Washington, D.C.
From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
Washington, D.C. is the capital city of the United States. It is where the President and the other U.S. government groups live and work. Washington was named after the first President, George Washington. The "D.C." stands for "District of Columbia", because it is not in any U.S. state. At first, it was made up of a little piece from Virginia and a little piece from Maryland, on both sides of the Potomac River. In 1849, Virginia got their piece returned again, now parts of the county of Arlington, and the city of Alexandria. Now Washington is all north of the Potomac.
When English people first came to the area, there was a Native American village on the spot called Nakochtank. This name survives in the name of the Anacostia River. This river was known for the healing properties of its pure water, and it is recorded that the Emperor Powhatan, who resided at what is now Richmond, Virginia, made the trip all the way to Nakochtank once for this reason. Today this river is one of the most polluted in the world.
The license plates on the cars in DC say "TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION". This is a protest over the fact that the people who live there aren't represented with a vote in United States Congress, but they still have to pay taxes.