Short answers, pulled from the story.
Valencia was founded as a Roman colony in 138 BC, established to settle soldiers who had fought against the Lusitanian rebel Viriatus during the Third Raid of the Lusitanian War. The Roman historian Livy recorded this origin. The city was originally named Valentia Edetanorum, meaning strength or valour.
The Latin name Valentia means strength or valour, reflecting the Roman practice of recognising the bravery of veteran soldiers who were settled there after a war. During the period of Islamic rule, the city was called Medina at-Tarab, meaning City of Joy, or Medina at-Turab, meaning City of Sands.
On the 6th of November 1936, after continuous failed Francoist offensives against besieged Madrid, the Republican government relocated to Valencia, making it the provisional capital of Republican Spain. The government remained there until the 31st of October 1937, when it moved to Barcelona.
The Falles is an annual festival held from the 15th to the 19th of March, during which elaborate satirical monuments are built and then burned on the final night in an event called La Crema. The festival originated in the 18th century when carpenters burned waste planks on the feast day of Saint Joseph. UNESCO declared it an intangible cultural heritage on the 30th of November 2016.
Yes. Valencia was selected in 2003 to host the America's Cup, becoming the first European city ever to hold the historic yacht race. The 2007 matches drew over one million visitors to the Louis Vuitton stage alone, and Valencia also hosted the 33rd America's Cup in June 2009.
After a catastrophic flood in October 1957 that killed 81 people, engineers created a new channel for the Turia and left the original riverbed dry. That former riverbed through the city was transformed into a long park now containing playgrounds, sports fields, and the City of Arts and Sciences complex designed by Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela.