I'm always on the lookout for stories and articles about Louisiana, mainly because I live here, but also because we are such a unique state! Let's face it, people come from all over the world to hear our music, eat our food, and dance the night away at our festivals.

Only in Louisiana is always coming up with awesome ways for me to be glad that I live here, and today, they bring us amazing and unique facts about our state that even I didn't know were true. For instance, did you know that the television show 'True Detective' was actually based on a real story here in the Bayou State? Or that the beloved po' boy was born out of a street car workers strike in New Orleans? Check out the whole list of amazing facts, and see some of my favorites below.

 

  • Louisiana is the only state where florists actually have to have a license to work on flower arrangements.
  •  5 of the 6 longest bridges in the USA are here in Louisiana - Atchafalaya Basin bridge, Manchac Swamp bridge, Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, Bonnet Carre Spillway, and the Louisiana Highway 1 bridge. Pretty amazing!
  •  Louisiana is the prison capital of the world, with 1 out of every 86 citizens behind bars. Yikes.
  • Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen is not named after the cartoon character, but after famous 'French Connection' movie detective 'Popeye' Doyle, played by Gene Hackman
  • The Louisiana Bar Exam is 21 hours long
  • Famed musician Huddie Leadbetter, better known as 'Leadbelly', was once incarcerated at Angola State Penitentiary. He recorded hundreds of songs with some folklorists who visited him, and they in turn petitioned Governor Oscar K. Allen to release him. And he did.
  • In the early 1900's hippos were almost brought into the swamps to eat invasive hyacinth plants. Our Louisiana Congress evidently thought this was a good idea because there was a meat shortage. No, I don't get it either...

 

 

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