California History

American Indians have been living in California for at least 10,000 years. Formerly a Spanish colony, it is now the most populous region in the United States.

Chinatown's Sex Slaves - Human Trafficking and San Francisco's History

In the 1800s, the prostitution of Chinese women in San Francisco rested upon a foundation of human trafficking, organized crime, and outright slavery.

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Timeline

  • 1769 - A Spanish colonization effort results in the founding of San Diego. San Francisco follows in 1776, and Los Angeles is founded in 1781 by forty-four settlers.
  • 1821 - California becomes a part of Mexico upon that nation's independence.
  • 1848 - California becomes part of the United States after the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo is signed. It becomes a state in 1850.
  • 1849 - The California Gold Rush increases the population and wealth of San Francisco and northern California in legendary fashion.
  • 1892 - Oil is discovered in Los Angeles. By the 1920s, Southern California becomes a center of world oil production.
  • 1914 - Cecil DeMille and Oscar Apfel's The Squaw Man becomes the first feature film to be made in Hollywood.
  • 1942-1945 - Hundreds of thousands arrive in Los Angeles and elsewhere for military duty or defense jobs. Many stay after World War II.
  • 1964 - Ken Kesey and a band of followers begin their LSD-infused tour of the United States aboard his psychedelically painted bus known as "Furthur". By 1967 hippie culture gains national prominence with the "Summer of Love".
  • 1965 - Increased Mexican and Asian immigration is spurred by the US Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, having a particular effect on the demographics of the West Coast.
  • 1968 - Richard Nixon becomes the first President to be elected who was born in California.
  • 1970 - Cesar Chavez leads the United Farm Workers in the Salad Bowl Strike in California.
  • 1975 - Over 100,000 Vietnamese refugees flee to the United States after the victory of Ho Chi Minh and North Vietnam.
  • c.1980 - Widespread cases of the AIDS virus begin to appear in the United States.
  • 1999 - The dot-com boom in Silicon Valley reaches its all-time heights. It crashes spectacularly in 2000.
  • 2001 - Rolling blackouts and increased electricity costs cripple California's electricity system, largely due to chicanery from Enron.