Papal visit (Pope John Paul II)
    • September 16, 1964 The Beatles perform in City Park Stadium
    • September 28, 1998 Hurricane Georges
    • September 9, 1965 Hurricane Betsy
    • Shirley Ann Grau was born
    • Singer and jazz pianist Harry Connick, Jr., was born on this day in 1967 in New Orleans.
    • St. Joseph's Day
    • The Battle of New Orleans of the War of 1812 was fought on this day in 1814
    • The Cleveland Playground at Tulane and South Claiborne opens
    • The first double-decker steamboat, the Washington, to reach New Orleans did so on this day in 1816.
    • The first permanent Roman Catholic convent in America was opened on this day in 1726 in New Orleans.
    • The first steamboat on the Mississippi River at New Orleans, Jan. 10, 1812
    • Truman Capote is Born
    • Venetian blinds were patented by John Hampson in New Orleans in 1841.
    • WPA Project Tour, June 24, 1938
    • WTIX Music Survey- June 8, 1974