Draft:Timeline of California

The following is a chronological timeline of events occurring in or relating to the U.S. state of California.

18th century

1760s

• 1767
  • November 30: Gaspar de Portolá is appointed as the first governor of the Province of Las Californias.
• 1769
  • May 14: The Presidio of San Diego is established by Governor de Portolá, the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific Coast of the present-day United States.
  • July 16: Mission San Diego de Alcalá is founded by Junípero Serra, the first of 21 Spanish missions in California.

1770s

• 1770
  • June 3: Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo is founded on the Monterey Peninsula.

19th century

1800s

• 1804
  • Las Californias is split into two provinces, Alta California and Baja California, due to the rising Spanish population in its northern territories.

1820s

• 1821
  • August 24: The Treaty of Córdoba is signed, establishing Mexican independence from Spain
  • September 28: The Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire is ratified.

1840s

• 1846
  • June–July: A group of American settlers in Sonoma rebel against Mexican rule in the Bear Flag Revolt, beginning the Conquest of California.
• 1847
  • January 13: The Treaty of Cahuenga is signed at the Campo de Cahuenga, ending the Conquest of California and creating a ceasefire between Californios and Americans.
• 1848
  • January 24: James W. Marshall discovers gold at Sutter's Mill, beginning the California gold rush
  • December 16: The city of San Francisco is incorporated.
• 1849
  • October 13: The Constitution of California is created at a constitutional convention held at Colton Hall in Monterey.

1850s

• 1850
  • February 27: The city of Sacramento is incorporated.
  • March 27: The city of San Diego is incorporated.
  • September 9: Through the California Statehood Act, California is admitted to the United States as the 31st state.
• 1854
  • Sacramento is designated as the official state capital of California.
• 1856
  • San Francisco becomes a consolidated city-county.

1870s

• 1874
  • The California State Capitol is completed in Sacramento.

1880s

• 1885
  • Stanford University is founded by Leland and Jane Stanford, dedicated to the memory of Leland Stanford Jr.

1890s

• 1891
  • September 23: Throop College is founded in Pasadena by local politician Amos G. Throop.

20th century

1900s

• 1906
  • April 18: San Francisco is struck by a 7.9 Mw earthquake that causes destructive fires, leaving over 3,000 dead in what is considered the deadliest earthquake in U.S. history.

1910s

• 1915
  • The Panama–Pacific International Exposition is held in San Francisco, celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal.

1920s

• 1920
  • After a number of name changes, Throop College is officially renamed to the California Institute of Technology.
• 1923
  • January 9: Friend Richardson takes office as the 25th governor of California.
• 1927
  • January 4: C. C. Young takes office as the 26th governor of California.

1930s

• 1931
  • January 6: James Rolph takes office as the 27th governor of California.
• 1932
  • July–August: The 1932 Summer Olympics are hosted in Los Angeles, with 37 participating nations.
• 1934
  • June 2: Governor Rolph dies in office, with lieutenant governor Frank Merriam succeeding him as the 28th governor of California.
• 1936
  • October 31: Jet Propulsion Laboratory is established by Caltech researchers in La Cañada Flintridge.
• 1937
  • May 27: The Golden Gate Bridge between San Francisco and Marin County is completed and opened to the public.
• 1939
  • January 2: Culbert Olson takes office as the 29th governor of California.

1940s

• 1942
  • February 19: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, authorizing the forced relocation and incarceration of Japanese Americans.
  • March: The Manzanar War Relocation Center opens in Inyo County.
• 1943
  • January 4: Earl Warren takes office as the 30th governor of California.
• 1945
  • June 26: The Charter of the United Nations is signed in San Francisco by 50 of the 51 original member states.

1950s

• 1951
  • September 8: The Treaty of San Francisco is signed, re-establishing peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers and ending the legal state of war.
• 1953
  • October 5: Governor Warren resigns from office to accept the nomination of Chief Justice of the United States. Lieutenant governor Goodwin Knight succeeds him as the 31st governor of California.
• 1959
  • January 5: Pat Brown takes office as the 32nd governor of California.

1960s

• 1965
  • September 8: AWOC launches the Delano grape strike, organizing grape growers to fight for increased wages and working conditions. The NFWA join the strike a week later.
• 1966
  • August 22: The United Farm Workers is established from a merger of the National Farm Workers Association and the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee.
• 1967
  • January 2: Ronald Reagan takes office as the 33rd governor of California.
• 1968
  • June 5: U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

1970s

• 1970
  • July 29: The Delano grape strike ends with victory for farm workers, resulting in a collective bargaining agreement.
• 1975
  • January 6: Jerry Brown takes office as the 34th governor of California.
  • September 5: President Gerald Ford survives an assassination attempt by Squeaky Fromme while visiting the California State Capitol.
  • September 22: Gerald Ford survives another assassination attempt by Sara Jane Moore after he addressed the World Affairs Councils of America.

1980s

• 1983
  • January 3: George Deukmejian takes office as the 35th governor of California.
• 1984
  • July–August: The 1984 Summer Olympics are hosted in Los Angeles, with 140 participating nations.

1990s

• 1991
  • January 7: Pete Wilson takes office as the 36th governor of California.
• 1999
  • January 4: Gray Davis takes office as the 37th governor of California.

21st century

2000s

• 2003
  • October 7: California votes to recall Governor Davis from office, electing Arnold Schwarzenegger as his successor.

2010s

• 2011
  • January 3: Jerry Brown takes office for a non-consecutive third term as the 39th governor of California.
• 2014
  • May 23: Six people are killed and 14 are left injured after a misogynistic spree killing in Isla Vista carried out by Elliot Rodger, who then commits suicide.
• 2019
  • January 7: Gavin Newsom takes office as the 40th governor of California.

2020s

• 2020
  • January 25: The first infection of COVID-19 is confirmed in California.
• 2021
  • September 14: Governor Newsom survives a recall election.