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

1791    Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is named after President George Washington.

1792    In Washington, D.C., the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) is laid.

1800    U.S. President John Adams takes up residence in Washington, D.C. (in a tavern because the White House was not yet completed).

1800    The United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, D.C.

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

1814    British troops invade Washington, D.C. and burn down the White House and several other buildings.

1814    Washington, D.C. is burned and White House is destroyed by British forces during the War of 1812.

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

1861    American Civil War: The Union Army arrives in Washington, D.C.

1861    U.S. President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of ''habeas corpus'' in Washington, D.C., for all military-related cases.

1864    Knights of Pythias are founded in Washington, D.C. by Justus H. Rathbone.

1864    American Civil War: Battle of Fort Stevens; Confederate forces attempt to invade Washington, D.C..

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

1882    Charles J. Guiteau is hanged in Washington, D.C. for the assassination of U.S. President James Garfield.

1888    The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C..

1889    Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, D.C.

1890    The Pan-American Union is founded by the First International Conference of American States in Washington, D.C.

1894    Coxey's Army reaches Washington, D.C. to protest the unemployment caused by the Panic of 1893.

1894    Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C.

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

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

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

1922    The Washington Naval Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.

1922    In Washington, D.C. the Lincoln Memorial is dedicated.

1927    First distance public television broadcast (from Washington, D.C. to New York City, displaying the image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover).

1928    Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. becomes the first holder of a television license from the Federal Radio Commission.

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.

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.

1932    Great Depression: in Washington, D.C., troops disperse the last of the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans.

1932    In Washington, D.C., the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.

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    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.

1939    In Washington, D.C., US President Franklin D. Roosevelt lays the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial.

1941    In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1943    The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth.

1953    The United States Supreme Court rules that Washington, D.C. restaurants could not refuse to serve black patrons.

1954    The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and the Republic of China, is signed in Washington, D.C..

1958    Final run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's ''Royal Blue'' from Washington, D.C., to New York City after 68 years, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.

1960    Founding of the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith in Washington, D.C.

1961    In Washington, D.C. John F. Kennedy delivers the first live presidential television news conference.

1961    The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections.

1962    President John F. Kennedy dedicates Dulles International Airport, serving the Washington, D.C. region.

1967    Vietnam War: More than 100,000 war protesters gather in Washington, D.C.. A peaceful rally at the Lincoln Memorial is followed by a march to The Pentagon and clashes with soldiers and United States Marshals protecting the facility. Similar demonstrations occurred simultaneously in Japan and Western Europe.

1968    The Nuclear non-proliferation treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., London and Moscow by sixty-two countries.

1969    Vietnam War: Anti-war protesters in Washington, D.C. stage a symbolic ''March Against Death''.

1969    Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 250,000-500,000 protesters staged a peaceful demonstration against the war, including a symbolic "March Against Death".

1969    U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato agree in Washington, D.C. on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these are to be nuclear-free.

1970    Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrate in front of the White House.

1971    The Harrisburg Seven: The Reverend Philip Berrigan and five others are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington, D.C.

1971    Vietnam War: Vietnam Veterans Against the War begin a five-day demonstration in Washington, D.C..

1971    In Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated, with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's ''Mass''.

1973    District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.

1974    10,000 march in Washington, D.C., calling for the impeachment of US President Richard Nixon

1976    The London to Washington, D.C. Concorde service begins.

1977    The Hanafi Muslim Siege: In a thirty-nine hour standoff, armed Hanafi Muslims seize three Washington, D.C., buildings, killing two and taking 149 hostage.

1977    The 1977 Hanafi Muslim Siege: more than 130 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims are set free after ambassadors from three Islamic nations join negotiations.

1979    Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in Washington, D.C..

1979    The first Gay Rights March on Washington, D.C., the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, demands "an end to all social, economic, judicial, and legal oppression of lesbian and gay people", and draws 200,000 people.

1979    A package from the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski begins smoking in the cargo hold of a flight from Chicago to Washington, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.

1981    President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.

1981    The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operates it under its own power outside Washington, D.C.

1987    The Chase, Maryland rail wreck: An Amtrak train en route to Boston, Massachusetts from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, killing 16 people.

1989    Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's show opens at Washington, D.C.'s Project for the Arts after the Smithsonian Institution's Corcoran Gallery cancels it.

1990    Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry is arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting.

1990    Jim Gary's "Twentieth Century Dinosaurs" exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

1991    A riot breaks out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after police shoot a Salvadoran man.

1993    The Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. is dedicated.

1993    After rounds of secret negotiations in Norway, the Oslo Peace Accords are signed, followed by a public ceremony in Washington, D.C. the following month.

1995    The Korean War Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C..

1995    The Million Man March occurs in Washington, D.C.

2001    In Washington, D.C., U.S. President George W. Bush dedicates the United States Department of Justice headquarters building as the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Building, honoring the late Robert F. Kennedy on what would have been his 76th birthday.

2002    In Washington, D.C., the remains of the missing Chandra Levy are found in Rock Creek Park.

2004    The World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.

2009    Washington Metro train collision: Two Metro trains collide in Washington, D.C., USA, killing 9 and injuring over 80.