Article stats: Views: 12012 Votes: 13 Average: 2.69 Added: 2004-02-23 Updated: 2006-11-29 | |
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1969 - A French exploring party led by Pierre LeMoyne lands 60 miles below New Orleans on Fat Tuesday. He names the spot Pointe du Mardi Gras and the group celebrated.
1743 - The first Carnival ball is held. Masking is forbidden by the Spanish governor.
1781 - The newspaper reports that masking is again flourishing during Mardi Gras.
1838 - The first parade organization, the Mistick Krewe of Comus, forms and stages a night parade.
1857 - Rex, the premier Carnival organization, forms and stages a daytime parade.
1872 - Les Mysteriouses, the first major female krewe, forms, holds a masked ball and disbands.
1896 - The African-American Zulu organization holds it's first parade, parodying Rex.
1909 - Krewes form on the Westbank, beginning the expansion of Mardi Gras to suburban areas.
1930s - Louis Armstrong returns to New Orleans to ride as King Zulu. He is the first celebrity monarch.
1949 - The Duke and Duchess of Windsor visit Mardi Gras and bow to courts of Rex and Comus.
1950 - The first gay krewe, Yuga, has its Carnival ball raided by police.
1958 - Bacchus, the first superkrewe, forms with more riders, bigger floats and Mardi Gras begins its transformation into a tourist attraction.
1969 - The city passes an ordinance requiring krewes to integrate their memberships in order to get parade permits. Several old-line krewes stop parading.
1992 - Harry Connick, Jr., helps form the Krewe of Orpheus, a new superkrewe with integrated membership and a musical orientation.
1996 - Le Krewe D'Etat forms to bring back satirical style parades. Other satire krewes follow.
2000 - The Krewe of Muses, a large new women's krewe, forms.
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