After years of stagnant wage growth, rising living costs people in England and Wales have an average of just Â£7,780 in savings, according to figures from Halifax. Rising costs: The average cost of a funeral as risen by 80 per cent since 2004.
The first Mardi Gras festivities in Louisiana were held on March 3, 1699. On that day, a group of French explorers set up camp on the west bank of the Mississippi River, about 60 miles downriver from what is now New Orleans.
New Orleans. Mardi Gras, which is French for Fat Tuesday, is a big festival that takes place the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent -- a symbolic period of fasting and penance for many Christians. The two weeks before Fat Tuesday are the most festive. Local carnival organizations called krewes, the first of which dates to 1857, hold almost nonstop balls and parades.