Washington, D.C. Timeline of Events

Home / Timelines / Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution. The federal district is therefore not a part of any U.S. state...

Timeline of Events

1789

1.23.1789

Georgetown College, the first Roman Catholic college in the United States, is founded in Georgetown, Maryland (now a part of Washington, D.C.)

1790

7.16.1790

The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act.

1791

9.9.1791

Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is named after President George Washington.

1792

10.13.1792

In Washington, D.C., the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) is laid.

1800

6.3.1800

U.S. President John Adams takes up residence in Washington, D.C. (in a tavern because the White House was not yet completed).

11.17.1800

The United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, D.C.

1801

2.27.1801

Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.

1802

5.3.1802

Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city.

1814

8.24.1814

British troops invade Washington, D.C. and burn down the White House and several other buildings.

8.25.1814

Washington, D.C. is burned and White House is destroyed by British forces during the War of 1812.

1846

7.9.1846

The territory of the District of Columbia south of the Potomac River (39 mi² or about 100 km²) is returned to Virginia through an Act of Congress.

1861

2.23.1861

President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland.

4.25.1861

American Civil War: The Union Army arrives in Washington, D.C.

10.23.1861

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of ''habeas corpus'' in Washington, D.C., for all military-related cases.

1864

2.19.1864

Knights of Pythias are founded in Washington, D.C. by Justus H. Rathbone.

7.11.1864

American Civil War: Battle of Fort Stevens; Confederate forces attempt to invade Washington, D.C..

7.29.1864

American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C..

1867

1.8.1867

African American men are granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.

1882

6.30.1882

Charles J. Guiteau is hanged in Washington, D.C. for the assassination of U.S. President James Garfield.

1888

1.27.1888

The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C..

1889

1.22.1889

Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, D.C.

1890

4.14.1890

The Pan-American Union is founded by the First International Conference of American States in Washington, D.C.

1894

4.30.1894

Coxey's Army reaches Washington, D.C. to protest the unemployment caused by the Panic of 1893.

5.1.1894

Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C.

1895

6.27.1895

The inaugural run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's ''Royal Blue'' from Washington, D.C., to New York City, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.

1902

1.28.1902

The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.

1909

8.18.1909

Mayor of Tokyo Yukio Ozaki presents Washington, D.C. with 2,000 cherry trees, which President Taft decides to plant near the Potomac River.

1910

10.14.1910

The English aviator Claude Grahame-White lands his Farman Aircraft biplane on Executive Avenue near the White House in Washington, D.C.

1911

11.17.1911

The Omega Psi Phi fraternity, the first African-American fraternity at an historically black college or university, is founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

1914

2.12.1914

In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.

1922

2.6.1922

The Washington Naval Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.

5.30.1922

In Washington, D.C. the Lincoln Memorial is dedicated.

1927

4.7.1927

First distance public television broadcast (from Washington, D.C. to New York City, displaying the image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover).

1928

2.25.1928

Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. becomes the first holder of a television license from the Federal Radio Commission.

1932

7.20.1932

In Washington, D.C., police fire tear gas on World War I veterans part of the Bonus Expeditionary Force who attempt to march to the White House.

7.28.1932

U.S. President Herbert Hoover orders the United States Army to forcibly evict the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, D.C.

7.29.1932

Great Depression: in Washington, D.C., troops disperse the last of the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans.

11.24.1932

In Washington, D.C., the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.

1933

8.24.1933

The Crescent Limited train derails in Washington, D.C., after the bridge it was crossing was washed out by the 1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane.

1937

5.28.1937

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington, D.C., who pushes a button signaling the start of vehicle traffic over the span.

>>3 2 1 <<