Timeline of Washington, D.C.

1700s

1791

January 24: Federal District proclamation issued by US president Washington.

District surveyed by Ellicot and Banneker.

L'Enfant Plan for design of city introduced.

1792 - Construction of White House (presidential residence) begins.

1794 - Tudor Place (residence) built.

1797 - Bridge built.

1800s-1850s

1800

Seat of Federal government of the United States relocated to Washington from Philadelphia; president Adams moves in to White House.

United States Capitol building constructed.

Washington Navy Yard established.

Population: 14,093.

1801

February 24: US Congress establishes the District of Columbia (comprising Washington, Alexandria, and Alexandria County).

March 4: US president Jefferson inaugurated.

1802

"City of Washington incorporated; mayor-council government established."

Jail built.

1806 - Public school opens.

1809 - Alexandria-Washington bridge built.

1814 - August 24: Burning of Washington by British forces.

1815 - Washington City Canal begins operating.

1816 - St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square built.

1818 - Central heating installed in the US Capitol building.

1835

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad begins operating.

Labor strike by federal navy yard workers.

1836 - December 15: 1836 U.S. Patent Office fire.

1840 - Population: 23,364 in city; 43,712 in district.

1842 - United States Naval Observatory established.

1844 - Baltimore-Washington telegraph begins operating.

1846

District of Columbia retrocession of Alexandria and Alexandria County to Virginia.

National Smithsonian Institution established.

1848 - Washington Gas Light Company established.

1850 - Slave trade abolished per Compromise of 1850.

1860s-1890s

1860 - Population: 61,122.

1862 - Slavery abolished.

1863 - National Academy of Sciences headquartered in city.

1864 - July: Battle of Fort Stevens.

1865 - April 14: Assassination of president Lincoln.

1867

Howard University founded.

"Blacks given right of suffrage."

1869

National Convention of the Colored Men of America held in city.

American Equal Rights Association meets in city.

1870

Children's Hospital established.

Population: 109,199.

1871

District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 effected.

Norton P. Chipman becomes delegate to the US House of Representatives from the District of Columbia.

1877 - Washington Post newspaper begins publication.

1878 - Telephone begins operating.

1880 - Population: 147,293 in city; 177,624 in district.

1881

February: Flood.

"Tiber Canal filled in to become Constitution Avenue."

American National Red Cross headquartered in city.

1885 - Washington Monument dedicated.

1888 - Electric streetcar begins operating.

1889 - National Zoo opens.

1890

Rock Creek Park established.

Population: 230,392.

1893 - American University founded.

1897 - American Negro Academy founded.

1899 - Height of Buildings Act of 1899 legislated.

1900s-1940s

1900 - Population: 278,718.

1902 - McMillan Plan for design of city introduced.

1906 - District Building (city hall) constructed.

1907

Union Station built.

Washington National Cathedral construction begins.[1]

1910 - Population: 331,069.

1912 - "Cherry trees planted around the Tidal Basin."

1915 - Association for the Study of Negro Life and History established.

1917 - National Sylvan Theater opens.

1919 - July: Racial unrest.

1920 - Population: 437,571.

1922

January 28: Storm crushes Knickerbocker Theatre.

May 30: Lincoln Memorial dedicated.

1923 - Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art opens.

1924

National Capital Park Commission established.

Washington Senators baseball team wins 1924 World Series.

1926 - Federal Triangle construction begins.

1930 - Population: 486,869.

1931 - National Symphony Orchestra formed.

1932

May: "Bonus Army" demonstration.

Arlington Memorial Bridge opens.

Folger Shakespeare Library built.

1935 - National Cherry Blossom Festival begins.

1937 - Washington Redskins football team active.

1940 - Population: 663,091.

1941

National Airport built.

National Gallery of Art opens.

1942 - Declaration by United Nations signed in city.

1944 - International Dumbarton Oaks Conference held in city.

1946 - International Monetary Fund headquartered in city.[2]

1949 - Whitehurst Freeway begins operating.

1950s-1990s

1950 - Population: 802,178.

1953 - January 15: 1953 Pennsylvania Railroad train wreck.

1954 - March 1: United States Capitol shooting incident (1954).

1957 - May 17: National Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom civil rights demonstration takes place in D.C.

1959 - International Antarctic Treaty signed in city.

1960

Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan signed in city.

Population: 763,956.

1962 - Streetcar stops operating.

1963 - August 28: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; King gives "I Have a Dream" speech.

1964

November: "D.C. residents are able to vote for president for the first time."

Capital Beltway constructed.

1965

April 17: March Against the Vietnam War.

Washingtonian magazine begins publication.

1967

Mayor-council form of government implemented; Walter Washington becomes mayor.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival begins.

Biograph cinema opens.

1968

April: 1968 Washington, D.C. riots occur.

American Association of Retired Persons headquartered in city (approximate date).

1969

November 15: Protest against Vietnam War.

Gay Blade newspaper begins publication.

Key Theatre in business.

1970 - Population: 756,510.

1971

April: Antiwar protest.

May: 1971 May Day protests against war.

June 30: New York Times Co. v. United States decided; allows Washington Post to publish Pentagon Papers about Vietnam.

Walter E. Fauntroy becomes delegate to the US House of Representatives from the District of Columbia.

National Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opens.

Center for Science in the Public Interest headquartered in city.

1972 - Watergate scandal discovered.

1973 - Mayoral election established, per US Congress' District of Columbia Home Rule Act.

1974

1974 White House helicopter incident

Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum opens.

1976

March: Washington Metro begins operating.

May: Concorde supersonic airplane begins operating.

US Bicentennial held.

1979

Marion Barry becomes mayor.

C-SPAN begins televising federal government proceedings.

1981

March 30: Attempted assassination of president Reagan.

Washington City Paper begins publication.

1982

January 13: Crash of Air Florida Flight 90.

Washington Convention Center built.

National Vietnam Veterans Memorial erected.

Washington Times newspaper begins publication.

1987

Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery and National Museum of African Art open.

Dupont Circle 5 cinema in business.

1990 – Population: 606,900.

1991

Eleanor Holmes Norton becomes delegate to the US House of Representatives from the District of Columbia.

City bicentennial.

1995 - October 16: National Million Man March held in city.

1996 - City website online (approximate date).

1999 - Anthony A. Williams becomes mayor.

2000s

2000 - May 14: Million Mom March held.

2001 - September: 2001 anthrax attacks.

2003 - Washington Convention Center rebuilt.

2007 - Adrian Fenty becomes mayor.

2008 - Nationals Park (stadium) opens.

2009

January 20: Inauguration of U.S. president Obama.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is released, taking place in D.C.

2010 - Population: 601,723.

2011

Vincent C. Gray becomes mayor.

CityCenterDC construction begins.

2015 - Muriel Bowser becomes mayor.

2016

January 2016 United States winter storm.

DC Streetcar begins operating.

March–April: 2016 Nuclear Security Summit.

National Museum of African American History and Culture opens.

District of Columbia statehood referendum, 2016

2017 - January 21: National Women's March on Washington scheduled.