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Important dates in California
1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo explored San Diego Bay.
1579 Francis Drake sailed along the coast and claimed California for England.
1602 Sebastian Vizcaino urged that Spain colonize California.
1769 Gaspar de Portola led a land expedition up the California coast. Junipero Serra established the first Franciscan mission in California, in what is now the city of San Diego.
1776 Spanish settlers from New Spain (Mexico) reached the site of what is now San Francisco.
1812 Russian fur traders built Fort Ross.
1822 California became part of Mexico, which had just won its independence from Spain in 1821.
1841 The Bidwell-Bartleson party became the first organized group of American settlers to travel to California by land.
1846 American rebels raised the "Bear Flag" of the California Republic over Sonoma. U.S. forces conquered California during the Mexican War (1846-1848).
1848 James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill. The discovery led to the California gold rush. The United States defeated Mexico in the Mexican War and acquired California in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
1850 California became the 31st state on September 9.
1880's A population boom occurred as a result of a railroad and real estate publicity campaign that brought thousands of people to California.
1906 An earthquake and fire destroyed much of San Francisco.
1915 Expositions were begun at San Diego and San Francisco to mark the opening of the Panama Canal.
1945 The United Nations Charter was adopted at the San Francisco Conference.
1963 California became the state with the largest population in the United States.
1978 California voters approved a $7-billion cutback in state property taxes.
1989 A strong earthquake struck the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area.
1994 A strong earthquake struck Los Angeles.
2003 Voters recalled Governor Gray Davis and elected motion-picture star Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace him.
Tags: juan rodriguez cabrillo francis drake sebastian vizcaino gaspar de portola spanish settlers