Q 01/05

In what year was New Orleans founded by French colonists?

A) 1718

B) 1731

C) 1763

D) 1803

Answer · why

A) 1718

The city was laid out on land of the Chitimacha people and served as the capital of French Louisiana before the Louisiana Purchase.

Q 02/05

New Orleans is named in honour of which French royal?

A) Louis XIV, the Sun King

B) Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

C) Louis XV, King of France

D) Cardinal Richelieu, chief minister

Answer · why

B) Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

He was regent of France at the time; the Spanish later renamed the city Nueva Orleans until 1800.

Q 03/05

Who founded La Nouvelle-Orléans in 1718?

A) René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle

B) Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville

C) Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville

D) Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac

Answer · why

C) Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville

Born in Montreal, he was appointed governor of French Louisiana four separate times between 1701 and 1743.

Q 04/05

Before Europeans arrived, the Choctaw name for the area, Bulbancha, translated as what?

A) Place of the crescent

B) Muddy waters

C) Where the river bends

D) Land of many tongues

Answer · why

D) Land of many tongues

The name is thought to be a contraction of a phrase meaning 'there are foreign speakers', fitting for a future port city.

Q 05/05

What does the nickname 'Crescent City' allude to?

A) The course of the Mississippi River

B) The shape of Lake Pontchartrain

C) The original French colonial flag

D) The layout of the French Quarter

Answer · why

A) The course of the Mississippi River

Other nicknames include The Big Easy, NOLA and The City that Care Forgot, used since at least 1938.