Some Unknown History About Louisiana

[Sam]

Here is some unknown history about Louisiana. How about adding some unknown facts about your state to this thread.

 

And the list does not include the great fishing and hunting in the Sportsman's Paradise.

 

Enjoy, especially how the term "Dixieland" got started. Bet you did not know that one.

 

Louisiana proud!

 

 

A LITTLE LOUISIANA HISTORY LESSON:

If Hurricane Katrina causing the levees to break in New Orleans is the only thing you know about Louisiana , here are a few more interesting facts about the Bayou State:

•Louisiana has the tallest state capitol building in the nation at 450 feet.

•The Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans is the largest enclosed stadium in the world.

•The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is the longest over-water bridge in the world at 23.87 miles.

•Louisiana 's 6.5 million acres of wetlands are the greatest wetland area in America.

•The oldest city in the Louisiana Purchase Territory is Natchitoches , Louisiana founded in 1714.

•The first bottler of Coca-Cola, Joseph Biedenharn, lived in Monroe , Louisiana and was one of the founders of Delta Air Lines, initially called Delta Air Service.

•Delta Airlines got its start in Monroe , Louisiana when County Agent, C.E. Woolman, decided to try dusting the Boll weevil that was destroying the cotton crops in the Mississippi River Delta from an airplane. It was the first crop dusting service in the world.

•Baton Rouge was the site of the only American Revolution battle outside the original 13 colonies.

•The formal transfer of the Louisiana Purchase was made at the Cabildo building in New Orleans on December 20, 1803.

•The staircase at Chrétien Point, in Sunset, Louisiana was copied for Tara in "Gone with the Wind."

•Louisiana is the No. 1 producer of crawfish, alligators and shallots in America .

•Louisiana produces 24 percent of the nation's salt, the most in America .

•Much of the world's food, coffee and oil pass through the Port of New Orleans .

•Tabasco , a Louisiana product, holds the second oldest food trademark in the U.S. Patent Office.

•Steen's Syrup Mill in Abbeville , Louisiana is the world's largest syrup plant producing sugar cane syrup.

•America 's oldest rice mill is in New Iberia , Louisiana at KONRIKO Co.

•The International Joke Telling Contest is held annually in Opelousas , Louisiana .

•LSU (The Ole War Skule) in Baton Rouge has the distinction of contributing the most officers to WW II after the U.S. military academies.

•The Louisiana Hayride radio show helped Hank Williams, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash achieve stardom. It was broadcast from KWKH Radio in Shreveport Louisiana from 1948 to 1960.

•The term Uncle Sam was coined on the wharfs of New Orleans before Louisiana was a U.S. territory as goods labeled U.S. were from "Uncle Sam."

•The game of craps was invented in New Orleans in 1813 as betting was common activity on the wharves.

•When states had their own currency, the Louisiana Dix (French for ten) was a favored currency for trade. English speakers called them Dixies and coined the term Dixieland.

•New Orleans is the home of the oldest pharmacy in America at 514 Chartres Street in the French Quarter. These early medical mixtures became known as cocktails (guess they were good for what ails ya?), coining yet another term.

•New Orleans is the birthplace of Jazz, the only true American art form.

Jazz gave birth to the Blues and Rock and Roll music.

Viva La Louisiana!!! - COME AS YOU ARE...LEAVE DIFFERENT.

[roadwarrior]

Tennessee Volunteers

 

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/tennessee/articles/why-tennessee-is-called-the-volunteer-state/

 

[TnRiver46]

Cool facts @Sam!

 

@roadwarrior, and Texas wants to call themselves "the real UT" ..... Thats the thanks we get....... Haha! In all seriousness it's great to live where we support Uncle Sam enough to send him our young men and women century after century 

[roadwarrior]

The Volunteers won the war in New Orleans and helped create the state of Texas. 

We are all friends and Patriots.  

 

 

[Sam]

4 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

Tennessee Volunteers

 

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/tennessee/articles/why-tennessee-is-called-the-volunteer-state/

 

I did some research and here is what I found. Interesting part of history.

 

Some people mistakenly thought the nickname Volunteers came from the Civil War. No, it did not. 

 

LSU's nickname is from the Civil War. Tennessee's nickname came from other wars before the Civil War. Ole Miss is not from the Civil War, but the nickname Rebels is from the Civil War.

 

Ole Miss got its Ole Miss nickname from the name for the student yearbook, The Ole Miss Annual. The yearbook was published for the first time in 1896. 'Ole Miss' was a term slaves used to refer to the wife of a plantation owner. I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to use the term "Ole Miss" but back then it was acceptable.

