Short answers, pulled from the story.
The settlement now known as Casablanca was founded and settled by Berbers by the seventh century BC under the name Anfa. This ancient town thrived as a Berber port and was later used by the Phoenicians and Romans before becoming a haven for pirates in the early 15th century.
The Portuguese renamed the site Casa Branca, or White House, after bombarding the original town of Anfa into ruins in 1468. The name Casablanca was a calque of the Portuguese name when the Spanish took over trade through the Iberian Union and remained in use during the French protectorate.
The French bombarded the city in August 1907 with multiple gunboats and landed troops inside the town, causing severe damage and killing between 600 and 3,000 Moroccans. Estimates for the total casualties are as high as 15,000 dead and wounded, and the European homes and the Mellah were sacked and set ablaze.
Casablanca hosted the Anfa Conference, also called the Casablanca Conference, in January 1943. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt discussed the progress of the war and adopted the doctrine of unconditional surrender at this meeting.
Morocco gained independence from France in 1956, which marked the beginning of a post-independence era with significant urban transformations and socio-economic shifts. The city became a major supplier of wool to the booming textile industry in Britain and shipping traffic increased during the late 19th century.
The commune of Casablanca recorded a population of 3,359,818 in the 2014 Moroccan census. About 98% of the population live in urban areas, and the city represents about 11% of the total population of Morocco.