Explore America With This Quiz on U.S. Cities

With the official title "An Act for Establishing the Temporary and Permanent Seat of the Government of the United States," the Residence Act set in motion the construction of Washington, D.C. The city along the Potomac was planned to begin serving as the permanent U.S. capital 10 years after the act's passage, with Philadelphia standing in as the capital in the meantime.

In 1933, Albert Einstein accepted a job at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. Einstein enjoyed long walks, and the scientist strolling through the street or the wooded grounds of the institute (often with his friend, the logician Kurt Gödel) became a common sight in town. The house where Einstein lived in Princeton is now preserved as a museum.

In 1992, after record-breaking snowfall, the city of Syracuse, New York, attempted to take matters into its own hands after the heavy snow started to dampen morale. On March 30 of that year, the city declared further snow illegal until December 24. Unfortunately, the resolution didn't do much to change weather patterns, and snow fell just two days later. However, the city's attempt did provide a flurry of comic relief, which was much needed after the winter storms.

The first movie theater in the U.S. opened in 1905 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Called a "Nickelodeon" — a play on the 5-cent price of tickets — the theater showed the silent Western film, “The Great Train Robbery." While film projectors had been used as acts in vaudeville shows, there had never before been a theater dedicated to only showing movies. Movie theaters quickly popped up across the country as a new national pastime was born.

Boston made history by establishing the first police department in America in 1838. This group of full-time employed public workers in charge of the city's safety was revolutionary. Before this time, night watch systems were the primary source of protection for big cities, the first of which was also established in Boston in 1636. All major U.S. cities would have a police force by the 1880s.

Only three Presidents in U.S. history have served as city mayors before taking the highest office in the land. Andrew Johnson was the mayor of Greeneville, Tennessee; Calvin Coolidge led Northampton, Massachusetts; and Grover Cleveland was mayor of Buffalo, New York. While running the so-called “Queen City,” future President Cleveland cleaned up corruption, which helped him to become governor of New York, and then President of the United States.

Chicago's flag was adopted in 1917 and depicts four six-pointed stars between two blue horizontal bars on a field of white. Each of the stars stands for an important event in the city's history — the first is for Fort Dearborn, the second for the Great Chicago Fire, the third for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and the last for the Century of Progress Exposition of 1934.

The United States has had nine capitals over the years, but only one was a one-day wonder: Lancaster, Pennsylvania. As British soldiers advanced on Philadelphia in the summer of 1777, the Continental Congress fled the then-capital city. On September 27, 1777, they met inside Lancaster’s county courthouse, but they didn’t stay long, moving farther west to York, Pennsylvania after just one day of business.

Before Atlanta was called "Atlanta," the railroad junction area went by the names Terminus (because it was the end of the railroad line), Thrasherville (after a man named "Cousin John" Thrasher), and Marthasville (in honor of the then-governor's daughter). Finally, in the 1840s, the city was reincorporated as "Atlanta" and became the official state capital in 1877.

Originally established by the Spanish in 1565, today St. Augustine, Florida survives as the country's oldest continuously occupied city. St. Augustine is on the northeastern coast of the Sunshine State and was settled by the explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés more than 200 years before the United States came to be.

As of the 2020 census, the population of Phoenix, Arizona is just over 1,700,000. The population has spiked recently, with 755,000 people moving to the Phoenix metro area since 2010, an average of about 207 people per day. Phoenix’s booming economy and sunny weather have attracted tech companies and manufacturers to its desert landscapes.

As the longest river in the United States, the Missouri River has been a big part of American history, and a crucial trade route for goods across the Northwest. In addition to the cities above, the river also flows through St. Louis, Missouri, where it meets the mighty Mississippi.

America’s road west on the Oregon Trail began in Independence, Missouri, and stretched more than 2,000 miles to Oregon City, Oregon. This route was no walk in the park. Hundreds of thousands of people taking the trail faced obstacles such as poor weather, dangerous animals, and illness. Eventually, the expansion of railroads made the trail obsolete, allowing travelers a safer ride west.

Motown Records was founded by Berry Gordy in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959. The label is a reference to Detroit’s nickname, “Motor City,” which stems from its central role in the American auto industry. Motown went on to release records by some of the most legendary music acts in history, including Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Gladys Knight & the Pips, among many others.

During the War of 1812, British forces invaded Washington, D.C., and set fire to many federal buildings in the city, including the Capitol Building and the White House. The destruction was so severe that some members of Congress proposed relocating the nation’s capital to Philadelphia. In the end, the government chose to repair the damage the British had caused and keep the capital in D.C.

