1. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring the last Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving, which eventually became the modern-day holiday of Thanksgiving.

2. In 1909, the Cherry Blossom Festival was first proposed by Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, a writer and publisher from Washington, D.C. The festival celebrates the beautiful cherry blossom trees gifted to the United States by Japan in 1912.

3. In 2000, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History reopened after a two-year renovation, with new exhibition spaces and state-of-the-art interactive exhibits.

4. In 2014, President Barack Obama signed an executive order granting temporary protection from deportation to millions of undocumented immigrants, mostly parents of children who are U.S. citizens or legal residents.

5. In 2019, the Washington Nationals baseball team won their first-ever World Series, defeating the Houston Astros in seven games. The victory brought D.C. its first professional baseball championship in 95 years.