-
1535
1535
The office of viceroy was established when Don Antonio de Mendoza was sent to Mexico as the embodiment of the Spanish king, thereby curbing the power of Cortes and the conquistadors and preserving the authority of the monarch in the New World. -
1542
1542
First european, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo visits coast of California -
1579
1579
Sir Francis Drake claims California for Great Britain -
1602
Sebastian Vizcaino goes to Monterey Bay -
1769
"Sacred Expedition" which founded Monterey and "discovered" San Francisco Bay, provides a horrendous documentation of death, desertion, and shipwreck. -
1769
Friar Junipero Serra establishes first mission at San Diego -
Period: to
Spanish Colonial
-
1770
The establishment of the San Carlos De Borromeo Mission -
1771
Mission San Antonio was the third mission established in California, established by Junipero Serra -
1775
Some eight hundred neophyte and non Christian Kumeyaays, fed up with sexual assaults and chafing under missionary supervision, attacked Mission San Diego. -
1781
The establishment of the city of Los Angeles -
1787
The constitution of the United States was signed -
1821
Families received land title from the newly independent Mexico to encourage settlement in what was known as Alta California. -
Period: to
Mexican era
-
1826
Proclamation of Emancipation -
1833
Secularization of Missions -
1834
Abolishment of California missions -
1846
Mexican-American war started -
1846
Bear Flag Revolt -
1848
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo -
1848
The start of the gold rush, gold was discovered -
1848
Mexican-American war ended -
Period: to
California Gold Rush
-
1849
The constitutional convention of California -
1850
US government passed the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians, which outlawed intentional burning in California even before it was a state. -
1851
California becomes a state. -
1853
Government and Protection of Indians Act -
1854
The capital of California becomes Sacramento -
1862
Central Pacific Railroad -
1869
Transcontinental Railroad -
1873
The poet Joaquin Miller wrote one of the first elegies “Life Amongst the Modocs,” to California’s disappearing salmon -
Period: to
Progressive era
-
1882
President Arthur signs the Chinese Exclusion Act -
1890
The Sherman Antitrust Act -
1890
The establishment of Yosemite National Park -
1906
The great San Francisco Earthquake -
1906
Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act -
1908
Built the Owens River aqueduct -
1910
Commencement of operating Angel Island Immigration Station -
1914
World War l -
1918
World War l ends -
1929
The Great Depression -
Period: to
The Great Depression
-
1933
The Great Depression Ends -
1933
Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) -
1934
The National Housing Act -
1935
"Golden Land" was published -
1937
San Franciscos "The Golden Gate Bridge" is inaugurated -
1939
World War ll -
Period: to
WWll
-
1940
End of operating Angel Island Immigration Station -
1943
The Chinese exclusion act ended -
1944
The GI Bill of Rights becomes law -
1945
World War ll ends -
Period: to
Post war
-
1946
California had an unemployment rate of 8.8% compared to a national average of 3.9% -
1947
Over 400,000 Californians remained unemployed and 767,000 claimed unemployment benefits -
1959
The release of "Gidget", the film that marketed Californias pop culture lifestyle -
1960
Los Angeles plaza contains the cities first reservoir filled with river water -
1962
California becomes the most populous state in the union -
1962
"Little Boxes" by Malvina Reynolds, song inspired by the suburb Daly City that became iconic in American culture -
1965
Watts Riot -
1968
MLK is assassinated -
1968
The Fair Housing Act -
Period: to
1968 to present
-
1980's
Kindergarten becomes universal -
1986
Dan Walters book release of "The New California: Facing the 21st Century" -
1987
The market crash -
1989
Half of Californias aerospace workers are laid off -
1992
Rodney King Riots -
1992
Impact of Defense Cuts on California -
1996
Long Beach naval station closing -
2014
Latinos exceeded whites as the states single largest ethic group -
2019
No race or ethnic group constitutes a majority of Californias population -
2020
California is the nations most populous state