Louisiana Purchase: Treaty signed April 20, 1803 in which the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory (2 million square kilometer, from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, for 60 million francs ($15 million). At first, France had ceded Louisiana to Spain in 1762, but the French had regained the area in the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800 under the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon envisioned a great French empire in the New World with the island Hispaniola (today: Haiti/Dominican Republic) as the heart of this empire. He therefore anticipated the Mississippi Valley to become crucial as a food and trade center. However, a rebellion of Haitian slaves and his soldiers struggling with yellow fever forced Napoleon to abondon the island, which also made Louisiana useless to him. In order to fund his military venture in Europe, he sold the territory to the United States in 1803.

The longest bridge in the world: The Second Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which joins Mandeville and Metairie, Louisiana, USA, is 38.422 km (23 miles 1,538 yd) long. It was completed in 1969. The First Causeway Bridge was opened in 1956.

Snippets:
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New Orleans' Oldest Candy Store: Laura's Candies; est. 1913
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Other interesting artists featured at the Hanson Gallery, New Orleans: Edward Povey, Joanna Zjawinska, Joseph Lorusso.
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Linnzi Zaorski: vocalist, New Orleans; strives to re-create the classic vocal stylings of 1920s and 30s era jazz legends.
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Book: The Lost Continent: Small Towns in America by Bill Bryson; very funny, often sarcastic or ironic, describes author's experiences while traveling the U.S.; sometimes low density of information; often negative perception.
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Book: Tanazaki Jun'ichiro: Lob des Schattes. Entwurf einer japanischen Aesthetik (1933, in German).
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Book: Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson: The One Minute Manager (1983).
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Book: Siegfried Lenz: Das schoenste Fest der Welt (1955 in German): book on tape; audio show.
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Book: James Abbott McNeill Whistler: The Gentle Art of Making Enemies (1892, edition of 1967): reflections on art and art critics. Letters, newspaper clippings. Whistler drew plenty of butterflies for this book.
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Book: Hermann Hesse: Siddhartha (1922, in German): condensed wisdom.
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CD: John Coltrane: Stellar Regions (1967): free jazz; spiritual.
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Movie: Trading Places (1983): w/ Dan Ackroyd, Eddie Murphy, Jamie Lee Curtis. Comedy. Two commodity brokers make a bet that they can turn a drug dealer into a successful businessman, and an honest employee into a criminal by mixing things up a little. But the two victims of the plot get their revenge. Funnny!
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Actress: Jamie Lee Curtis (b. 1958): daughter of Janet Leigh (Psycho) and Tony Curtis (Some Like It Hot); starring roles in Halloween (1978), Trading Places (1983), A Fish Called Wanda (1988), and True Lies (1994).
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