Short answers, pulled from the story.
Archaeologists date the eleven-mound structure at the Watson Brake site to approximately 5400 BP, which equals 3500 BC. Seasonal hunter-gatherers from around that time organized to build these complex earthwork constructions in what is now northern Louisiana.
French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle named the region Louisiana to honor King Louis XIV of France in 1682. The first permanent settlement, Fort Maurepas, was founded in 1699 by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville.
On April 30, they closed a deal for the purchase of the entire Louisiana territory for sixty million Francs. This amount equaled approximately $15 million, though France received only $8,831,250 in cash after debts were forgiven and bonds were sold.
According to the 1860 census, 331,726 people were enslaved representing nearly 47% of the state's total population of 708,002. The strong economic interest of elite whites in maintaining the slave society contributed to Louisiana's decision to secede from the Union on the 26th of January 1861.
On the 29th of August 2005 New Orleans and many other low-lying parts of the state were hit by Hurricane Katrina. It caused widespread damage due to breaching of levees and large-scale flooding of more than 80% of the city.