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New York City is the capital
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George Washington is inaugurated
George Washington is inaugurated as the first president of the United States. -
The Residence Act is passed
"Calls for the creation of a permanent capital on the Potomac. The act locates government in Philadelphia for a period of ten years while the new capital is being established. The shift to Philadelphia is a sudden surprise for New York." -
Pierre Charles L'Enfant is commissioned
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L'Enfant is dismissed
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James Hoban wins White House Design contest
Wins a gold medal worth $500. -
The White House cornerstone is laid
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John Adams orders relocation of government offices
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John Adams moves into the incomplete House
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The White House is open to the public
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Benjamin Henry Latrobe is appointed to complete design
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Louisiana Purchase Treaty is signed
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Pavilions and terraces are added to the east and west sides of the main building
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The first wedding held in the White House is held
"Dolley Madison arranges the wedding of her sister, Lucy Payne Washington to Supreme Court Justice Thomas Todd. It is the first wedding ceremony held in the White House." -
The White House is burned
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James Hoban is hired to rebuild the White House.
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John Quincy Adams creates the first flower garden on the White House grounds
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Monroe Doctrine signed in the White House
Warns European powers against intervention in the Western Hemisphere. -
The park north of the White House is named in honor of General Lafayette.
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President James Madison moves into the rebuilt house
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John Adams, grandson of one president and son of President John Quincy Adams, marries Mary Catherine Hellen in the White House
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James Hoban finishes the North Portico
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Ornamental iron fences surround the structure and running water is piped into the house
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Andrew Jackson creates the White House orangery
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Earliest Photograph of the White House taken by John Plumbe Jr.
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President James Polk installs gas lights
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Abigail Fillmore, a retired school teacher, makes the second floor Oval Room the first White House library
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Clark Mills's equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson is unveiled in the center of Lafayette Park
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Civil War soldiers are quartered in the mansion's East Room
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President Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation in his Cabinet Room
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President Lincoln is assassinated at Ford's Theater
His body lies in state in the East Room after the assassination. -
The first telegraph office is installed at the White House
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President Lincoln's former office, the Treaty Room, becomes the Cabinet Room for President Andrew Johnson
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Julia Grant begins the tradition of White House garden parties
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Elaborate renovations of the interior are undertaken
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The UK gives the Resolute Desk
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President Chester Arthur commissions Louis Comfort Tiffany to renovate the interior of the house
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President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in the Blue Room
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President Theodore Roosevelt officially names the president's residence the White House
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Construction of the West Wing begins
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Roller-skating parties, Chinese wrestling matches, and even a pony delivered to the living quarters to cheer up an ailing Roosevelt were part of the family's activities
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Theodore Roosevelt builds white house tennis court
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The East Room is stripped of its 1873 decor and emerges in a classic style with white walls and parquet floors
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The China Room is created
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The Oval Office and Cabinet Room are added to the West Wing
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The Rose Garden is first planted by Woodrow Wilson's first wife
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Sheep keep the White House lawn trim during World War I when the gardeners are conscripted into service
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Calvin Coolidge places the first National Christmas Tree in Lafayette Park
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President Coolidge builds a rooftop solarium
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President Herbert Hoover has to vacate the executive office wing for reconstruction
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Franklin D. Roosevelt begins famous "fireside chat" radio broadcasts
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A heated indoor swimming pool is built in the west terrace for Roosevelt's poliomyelitis therapy
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Steinway and Sons give the Roosevelts a grand piano, which now sits in the East Room
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The Map Room, once the cloak room for the adjoining Diplomatic Reception Room, becomes a top-secret war room
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Given the symbolic and historic importance of the White House, a plan to keep the exterior and install a new interior modeled after the 1902 interior was agreed upon
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President Truman requests a balcony be built on the south portico
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First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy established the White House as a public museum with a permanent collection
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The Rose Garden is redesigned by Mrs. Paul Mellon
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Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act in the East Room
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President Johnson's daughter Lynda Johnson marries Charles Robb in the White House
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Richard Nixon becomes the first president to resign his office
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Jimmy Carter brings President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel to the White House to celebrate the signing of a peace treaty between the two nations
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The Clintons add a jogging track
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The White House is evacuated
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The White House Situation Room is renovated
