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Mardi Gras (UK: / ˌ m ɑːr d i ˈ ɡ r ɑː /, US: / ˈ m ɑːr d i ɡ r ɑː /; [1] [2] also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. [3]
Mardi Gras arrived in North America as a sedate French Catholic tradition with the Le Moyne brothers, [3] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, in the late 17th century, when King Louis XIV sent the pair to defend France's claim on the territory of Louisiane, which included what are now the U.S. states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
In 1856, 21 businessmen gathered at a club room in the French Quarter to organize a secret society to observe Mardi Gras with a formal parade. They founded New Orleans' first and oldest krewe, the Mistick Krewe of Comus. According to one historian, "Comus was aggressively English in its celebration of what New Orleans had always considered a ...
Since its first impromptu celebrations in the early 1700's, Mardi Gras was regularly cancelled or banned for its destructive drunken parties—that is until 1837, when a secret society known as ...
The famous New Orleans celebration of Mardi Gras has a rich history. Learn Mardi Gras facts and the origins of the holiday's traditions such as beads, masks, and king cake.
What does Mardi Gras mean? Translated to English, "Mardi Gras" means "Fat Tuesday." Mardi is the French word for Tuesday, and gras means "fat." This name comes from the custom of eating all the ...
The Knights of Momus ("KOM") were a Mardi Gras society in Galveston, Texas, founded in 1871. [6] The original Knights of Momus went defunct around the time of World War II. A new group was founded in the mid-1980s, and seeking to rekindle the spirit of the original group, adopted the Momus name. The group was named after the Greek god Momus.
In 1699, Mardi Gras is said to have made its way to North America, thanks to French-Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville. He settled down near present-day New Orleans and brought the ...