City events are in black
World and national events are in brown
1769
San Diego was first settled by Europeans. Father Junipero Serra journeyed
from Spain and settled the area in order to Christianize the local Indians.
To accomplish his work, he founded the California Missions. San Diego was
the first of his missions.
December 16, 1773
The Boston "Tea Party" revives American passions about the issue of taxation
without representation. Samuel Adams and other local patriots, masquerading as Mohawk
Indians, board three British ships and empty 342 chests of tea into Boston harbor.
September 26, 1774
The first colonists arrive in San Diego, escorted from the Baja California Mission San
Fernando Velicata by Sergeant Jose Ortega of the Presidio.
1776
The Thirteen Colonies declare their independence from Great Britain.
1787
American ship Columbia circumnavigates the globe and stirs interest in California.
1793
George Vancouver arrives on the British ship Discovery, the first foreign vessel to
enter San Diego Bay.
1795
Manuel de Vargas, pioneer school teacher, opens the first public school.
1812
War of 1812 between United States and Great Britain begins.
1821
Mexico wins independence from Spain and San Diego comes under Mexican rule for about 25
years. First known home (today's Presidio Hills Golf Course golf shop) is built in Old
Town.
May 13, 1846
United States declares war on Mexico, invades Mexico from the east, reaching San Diego in
December.
January 24, 1848
The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill starts the California Gold Rush.
February 2, 1848
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ending the war between Mexico and the United
States. Treaty also sets the boundary between US and Mexico which arbitrarily divides the
two countries.
February, 1850
San Diego County is created as one of California's original 27 counties. It includes much
of the Colorado and Mojave deserts, extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Colorado River
and including all of present-day Imperial County and much of San Bernardino and Riverside
counties.
March 27, 1850
An Act to Incorporate the City of San Diego is passed. First election establishes
government by a Common Council and elected mayor. San Diego's first Mayor is Joshua Bean,
brother of the famous Judge Roy Bean.
September 9, 1850
California is granted statehood by the United States of America.
1861
United States Civil War begins. It ends April 9, 1865 with General Lee's surrender at
Appomattox.
April 14, 1865
Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.
1865
First public school house opens in San Diego. Mary Chase Walker is its first teacher.
October 10, 1868
San Diego's Weekly Union publishes its first edition near the Plaza in Old Town.
Today's San Diego Union-Tribune would result from a merger of The San Diego Union and The
Evening Tribune, founded Dec. 2, 1895.
Feb 4, 1870
San Diego becomes the first city west of the Mississippi to set aside land for an urban
park. This 1440 acre tract becomes the site for City Park, now Balboa Park.
1882
San Diego Telephone Company begins operation.
1882
San Diego's first public library opens.
1885
First electric street lights installed in San Diego.
July 4, 1886
San Diego's first transit system, the San Diego Street Car Company is organized by a group
led by Babcock and Story. First streetcars begin operating over two-mile track on
Broadway.
1891
Coronado secedes from San Diego and incorporates.
1902
Panama Canal construction is authorized in Congress.
April, 1907
Race car driver Barney Oldfield establishes world record of 65 mph in Lakeside. In 1915,
Oldfield races in Point Loma.
1907
Imperial County secession leaves San Diego with its present county boundaries.
April 14, 1908
U.S. Navy's Great White Fleet makes San Diego its first U.S. stop on a worldwide tour,
bringing more than 16,000 sailors into San Diego Harbor on 16 battleships, 7 destroyers
and 4 auxiliary ships.
November 1, 1910
Park Commissioners give "City Park" the new name "Balboa Park".
California State Legislature ratifies their decision, March 24, 1911, in the same piece of
legislation which authorizes the use of the park for an exposition.
1912
William Kettner (1864-1930) is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from
California 11th District, 1913-1921.
December 31, 1914
At midnight, President Woodrow Wilson presses a Western Union telegraph key in Washington,
D.C. which turns on lights and touches off a display of fireworks to open the
Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park.
1915
Panama-California Exposition opens Jan 1st. Bertram Goodhue's Spanish Colonial
architecture forever defines Balboa Park.
