Short answers, pulled from the story.
The U.S. Constitution in 1789 called for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress, so Washington, D.C., is not part of any state and is not a state itself. Article One, Section Eight grants Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the city.
Washington, D.C., is considered founded on the 16th of July 1790, when President George Washington signed the Residence Act into law. The act approved creating the national capital along the Potomac River, and the president selected the exact location.
The city was named after George Washington, the first president, while the federal district was named Columbia, a female personification of the nation and a feminine form of Columbus then used as a poetic name for the United States. Three commissioners named the city in honor of President Washington on the 9th of September 1791.
On the 24th of August 1814, British forces occupied Washington after defeating an American army at the Battle of Bladensburg and set fire to federal buildings, gutting the Capitol, Library of Congress, Treasury Building, and White House. A storm forced the British to evacuate after just twenty-four hours, limiting the damage.
Washington, D.C., residents have no voting representation in Congress. They elect a single non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives who can sit on committees and introduce legislation but cannot vote on the floor, and the district has no representation in the Senate.
Yes, the D.C. statehood movement has grown since the 1980s, and a 2016 referendum drew 85 percent support among voters. The Washington, D.C., Admission Act passed the House of Representatives in April 2021 but was not adopted by the Senate, and it would name the state Washington, Douglass Commonwealth.