On this day in 1966 voters in the state of Louisiana voted yes to amend the Louisiana Constitution to allow the Superdome to be built. This amendment called for a 4% tax on hotel and motel rooms to pay for the domed stadium that was estimated to cost $35 million. This plan was met with staunch opposition from fiscal conservatives who thought that the state had no business financing such a large project. Their concerns were not heard over the excitement of the NFL’s decision to award the city of New Orleans with their very own football team a week[…]

Micaela Almonester was born November 6, 1795, the daughter of Don Andreas Almonester, a wealthy Spanish Notary best known for charitably donating money to many projects in the city – rebuilding the Cabildo and St Louis Cathedral after the 1788 fire, funding Charity Hospital, and opening a leper’s hospital. Micaela was only 3 years old when her father died, making her one of the richest people in the city at the time. Micaela was educated by the Ursuline Nuns until the age of 15 when she was married to her cousin Xavier Célestin Delfau de Pontalba in a union arranged[…]