Our next state is named for French King Louis XIV (the Sun King). It is the only state in the union that is divided into Parishes, not counties. It was part of the Louisiana Purchase, which when completed in 1803, doubled the size of the United States. It also gave control of the Mississippi River to the United States.
On Aug. 29, 2005, less than two weeks after the Brave Astronaut had visited the state for a conference, Louisiana was hit by Hurricane Katrina, devastating New Orleans, and killing hundreds elsewhere in the state, particularly in the parishes of Jefferson and St. Bernard. Federal and local officials were widely criticized for their slow and inadequate response to the initial disaster and subsequent recovery programs. Even today, the city of New Orleans and the state continue to recover.
The current Governor of Louisiana is Republican Bobby Jindal. Jindal, an Indian-American was on John McCain's short list for Vice President and is rumored to be on Romney's short list as well. The Senators for the state are Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican David Vitter. The Louisiana Congressional delegation contains seven members, all but one are Republicans.
- 1st District - Steve Scalise (R)
- 2nd District - Cedric Richmond (D)
- 3rd District - Jeff Landry (R)
- 4th District - John Fleming (R)
- 5th District - Rodney Alexander (R)
- 6th District - Bill Cassidy (R)
- 7th District - Charles Boustany (R)
- State Capital - Baton Rouge
- Largest City - New Orleans
- Date of Admission - April 30, 1812
- Area - 51,843 sq mi (31st)
- State Motto - "Union, Justice, and Confidence"
- State Nickname - the Pelican State
- State bird - Eastern Brown Pelican (it's on the flag)
- State flower - Magnolia
- State tree - bald cypress
- State University - Louisiana State University
- State Archives - Louisiana State Archives
- Population (2011 est.) - 4,574,836 (25th)
- Louisiana.gov - the Official Website of the State of Louisiana
- The Louisiana Tourism site - Louisiana Vacation
- The Encyclopedia Britannic entry for Louisiana
- Wikpedia
- 50states.com entry for Louisiana
- InfoPlease entry for Louisiana
- Fact Sheet on Louisiana from the USDA
- Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong
- Congressman Hale Boggs and his wife Lindy
- Truman Capote
- Kitty Carlisle, singer, actress
- The Connicks, Harry Sr. (Attorney General in New Orleans) and Jr. (singer and actor)
- Pioneering heart surgeon Michael De Bakey
- Ellen Degeneres
- Fats Domino
- Louisiana Lightning pitcher for the New York Yankees, Ron Guidry
- The Gumbel boys, Bryant and Greg
- Lillian Hellman, playwright
- Mahalia Jackson, gospel singer
- Dorothy Lamour
- In addition to Senator Mary Landrieu, her father Moon and brother Mitch
- Author Elmore Leonard
- Oft married and musician Jerry Lee Lewis
- The Kingfish, Huey P. Long
- The Manning boys, Eli and Peyton
- The Marsalis boys, Branford and Wynton
- Jazz musician Jelly Roll Morton
- Presidential Assassin Lee Harvey Oswald
- Mel Ott
- Sister Helen Prejean - death penalty activist, see Dead Man Walking
- Musician Louis Prima
- Chef Paul Prudhomme
- Anne Rice
- Cokie Roberts ABC News journalist and daughter of Hale and Lindy Boggs
- Richard Simmons
- One of the Original Murrow Boys and Journalist, Howard K. Smith
- Televangelist and Philanderer Jimmy Swaggart
- John Kennedy Toole - author of A Confederacy of Dunces
- Ray Walston - AKA Mr. Hand from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, among many others
- Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Edward Douglas White
- Reese Witherspoon
- Andrew Young (although he made his mark in Georgia, as Mayor of Atlanta and Ambassador to the UN under President Carter, among many other accomplishments)
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