October 16

Ranchos in 1841
Rancho San Pedro, a Mexican land grant covering 48,000 acres, was deeded. Today the Sepulveda family rancho, would include parts of Los Angeles harbor, San Pedro, the Palos Verdes peninsula, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, east to the Los Angeles River.

Overland Journies in 1846
The Donner Party camped at Truckee River. Reaching this river brought great relief to exhausted travelers who had walked across the Great Salt Lake Desert. One member recalled, “The weather was already very cold and the heavy clouds hanging over the mountains to the west were strong indications of an approaching winter. Some wanted to stop and rest their cattle. Others, in fear of the snow, were in favor of pushing ahead as fast as possible.“

Forts in 1852
Fort Jones was established in Siskiyou County. This Gold Rush town was formerly known as Scottsburg, Scottsville and Ottitiewa. The population was 839 at the 2010 census, up from 600 as of the 2000 census.

Montebello in 1920
A community east of Los Angeles, Newark, changed its name to Montebello. It is home to the original Mission San Gabriel Arcangel and where oil drilling began in 1917.

Business in 1923
Disney Brothers founded Cartoon Studio in Hollywood. Today Walt Disney Animation Studios, headquartered in Burbank has produced 53 feature films.

San Francisco in 1938
Aquatic Park in San Francisco opened at the end of Polk Street and Van Ness Avenue after seven years of work and $1 million in costs. Today it is part of San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

Movies in 1944
Woody Woodpecker’s first steady opponent, Wally Walrus, debuted in “The Beach Nut,” a Universal cartoon.

Business in 1952 
Woolworth’s dime store opened at Powell and Market Streets in San Francisco.

Robbins in 1958
Tim Robbins, film actor, writer, producer and director, was born in West Covina. He is best known for “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994), “Mystic River” (2003) and as Senator Hammond in the superhero film “Green Lantern” (2011). 

 

 

Music in 1965
The world’s first acid rock dance took place at Longshoreman’s Hall in San Francisco. Jefferson Airplane made its first concert appearance. The dance was organized by a group called the Family Dog.

Protests in 1966
Joan Baez and 123 other anti-draft Vietnam War protestors were arrested in Oakland.

Television in 1969 
KHOF-TV channel 30 in San Bernardino / Glenda began broadcasting. The current KPXN-TV channel 30 signed on the air on January 7, 1994, airing a mix of religious programs, infomercials and movies.

Forts in 1970
Fort Point National Historic Site was established. The massive brick fortress, now beneath the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, was built during the Civil War.

Business in 1985
Intel, in Santa Clara, introduced a 32-bit 80386 microcomputer chip.

Environment in 1999
A 7.0 earthquake, centered near Joshua Tree, struck in the Mohave Desert. It derailed an Amtrak train, but there were no deaths.

Government in 2006
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced plans to set up an emissions-trading scheme between California and other states to try to curb greenhouse gases.

Accidents in 2007
A sandstorm caused a pileup on the Antelope Freeway, north of Los Angeles. It involved  15 vehicles. Two people died and 16 injured.

Government in 2007
Oakland City Council adopted an ordnance banning smoking in ATM lines, parks, bus stops, and municipal golf courses.

Business in 2009
A 5-day event to help struggling borrowers drew thousands to the Cow Palace in Daly City. The Save the Dream tour was sponsored by Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America, a non-profit for helping people modify their home loans.

Accidents in 2012
The $8 million Oracle Team USA 72-foot catamaran flipped on San Francisco Bay during a training run for the America’s Cup. It drifted out under the Golden Gate Bridge before being recovered.

October 17

Lebec in 1837
This Tejon Pass mountain community is named for Peter Lebec. He was killed by a bear and memorialized in an epitaph carved on an oak tree at Old Fort Tejon.

Education in 1887
Pomona College was incorporated. This private, liberal arts college was the first of the Claremont Colleges, which includes Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College and Pitzer College.

Business in 1904
Bank of Italy opened in San Francisco. It became Bank of America. In 1945 it had 493 branches in California and assets of $5 billion. Today it is a multinational financial services corporation headquartered in North Carolina and the third biggest company in the world.

Japanese American Internment in 1942
Stockton Detention Camp closed. It was part of the mass incarceration of some 110,000 Californians of Japanese ancestry during World War II.

Sports in 1974 
The Oakland A’s beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, 4 games to 1. The A’s became the only team, other than the Yankees, to win three straight World Series.

