1912 Cherry Trees from Tokyo at the Tidal Basin

In 1912 Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo donated more than 3,000 cherry trees to the United States; many were planted around the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. The original gift and successive plantings led to the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival, a major local event celebrated each spring. Some of the earliest plantings failed within years and have since been replaced through subsequent gifts and replanting programs, a history documented by the National Park Service.