Navigator João Rodrigues Cabrilho of Portugal arrives at what is now San Diego, California, United States.

Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls ''Nova Albion'' (modern California) for England.

An expedition led by Gaspar de Portolà establishes a base in California and sets out to find the Port of Monterey (now Monterey, California).

Father Junipero Serra founds California's first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego.

The Donner Party of pioneers departs Springfield, Illinois, for California, on what will become a year-long journey of hardship, cannibalism, and survival.

Mexican-American War: American troops occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the U.S. conquest of California.

The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican-American War in California.

John C. Fremont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.

Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco.

Mexican-American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for $15 million USD.

California Gold Rush: the ''New York Herald'' breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States of the gold rush in California (although the rush started in January).

California Gold Rush: In a message before the U.S. Congress, US President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.

California is admitted as the thirty-first U.S. state.

The Fort Tejon earthquake of California occurs, registering an estimated magnitude of 7.9.

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln grants Yosemite Valley to California for "public use, resort and recreation".

In California, the poet and American West outlaw calling himself "Black Bart" makes his last clean getaway when he steals a safe box from a Wells Fargo stagecoach. The empty box will be found later with a taunting poem inside.

Seven people are killed in the Mussel Slough Tragedy, a gun battle in California

The Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, is first held.

In the U.S. state of California, Stanford University opens its doors.

"Electric Theatre", the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles, California.

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire destroys much of San Francisco, California.

Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with European Americans, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California.

Death Valley, California hits 134 °F (

A major labour dispute, known as the Wheatland Hop Riot, starts in Wheatland, California.

The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco, California begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.

Honda Point Disaster: nine US Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast. Seven are lost, and twenty-three sailors killed.

In California, the St. Francis Dam fails, killing over 600 people.

The Congress of the United States approves the construction of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge by the state of California.

Amelia Earhart is the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.

In California, the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic.

In California, the Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California.

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington, D.C., who pushes a button signaling the start of vehicle traffic over the span.

California opens its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.

At California's March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.

World War II: The two-person crew of the U.S. naval blimp L-8 disappears without a trace on a routine anti-submarine patrol over the Pacific Ocean. The blimp drifts without her crew and crash-lands in Daly City, California.

Fifty nations gather in San Francisco, California to begin the United Nations Conference on International Organizations.

The brutalized corpse of Elizabeth Short ("The Black Dahlia") is found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California.

In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Spruce Goose; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built.

Treaty of San Francisco: In San Francisco, California, 48 nations sign a peace treaty with Japan in formal recognition of the end of the Pacific War.

BCPA Flight 304 DC-6 crashes near San Francisco, California. Pianist William Kapell is among the 19 killed.