Music in 1981
Some 145,000 people attended two Rolling Stones concerts at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Environment in 1989
The 6.9 Loma Prieta Earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay area during the start to the 3rd game of the World Series: Oakland A’s vs San Francisco Giants. 67 people died, 3,000 injured. It caused $7 billion worth of damage to 28,000 structures and several freeways. 42 people died on the Cypress Freeway.

 

Labor in 2000
The month long Los Angeles transit strike ended after Reverend Jesse Jackson managed the negotiation. It was the third longest transit strike in Los Angeles history.

Engelberg in 2006
Miriam Engelberg, graphic novelist, died in San Francisco at age 48. She had recently published a best-selling comic memoir, Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person.

Business in 2008
Mervyn’s, a department store chain based in Hayward, announced plans to close its remaining 149 stores and close the business after the holiday season. It had 189 stores in 10 states in 2006.

Accidents in 2009
Three people died when their car flipped during an Oakland sideshow. The Nissan that crashed was reportedly in a hyphy train, a line of cars weaving and speeding in unison.

Crime in 2012
Los Angeles authorities arrested and charged John Noguez, county assessor, his top aide and a campaign contributor, with alleged influence peddling and slashing property taxes for political allies.

October 18

Exploration in 1542
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, Portugese explorer for Spain, faced storms at the Santa Barbara headlands that divide Northern and Southern California. In 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno named it Punta de la Limpia Concepción. A lighthouse built there was one of the first on the California coast. Today it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Exploration in 1769
Explorer Gaspar de Portola camped on the banks of the San Lorenzo River, erected a wooden cross and named the spot Santa Cruz. He was traveling with Father Crespí, 63 leather-jacket soldiers and a 100 mules loaded with provisions, searching for Monterey Bay. They missed their mark and found San Francisco Bay.

 

Ranchos in 1841
Rancho de la Punta de Quintin, a 8,877-acre Mexican land grant, was deeded. It included where San Quentin Prison stands today in Marin County.

Overland Journeys in 1841
The Bartleson-Bidwell Party reached the Sierra summit and would be the first wagon train to reach California. The 32 people and 9 wagons started at Sapling Grove, Missouri and headed for John Marsh’s Rancho Los Meganos near Mount Diablo in today’s Contra Costa County.

Theater in 1849
Eagle Theater opened in Sacramento with a show called “The Bandit Chief.” The theater was destroyed in a flood some four months later.

Admission Day in 1850
Admission Day was celebrated. California legally became a state on September 9, 1850 but it took 38 days for the news to reach California.

Technology in 1861
A transcontinental telegraph construction crew reached Salt Lake City, Utah. The first electronic coast-to-coast communication link, completed five days later, ended of the Pony Express.

Science in 1955
U.C. Berkeley physicists Emilio Segrè and Owen Chamberlain discovered the anti-proton, for which they won the Nobel Prize in Physics (1959).

Movies in 1967
Walt Disney released “The Jungle Book,” the 19th Walt Disney Animated Classic. It grossed some $73 million in the U.S. in its first release and as much from two re-releases. After the film’s success, Disney released a live-action remake and a theatrical sequel, “The Jungle Book 2.” 

Efron in 1987
Zachary David Alexander, film actor, known as Zac Efron, was born in San Luis Obispo.

Labor in 1997
A 10-day strike continued at the Foster Farms chicken slaughterhouse in Livingston. The plant was the largest in the world and some 2,000 workers refused to accept a pay hike and doubled health insurance costs.

Crime in 2005
A U.S. District Court in San Francisco sentenced Victor Conte, founder of BALCO lab in Burlingame, to federal prison and house arrest for conspiracy to distribute steroids to professional athletes.

Crime in 2007
Rene Medina, of Atherton and owner of Lucky Chances Casino in Colma, pleaded guilty to evading $591,000 in income taxes. He was sentenced to federal prison.

Public art in 2008
U.C. Berkeley dedicated the sculpture “Berkeley Big People” by Emeryville artist Scott Donohue. It was erected just off I-80 at a cost of $196,000.

Business in 2010
Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, birthplace of the televangelist show “Hour of Power,” filed for bankruptcy after struggling with a debt in excess of $43 million.

October 19

War in 1842
U.S. Naval Commodore Jones, acting on rumors of war with Mexico, captured Monterey, the capital of Alta California.  He apologized and left the next day when he learned war was not declared.

Post offices in 1856
Yankee Hill post office opened.
The community settled by Chilean and Spanish miners, previously known as Rich Gulch and Spanishtown, is near Paradise.

