In 1682 today's New Orleans is claimed for France by Sieur de la Salle in 682. In honour of King Louis XIV the area was named Louisiana. In 1718 New Orleans was founded and named after the Duc D'Orleans and became in 1723 the capital of Louisiana.
1762 Louis XV secretly cedes New Orleans and Louisiana's western part of the Mississippi River to Spain and the east to the British.
New Orleans has been ravaged by large fires in 1788 and 1794 which destroyed big parts of the city due its wooden structure.
In 1800 France gets Louisiana back and sells it to the US in 1803 as the 18th state. The famous Mardi Gras = Fat Tuesday dates back to 1872 and takes place every Tuesday before Ash Wednesday over a period of 14 days. It's New Orleans own Carnival. 

New Orleans is often referred to as the food capital of the USA. Eating is a celebration. Most famous cuisines are Cajun, Creole, Southern and Soul. Sounds like good music. All feature endless seafood dishes and many are pretty spicy. In shops you will find hundreds of different spices and spicy sauces to flavour or marinate food. In the French market you can easily get all of these flavourings. 

New Orleans has endless places to have a delicious meal. A must is a  breakfast at Cafe Beigne, Oysters in one of the numerous oyster and seafood restaurants and blackened fish dish. The French Quarter has hundreds of restaurants. You will surely find yours.