San Francisco History Timeline

Events 1 - 100 of 448

• 1659-12-08 Mexican border town Ciudad Juárez is founded by Fray García de San Francisco.
• 1775-08-05 1st Spanish ship, San Carlos, enters San Francisco Bay
• 1776-03-28 Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco
• 1776-06-29 Mission Dolores founded at San Francisco Bay by Lieutenant José Joaquin Moraga and Francisco Palóu
• 1776-09-17 The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.
• 1792-11-14 Captain George Vancouver is first Englishman to enter San Francisco Bay
• 1811-02-02 Russian settlers establish Ft Ross trading post, north of San Francisco
• 1835-06-25 1st building constructed at Yerba Buena (now San Francisco)
• 1846-07-09 Captain John B. Montgomery claims Yerba Buena (San Francisco) for US
• 1846-08-26 W. A. Bartlett appointed 1st US mayor of Yerba Buena (San Francisco)
• 1847-01-09 1st San Francisco newspaper published (California Star)
• 1847-01-30 Yerba Buena renamed San Francisco
• 1847-11-28 Church of San Francisco dei Minori Conventuali in Bologna, Italy initiated with premier of Rossini's Tantum ergo
• 1848-01-09 Dr. Stephen A. Wright establishes the" Miner's Bank" in San Francisco, California
• 1848-02-02 1st Chinese immigrants arrive by boat in San Francisco, California
• 1848-04-03 Thomas Douglas becomes 1st public teacher in San Francisco
• 1848-11-09 Post office at Clay & Pike opens, 1st in San Francisco
• 1848-12-26 1st gold seekers arrive in Panama en route to San Francisco

• 1849-03-31 Colonel John W Geary arrives as 1st postmaster of San Francisco
• 1849-06-22 Stephen C. Massett opens concert at San Francisco courthouse using only piano in California
• 1849-07-28 Memmon is first clipper to reach San Francisco, 120 days out of NY
• 1849-12-24 First great fire of early San Francisco starts east side of the Plaza, first of great seven fires in 2 years
• 1850-04-01 San Francisco County government established
• 1850-04-15 City of San Francisco incorporated
• 1850-05-01 John Geary becomes 1st mayor of San Francisco
• 1850-05-11 Work starts on 1st brick building in San Francisco
• 1850-06-14 Third great fire of early San Francisco, starts in a bakery chimney
• 1850-07-01 At least 626 ships lie at anchor around San Francisco Bay
• 1850-09-17 Fourth great fire in San Francisco
• 1850-11-06 Yerba Buena & Angel Islands (San Francisco Bay) reserved for military use
• 1851-01-31 San Francisco Orphan's Asylum founded, 1st in California
• 1851-05-03 Sixth major fire in San Francisco destroys 1500-2000 buildings
• 1851-05-06 San Francisco Chamber of Commerce starts
• 1851-06-09 San Francisco Committee of Vigilance forms (1st time)
• 1851-06-22 Fire destroys part of San Francisco, including City Hall and Jenny Lind Theatre, city's seventh fire in 2 years
• 1852-07-03 Congress authorizes US's 2nd mint (San Francisco, California)
• 1852-08-01 San Francisco Methodists establish 1st black church, Zion Methodist
• 1852-12-23 1st Chinese theater in US, the Celestial John, opens in San Francisco
• 1853-04-17 US Marine Hospital at Presidio, San Francisco forms
• 1853-09-11 1st electric telegraph used - Merchant's Exchange, San Francisco to Pt Lobos, California
• 1853-11-17 Street signs authorized at San Francisco intersections
• 1854-01-05 Steamship San Francisco wrecked off US eastern seaboard, 300 die
• 1854-02-11 For the 1st time coal gas is used to light major streets in San Francisco
• 1854-05-27 Marine Telegraph from Fort Point to San Francisco completed
• 1855-06-20 Commissioners appointed to lay out San Francisco streets west of Larkin
• 1856-05-15 2nd San Francisco Vigilance Committee organized
• 1857-04-29 US Army, Pacific Div HQ permanently forms at Presidio (San Francisco)
• 1857-06-15 San Francisco Water Works organized
• 1859-03-01 Present seal of San Francisco adopted (its 2nd)
• 1859-04-12 Hibernia Savings & Loan Society of San Francisco incorporates

• 1859-12-19 Grading started for Market Street RR in San Francisco
• 1860-02-22 Organized baseball played in San Francisco for 1st time between the Eagles and the Red Rovers
• 1860-03-09 1st Japanese ambassador arrives in San Francisco en route to Washington

• 1860-03-24 Clipper Andrew Jackson arrives in San Francisco, 89 days out of New York