Bridges in 1968
The Golden Gate Bridge became the first major bridge in the world to offer one-way toll collection when it began to charge tolls only for cars entering San Francisco.

Sports in 1969
Daryle Lamonica, Oakland Raiders, passed for six touchdowns to defeat the Buffalo Bills, 50-21.

Business in 1970
Amdahl Corp. in Sunnyvale, manufacturer of IBM mainframe compatible products, was formed by Dr. Gene Amdahl, a former IBM employee. In 1997 it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu.

Housing costs in 1978
U.S. League of Savings and Loan Associations reported that the San Francisco Bay Area had the highest housing costs in the nation.

Business in 2008
San Mateo County lost some $150 million in Lehman Bros. bankruptcy. That was 5.9% of the county’s investment fund.

October 20

Ranchos in 1784
Rancho San Rafael, a 36,403-acre Spanish land grant, was deeded. Today it would
include Glendale, Eagle Rock, La Canada, Montrose and Verdugo City.

Public health in 1850
Cholera killed 15% of Sacramento’s population in some three weeks.

Highways in 1929
Bayshore Highway, part of U.S. Roltue 101, opened in San Francisco. It runs along the west shore of San Francisco Bay, from San Jose to San Francisco.

Curtis in 1952
Edward Curtis, photographer of the West and of Native American people, died in Los Angeles.

Snoop Lion in 1971
Calvin Broadus, the artist known as Snoop Lion and previously as Snoop Dogg, was born  in Long Beach.

Crime in 1973
The San Francisco Zebra murders began and lasted for 179 days. Fifteen people were killed and eight wounded by a gang of racial extremists. Four men were convicted in 1976.

Aquariums in 1984
Monterey Bay Aquarium opened. It showcases habitats and sea life with more than 35,000 creatures, filling 34 major galleries and nearly 200 exhibits.

Sports in 1988
The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the heavily favored Oakland A’s in the World Series, 4-1. The A’s won in five games, the opposite result of their 1974 meeting, which also went five games.

Fires in 1991
A firestorm in the Oakland and Berkeley hills burned 1,520 acres. Twenty-five people were killed, 150 injured. It destroyed 3,354 single-family dwellings, 437 apartment and condominium units. The loss was estimated at $1.5 billion.

Lancaster in 1994
Burt Lancaster, legendary movie actor, died in Los Angeles. He is best known for “Elmer Gantry” (1960) and “Birdman of Alcatraz” (1962). 

Prisons in 2006
Corrections officials announced California will ship thousands of inmates to prisons in four other states at a cost of more than $51 million a year.

Wyatt in 2006
Jane Wyatt, television and movie actress, died in Bel Air. She was best known as the TV wife of Robert Young in “Father Knows Best” (1954-1960).

Environment in 2011
Two small earthquakes hit the San Francisco area the same day as an annual earthquake preparedness drill. A 3.8 evening quake came nearly six hours after a magnitude 4.0 earthquake hit the same area.

October 21

Transportation in 1861
The San Francisco and Oakland Railroad was formed. The East Bay steam train system carried passengers to ferry terminals at the Oakland Mole and LaRue’s Wharf.

Post offices in 1864
The Markleeville post office opened where Jacob Marklee built a toll bridge across the Carson River in 1861. Formerly known as Markleville, the Alpine County seat had a population of 210 in 2010.

Environment in 1865  
An earthquake hit San Francisco. It lasted for 42 seconds and caused major damage throughout the city.

Environment in 1868
A major earthquake, estimated at magnitude 7, struck the Hayward Fault. It created a sunken area in San Francisco that became called Pioche’s Lake. It was filled and rooming houses built there, which collapsed in the 1906 earthquake.

Business in 1869  
The first shipment of fresh oysters were shipped West by railroad from Baltimore.

Environment in 1950 
A statewide disaster was declared when floods caused nine deaths and $32 million in damage.

Sports in 1962
Mickey Wright won the LPGA Carlsbad Cavern Golf Open. Overall she won thirteen major championships and 82 LPGA Tour events. 

Festivals in 1971      
Half Moon Bay held its first Art and Pumpkin Festival. The winning pumpkin weighed 132 pounds. 

Sports in 1973
Fred Dryer, Los Angeles Rams, became the first player in NFL history to score two safeties in one game by dumping opposing passers in the end zone twice in the fourth quarter.

Sports in 1973
Dick Williams, Oakland A’s manager, quit after the A’s beat the New York Mets in the World Series.

Hollywood in 1975
Elton John was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Kardashian in 1980
Kim Kardashian, personality-entrepreneur, was born in Los Angeles.

