Photo by Marcellina.

The National Museum of American History reminds us that, on this day in 1802, Washington D.C. was officially incorporated as a city, meaning today is the city’s 209th birthday. But Washington’s incorporation is far from the only benchmark which could, conceivably be used to celebrate the birthday of D.C. as we know it today.

After all, the District itself was technically founded on July 16, 1790 with the passage of the Residence Act. The City of Washington was founded a year later. And what about the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871? That bill, passed by the Congress on February 21, 1871, revoked the charters of the City of Washington, the City of Georgetown and the County of Washington, and effectively merged the three under a single government for the District of Columbia. And of course, there’s probably an argument to be made that D.C. was reborn after the passage of the Home Rule Act in on December 24, 1973, which established the city’s modern means of governing itself.

Far be it from us to question the historical experts at the museum. But if you want to hold the belief that the city is actually 220, 219, 140 — or sure, even only 37 — years old, we won’t hold it against you.