MAY 7

On this date in 1718, 300 years ago, the City of New Orleans was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.  He named it after Philippe II, Duke of Orleans.  (Orleans is a city in France and a house in the line of royalty)

That city and area belonged to France at it's founding.  Forty-five years later, Spain took possession of New Orleans.  Thirty-nine years after that, France took it back.  Except for it's fling with the Confederacy during the Civil War, it has belonged to the USA since 1803. 

Philippe II was a knighted part of the Royal Family of France.  He never became king and never visited the city named for him.  He died five years after the city was founded.
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