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.
On Mardi Gras in 1827, a group of students sported some colorful costumes and danced through the streets of New Orleans, mimicking the revelry they had seen while visiting Paris. Fast forward a decade and the first recorded New Orleans Mardi Gras parade took place, a tradition that (obviously) continues to this day.