The following is a timeline of the history of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
18th century
1718 – La Nouvelle-Orléans founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville of the Mississippi Company. 1722 – Capital of La Louisiane is relocated to New Orleans, from Biloxi. 1724 - Code Noir implemented in Congo Square gave enslaved Africans Sundays off "to dance". 1734 – Ursuline Convent built. 1752 – Modern-day Ursuline Convent building is finished, today the oldest and finest French Colonial building in the U.S. 1762 – French colony ceded to Spain under Alejandro O'Reilly. 1768 - Population: 3.200. (approx). 1769 - New Orleans City Archives established. 1770s – Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop was built, one of the oldest extant buildings in New Orleans. 1779–1781 – Governor-general Bernardo de Gálvez successfully wages the Gulf Coast campaign against British West Florida, as part of the Anglo-Spanish War (1779–83) and in support of the American Revolutionary War. 1788 Great New Orleans Fire. Lafayette Square laid out (approximate date), by the Surveyor-general Charles Trudeau, who would later serve as interim mayor. Madame John's Legacy was built, today a rare example of a raised cottage in the French Quarter. 1789 – Saint Louis Cemetery established. 1792 – Theatre de la Rue Saint Pierre opened. 1794 2nd Great New Orleans Fire St. Louis Cathedral built on the site of an earlier Catholic church. Carondelet Canal constructed. 1799 – Cabildo (seat of Spanish colonial city hall ) rebuilding completed.