The history of New York City (NYC) is full of fun and strange facts that seem like legend, but are 100 percent true. For example, NYC was the capital of the United States between 1789 and 1790, during the time when George Washington was sworn into presidency. In fact, Washington served at Federal Hall, in what is now the Wall Street area, where the U.S. Constitution was also ratified and the U.S. Bill of Rights drafted. Before the city became the nation's capital, its population was barely more than 30,000 residents, second to Philadelphia, which was the largest city in the country at the time. By the year 1790, however, NYC's population had increased to 49,447 and earned the city the top place. Today, NYC has more than 8 million inhabitants and is twice the size of the second most-populated city in the country, Los Angeles.