1916
Dr. Harry Wegeforth brings the San Diego Zoo into being when animals imported for the 1915
Panama-California Exposition are quarantined and not allowed to leave. He's reported to
have exclaimed to brother Paul, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a zoo." He
put a notice in the newspaper, asking for support.
1917
World War I prompts San Diego
military buildup. Camp Kearny is established, named in honor of Gen. Stephen Kearny who
led the Army of the West to San Diego in 1846. It costs $4.5 million to build and is
closed in 1920.
1917
U.S. Marine Base and Naval Hospital approved; government purchases North Island, its
Rockwell Field is shared by the Army and Navy until 1939.
1919
United States Navy decides to make San Diego Bay home base for the Pacific Fleet.
1920
San Diego's population reaches 74,683.
1935
The Old Globe Theatre opens in Balboa Park (note the open air center).
March 12, 1938
Hitler occupies Austria.
Sept 1, 1939
Germany invades Poland and war breaks out in Europe.
December 7, 1941
Japanese planes bomb Pearl Harbor.
1941
San Diego Naval Air Station begins training pilots for U.S. Air Force (a total of 31,400
during World War II).
1942
Navy acquires Rancho Santa Margarita for Camp Pendleton Marine base on 126,000 acres north
of Oceanside.
1944
Navy begins emergency construction of aqueduct to bring Colorado River water to San Diego.
San Diego County Water Authority is formed.
1939
Naval Air Station, Miramar develops on the site of Camp Kearny. In 1939 the Navy took
ownership of 423 acres of Camp Kearny and the field was commissioned Naval Auxiliary Air
Station, Camp Kearny Feb. 20, 1943. By the end of the war, the base covered 1101 acres and
all facilities were combined and commissioned as the Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar May
1, 1946. Expansion begins in 1951 to develop the base for jet aircraft and it is
commissioned as United States Naval Air Station, Miramar on April 1, 1952. It becomes the
Fighter Command for the Pacific Fleet in 1973, adding the "Top Gun" Flight
School, and becomes the Airborne Early Warning Wing Command. In 1998, the Naval Air
Station closes and it again becomes a Marine Corps Air Station. [courtesy of Steve
Schoenherr
1945
World War II ends.
1947
San Diego Aqueduct opens, bringing first Colorado River water to San Diego.
1950
San Diego's population reaches 334,387.
1954
San Diego's new Public Library opens.
1957
Minor League Padres begin playing at Westgate Park in Mission Valley.
1958
Interstate Highway 8 opens in February, following ancient Indian trails through Mission
Valley.
1960
San Diego County population tops 1 million; city population hits 573,224. State approves
proposition to deliver water from northern California as far south as San Diego.
1961
American Football League Chargers open first season at Balboa Stadium.
1961
Mission Valley Shopping Center opens.
1964
Sea World opens in Mission Bay Park.
August 28, 1965
Beatles perform before 18,000 adoring fans at Balboa Stadium.
1969
San Diego–Coronado Bay Bridge opens, replacing ferry service across San Diego Bay.
1969
National League League Padres begin playing at San Diego Stadium.
1970
San Diego becomes California's second-largest city, with a population of 697,471.
1975
Mayor Pete Wilson launches plans for a dramatic redevelopment of downtown San Diego,
creating Center City Development Corporation.
1977
University Towne Center shopping mall opens near UCSD.
March 8, 1978
World-famed Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park burns to ground in arson fire.
1980
San Diego population reaches 875,000.
1986
Maureen O'Connor is elected as San Diego's first woman mayor; North County Fair shopping
center opens in Escondido.
1986
The San Diego Supercomputer Center opens at the University of California, San Diego,
providing the national research community with access to the highest-performance computers
available.
Jan 26, 1988
San Diego hosts its first Super Bowl, in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. Washington
Redskins beat Denver Broncos 42-10.
1990
San Diego population tops 1.1 million.
1998
Super Bowl held in (renamed) Qualcomm Stadium; Coors Amphitheater opens in Chula Vista
1999
Legoland California opens in Carlsbad.