• Historical Towns Series- Stamford, Lincolnshire

    It came to my attention, during casual chit-chat that many people go about their lives, doing the usual things: go to work, take the kids to school, shop. You know the sort of thing. But we seem to go about it half the time with our eyes painted on, as my Nana used to say. So I decided to start a new series, about local history, and the things under our noses that we take for granted or simply hadn’t realised. I’m going to start with a look at a town which is well-known to me, and is steeped in history, more than many people realise. Stamford, in Lincolnshire. Due…

  • Founding of New Orleans

    La Nouvelle-Orléans (New Orleans) was founded May 7, 1718, by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of French Louisiana Governor Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, on land inhabited by the Chitimacha.The first known residents of the New Orleans area were the Native Americans of the Woodland and Mississippian cultures. The expeditions of De Soto and La Salle passed through the area, but there were few permanent non-native settlers before 1718.Louisiana was claimed for Fran [...]