New Orleans’ St. Louis Cathedral faced a myriad of obstacles through its circa 300 years of existence.  It was first built in 1718, the same year the city was founded under French explorer and colonizer Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.  The Great New Orleans Fire of 1788 scorched the original structure, and a new structure was completed in 1794.  Enlargement and reconstruction in 1850 eradicated much of the original edifice, giving the city its current building.  In 1909, the Cathedral faced an uncharacteristic obstacle: nitroglycerin.