 

The editor of the school newspaper, The Mississippian, proposed a contest in April 1936 to produce a new nickname for the Ole Miss athletic teams. Prior to this, the teams had been called by various names–the Red and Blue, the Oxfords, the Mighty Mississippians, the Southerners, the Crimson and Blue–and most recently and most popularly up until 1936, the Flood. The Mississippian received many entries and subsequently placed several names including Rebels, Raiders, Confederates, Stonewalls, and Ole Miss in the hands of 21 sportswriters. Ultimately, "Rebels" was the choice of 18 out of the 21 sports writers, a nickname alluding to the University Greys. After five months of contest and polling, the university's athletics committee formally approved the name, and its sports teams have been known as the Rebels ever since.

 

Mississippi sent their Company A of the 11th Mississippi Infantry Regiment in the Confederate Army during the Civil War to fight with the Army of Northern Virginia. The Greys served in many of the most famous and bloody battles of the war.

 

Today, Ole Miss has a black bear as its mascot and the football team is referred to as the "Land Sharks."

 

LSU got its Fighting Tigers nickname from the Civil War. According to Dr. Charles E. Coats, LSU's first football coach in a 1937 article by his son, "The Louisiana Tigers had represented the state in the Civil War and had been known for their hard fighting. This name was applied collectively to the New Orleans Zouaves, the Donaldsonville Canonniers, and to a number of other Louisiana companies sent to Virginia, who seemed to have the faculty of getting into the hardest part of the fighting and staying there, most of them permanently. One company I knew of went in 200 strong; only 28 returned and many of these were wounded." One of the generals stated that the Louisiana guys fought like Tigers.

 

Today, the LSU sports teams are called "Tigers" while the official name is "Fighting Tigers."

 

Announcers call LSU the Tigers and us old goats remember the correct name, Fighting Tigers.

 

So tell us about your home state and favorite sports team and how they got their nicknames. Should provide some interesting information.

[Sam]

34 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

The Volunteers won the war in New Orleans and helped create the state of Texas. 

We are all friends and Patriots.  

 

 

Right. The Tennessee guys were extremely instrumental in the Battle of New Orleans lead by Andrew Jackson.

 

They also fought in Texas against Mexico. I believe Davy Crockett was from Tennessee, too.

[12poundbass]

Not a state fact but as our nations birthday is only 2 days away did you know the Declaration of Independence was actually signed on July 2nd? It was signed on July 2nd but wasn’t made public until July 4th which is why we celebrate it on July 4th. To add to this the Declaration wasn’t completely signed by everyone until sometime in early August due to travel time needed. 

 

So happy actual birthday today America! ??

[greentrout]

union general w.t. sherman was once first superintendent of lsu ...

[greentrout]

More than 200,000 mourners attend Long's funeral at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge, La. 

Courtesy of the State Library of Louisiana

Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893 – September 10, 1935)

[Catt]

Confederate army soldier – Louisiana Tigers

 

While members of Robert Harris’s Walker Guards battalion had battle experience, the men of the other companies that joined Wheat’s regiment, mostly these Irish immigrants and low-level laborers, had never even fired a musket. The regiment was named the Tiger Battalion and featured a diverse mix of seasoned soldiers, attorneys, tradesmen, and unskilled hooligans. Over 24 different nationalities of men joined the Tiger Battalion.

 

The regiment gained a reputation for unruliness, grit, rioting, and violence, and it was soon feared throughout the country. Although the Tiger Battalion was known to cause mayhem and chaos, it fought valiantly throughout the Civil War, gaining a reputation for never retreating, and once even resorted to throwing rocks during a battle when their ammunition ran out.

 

Although the Tigers were a small fraction of Louisiana’s 12,000 troops, their reputation slowly grew to encompass all Louisiana soldiers. The reputation created such fear that a Pennsylvania woman fainted when a soldier, who politely asked for food, mentioned he was from Louisiana.

[deaknh03]

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

Not a state fact but as our nations birthday is only 2 days away did you know the Declaration of Independence was actually signed on July 2nd? It was signed on July 2nd but wasn’t made public until July 4th which is why we celebrate it on July 4th. To add to this the Declaration wasn’t completely signed by everyone until sometime in early August due to travel time needed. 

 

So happy actual birthday today America! ??

August of last year?

[12poundbass]

2 hours ago, deaknh03 said:

August of last year?

Yup. Snail mail, and they wonder why they’re not making money.

[N Florida Mike]

5 hours ago, greentrout said:

union general w.t. sherman was once first superintendent of lsu ...

Well, we won’t hold that against them.