The Iditarod is an annual dog sled race that starts in Anchorage, Alaska, and follows a route of roughly 1,100 miles to the city of Nome. The route is based on an old mail route that was established in 1910. It also pays homage to the path taken by dog sledders who traveled from Anchorage to Nome on an emergency mission to bring medicine to the city during a diptheria outbreak in 1925.

Bruce Springsteen's song "Streets of Philadelphia" was written for the Tom Hanks film "Philadelphia" in 1993. Critics called the song "somber" and "powerful," much like the tragic movie in which it plays. Springsteen won four Grammys for his performance, as well as the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Salt Lake City, Utah, was founded in 1847 by Mormon leader Brigham Young and a group of 148 pioneers who fled with him to escape religious persecution. The city’s population grew quickly as it attracted new Mormon immigrants and travelers moving west during the California gold rush of 1849. Salt Lake City remains the global center of the Mormon religion.

The Baltimore Ravens are named after the titular bird in Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven.” Though Poe was born in Boston, he spent a large portion of his life in Baltimore, and he is commonly associated with the city: In addition to spending the early part of his career there, Poe also died in Baltimore under mysterious circumstances and is buried in the city.

The Las Vegas Springs rose from the desert floor in the area of the modern-day Sin City, and two streams of water were sent across the valley. A lush oasis of grassy meadows was the result, and one Spanish-speaking traveler christened the region "Las Vegas." Though the meadows of old Las Vegas are now buried under casinos, the city's name reminds visitors of a simpler, greener time.

St. Louis, Missouri, is home to the Gateway Arch: a 630-foot-tall arch on the bank of the Mississippi River. The monument was constructed between 1963 and 1965 to commemorate St. Louis’ role in America’s westward expansion in the 19th century. The city became known as the “Gateway to the West” as it marked the start of the Oregon Trail.

First coined in the 1840s, the “Twin Cities” nickname refers to Minnesota’s two largest cities, which straddle the Mississippi River. Minneapolis is the state’s most populous city, while St. Paul is the state capital. The two cities share many of the same political, educational, and cultural institutions — hence their shared nickname.

Though it isn't the tallest structure in the city, Seattle's Space Needle is certainly the most famous. Built in 1962 for that year's world's fair, the 605-foot observation tower was the tallest tower in Seattle (and all of Washington) until 1969. Since then, eight other buildings have passed it in height, including the 933-foot Columbia Center, which is currently taller than any other Seattle structure.

NASA used the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, for many early space flights, including the Apollo 11 lunar mission — the world’s first successful moon landing. Neil Armstrong announced the successful touchdown on the moon with the words, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed,” cementing the city of Houston as a part of that historic moment.

The Declaration of Independence was signed in the Pennsylvania State House (later renamed Independence Hall) in the city of Philadelphia in 1776. Though it’s no longer used as a government building, Independence Hall was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966, and remains standing in Philadelphia. Visitors can still see the room where the historic document was signed by the U.S. Founding Fathers.

In Los Angeles, California, large white letters spelling out the word “HOLLYWOOD” stand on a hill overlooking the city. The sign was first built in 1923, and originally spelled out “HOLLYWOODLAND,” the name of a new residential development in the area. The “LAND” was removed during a renovation in 1949, resulting in the iconic Hollywood sign that remains an emblem of the U.S. film industry.

Denver's nickname is the Mile High City, and for good reason. Officially, its elevation is exactly 5,280 feet, or one mile, above sea level. To mark the elevation, the 15th step of the Colorado State Capital is engraved with the words "One Mile Above Sea Level," and the 20th row of the upper deck at the Colorado Rockies' Coors Field has special purple seats where they cross the mile mark.

The Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 still ranks as one of the most significant earthquakes of all time. In the early morning of April 18, the northernmost section of the San Andreas fault ruptured, causing massive horizontal displacements and a large cumulative offset. With an epicenter near San Francisco, the quake devastated nearly 500 blocks across the city, which took years to rebuild.

During the 1970s, New York City ended up billions of dollars behind on payments, and teetered on the edge of bankruptcy while President Gerald Ford declined to let the federal government bail out the city. Ultimately, though, in 1975, Ford signed the New York City Seasons Financing Act, which released $2.3 billion in loans to the city, a total that is roughly $10 billion in today's money.

In 2015, the Madison Common Council named the plastic flamingo as the official bird of Wisconsin’s capital city. The distinction stems back to a 1979 prank, when students at the University of Wisconsin placed 1,000 plastic flamingos on Bascom Hill overnight. The prank became a city legend, and the “bird” is now beloved as a local symbol.

The origins of New Orleans’ “Big Easy” moniker are debated, but one theory traces it to an early 20th-century dance hall called the Big Easy. Other accounts attribute it to James Conway's 1970 crime novel of the same name, or to newspaper columnist Betty Guillaud, who is said to have popularized the name in the 1960s.