White in 1985
Dan White committed suicide by carbon monoxide in his wife’s car. The former San Francisco Supervisor killed Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978. He served some 5 years after a defense called the “Twinkie defense.”

Rescues in 1989
Buck Helm was rescued after being buried for four days after the Loma Prieta earthquake. Oakland rescue workers pulled him from the wreckage of the collapsed Nimitz Freeway. Helm died less than a month later.

Politics in 1991     
California Governor Jerry Brown announced his presidential candidacy.

Berry in 2003      
Fred Berry, television actor, died in Los Angeles. He was best known as Fred “Rerun” Stubbs on “What’s Happening!!” (1976-1979).

Fires in 2007
The Santiago Canyon Fire in Orange County was one of 23 wildfires whipped by Santa Ana winds across Southern California. One person near San Diego died, homes and a church destroyed in Malibu. The Buckweed fire burned 38,000 acres in the Santa Clarita area, north of Los Angeles. A child admitted to starting that fire while playing with matches.

Fires in 2010   
An entire section of the Roseville Galleria, a high-end regional mall, was destroyed after Alexander Corney Pigee barricaded himself inside a video game store and started a fire.

October 22

Transportation in 1934
A Union Pacific diesel electric locomotive left Los Angeles for New York. It traveled across the continental in a record 56 hours and 55 minutes.

Sports in 1950
The Los Angeles Rams demolished the Baltimore Colts, 70-27.

Boitano in 1963
Brian Boitano, figure skater who won Olympic gold in 1988, was born in Mountain View.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk_IXnlbd1U

Sports in 1972
The Oakland A’s won their first World Series championship, beating the Cincinnati Reds, 4 games to 3.

Sports in 1976
Rick Barry, of the San Francisco Warriors, began a free throw streak of 60, the longest in NBA history at the time.

Fires in 1996
Firestorms burned 35,000 acres in Malibu and San Diego County, destroying more than 60 homes. 

Business in 1997
Yahoo, in Sunnyvale, purchased Four11, a Web-based email business, for $92,000,000.

Business in 2006
The Oracle OpenWorld convention opened in San Francisco. Some 42,000 attendees were expected to pump $60 million into the city’s economy by the close on Oct 27.

Environment in 2009
Officials in Benicia announced that ships in the Suisun Bay “ghost fleet” would be cleaned up and dismantled. The first were World War 2 cargo ships built in 1945.

October 23

Exploration in 1775
Juan Bautista de Anza began his expedition from Mexico to begin a settlement in Alta California, leading friars, soldiers and colonists with their families, horses, mules and cattle.

 

 

Movies in 1941
“Dumbo,” the 4th Walt Disney Animated Classic, was released. It was made to recover the financial losses of “Fantasia,” and return to simplicity and economy. At 64 minutes, it is one of Disney’s shortest animated features.

Accidents in 1942
All 12 passengers and crew aboard an American Airlines airliner were killed when it was struck by a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber near Palm Springs. Among the victims was composer and songwriter Ralph Rainger, “Blue Hawaii” (1937) and “Thanks for the Memory” (1938).

Television in 1958
Smurfs, the blue dwarves created by the Belgian artist Peyo, first appeared as comic characters who became a popular Hanna-Barbera animated cartoon.

Business in 2001
Apple released the iPod, advertising “1,000 songs in your pocket.” 275 million iPods were sold through September 1, 2010.

Lottery in 2003
7-Eleven owner Narinder Badwal in Santa Clara learned he sold the winning California Lottery ticket and earned a $250,000 commission. Then he learned he sold the winning ticket worth $49,747,500 to himself.

Sports in 2005
Some 15,000 runners raised $14 million for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in the 2nd Annual Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco.

Skinner in 2006
Todd Skinner, free climber, died in a fall at Yosemite National Park after his harness broke. He was 47 years old.

Fires in 2007
300,000 residents evacuated their homes, chased by wind-whipped flames engulfing Southern California. At least 700 homes were destroyed. President Bush declared a federal emergency for seven counties.

Energy in 2008
A solar thermal power plant built by Ausra opened north of Bakersfield. The goal was to generate as much as 5 megawatts, enough electricity for 3,750 homes. Ausra and other companies planned bigger plants in the future.

Sports in 2010
The San Francisco Giants won the National League championship, giving them their fourth World Series appearance since moving to San Francisco.

Solorio  in 2012
California surfer, Francisco Javier Solorio Jr., was killed in a shark attack off the coast of Surf Beach in Lompoc.