More than 100,000 people will struggle to pay for a funeral this year, a report revealed this week. The average cost of a funeral for a loved one rose by 80 per cent between 2004 and 2013, and is expected to continue to rise.
In 1703 French settlers in Mobile established the first organized Mardi Gras celebration tradition in what was to become the United States. The first informal mystic society, or krewe, was formed in Mobile in 1711, the Boeuf Gras Society. By 1720, Biloxi had been made capital of Louisiana.
The Jefferson City Buzzards, the grandfather of all marching clubs, was formed in 1890. The first black Mardi Gras organization, the Original Illinois Club, was launched in 1894. Two years later, Les Mysterieuses, Carnival's first female group, was founded. The final year of the Century saw snow in New Orleans on Fat Tuesday.