• 1860-05-06 San Francisco Olympic Club, 1st US athletic club forms
• 1860-06-07 Workmen start laying track for Market Street Railroad, San Francisco
• 1860-07-24 Olympics beat St. George, 25-17 at St. Georges Cricket Grounds, Philadelphia in first baseball game played in enclosed field
• 1861-07-01 1st public schoolhouse opens at Washington and Mason St, San Francisco
• 1861-07-03 Pony Express arrives in San Francisco with overland letters from NY
• 1861-10-24 First US transcontinental telegram is sent (from San Francisco to Washington, D.C.)
• 1861-10-25 Telegraph message sent from St Louis to San Francisco
• 1862-09-04 North Beach & Mission Railway Company organized in San Francisco
• 1863-09-01 Rail & ferry connection between San Francisco & Oakland inaugurated
• 1863-10-15 Cliff House opens in San Francisco, 1st of many on the site
• 1863-11-01 Fortifications built on Angel Island (San Francisco Bay) by troops
• 1864-06-11 300' (90 m) of Meigg's Wharf, in San Francisco, washed away in storm
• 1864-08-25 Combination rail & ferry service available from San Francisco to Alameda
• 1865-01-16 San Francisco Dramatic Chronicle starts
• 1865-04-24 Fire alarm & police telegraph system put into operation in San Francisco
• 1865-09-27 Circus performer James Cooke walks a 150 yard tightrope from Cliff House to Seal Rocks in San Francisco
• 1866-05-04 Woodward's Gardens opens to the public in San Francisco
• 1867-07-15 San Francisco Merchants' Exchange opens
• 1867-07-21 City Gardens on Folsom in San Francisco opens
• 1867-11-04 90 kegs of powder used to get rock from Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, for seawall
• 1868-04-18 San Francisco Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals forms in San Francisco, California
• 1869-01-18 Elegant California Theater opens in San Francisco
• 1869-04-18 1st international cricket match, held in San Francisco, won by California
• 1869-08-23 1st carload of rail freight (boots & shoes) arrives in San Francisco, from Boston after a 16-day trip
• 1869-09-06 1st westbound train arrives in San Francisco
• 1871-01-31 Millions of birds fly over western San Francisco, darkening the sky
• 1871-03-28 San Francisco Art Association holds open reception at 430 Pine
• 1871-04-23 Blossom Rock in San Francisco Bay blown up
• 1872-04-14 San Francisco organizes Bar Association
• 1872-05-17 Bohemian Club incorporated in San Francisco
• 1872-08-23 1st Japanese commercial ship visits San Francisco, carrying tea
• 1873-02-20 University of California gets its first Medical School (UC/San Francisco)
• 1873-05-23 Postal cards sold in San Francisco for 1st time
• 1873-06-02 Construction begins on Clay St (San Francisco) for world's 1st cable railroad
• 1873-07-04 Aquarium opens in Woodward Gardens, San Francisco
• 1873-08-02 1st trial run of San Francisco cable car, Clay Street between Kearny and Jones
• 1873-09-06 Regular Cable Car service begins on Clay Street, San Francisco
• 1873-11-12 Bay District Race Track in San Francisco opens
• 1875-06-05 Pacific Stock Exchange formally opens in San Francisco
• 1875-06-19 Formal opening of US Marine Hospital at Presidio in San Francisco
• 1875-10-05 Palace Hotel on Market Street opens in San Francisco

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Birthdays 1 - 100 of 301

• 1757-06-22 George Vancouver, British explorer (surveyed Pacific coast from San Francisco to Vancouver Island), born in King's Lynn, England (d. 1798)
• 1830-04-29 Adolph Sutro, German American engineer and politician, mayor of San Francisco, built Cliff House, born in Aachen, Prussia (d. 1898)
• 1857-09-06 Zelia Nuttall, American Mexican archeologist and historian (Codex Nuttall), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1933) [1]
• 1861-10-08 Theodore Roberts, American actor (Roaring Road, 10 Commandments), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1928)
• 1862-02-07 Bernard Maybeck, American architect (Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco), born in New York City (d. 1957)

• 1867-07-04 Stephen Mather, American industrialist and conservationist (organized US National Park Service), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1930)
• 1869-08-23 James (Sunny Jim) Rolph, San Francisco mayor (1912-31), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1934)
• 1870-09-07 Thomas Curtis, American athlete (Olympic 1896 Gold), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1944)
• 1870-10-22 Ivan Bunin, Russian poet and novelist (Gentleman from San Francisco-Nobel 1933), born in Voronezh, Russian Empire (d. 1953)

• 1874-06-14 Edward Bowes, American radio host (Major Bowes Amateur Hour), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1946)

• 1876-09-30 Katherine Griffith [Kiernan], American actress (Pollyanna, Fast Company), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1921)
• 1877-04-30 Alice B. Toklas, American-Parisian avant-garde and companion of Gertrude Stein, born in San Francisco, California (d. 1967)

• 1877-06-17 Russell Simpson, American actor (San Francisco, Abraham Lincoln), born in Danville, California (d. 1959)
• 1879-12-12 Laura Hope Crews, American actress (Camille; Gone With The Wind), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1942)

• 1888-04-18 Duffy Lewis, American baseball left fielder (World Series 1912, 15, 16; Boston Red Sox), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1979)
• 1888-05-31 Jack Holt, American golddigger and actor (Cat People, San Francisco, Brimstone), born in New York City (d. 1951)
• 1888-07-16 Percy Kilbride, American stage and screen actor (The Egg and I; Ma and Pa Kettle films), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1964)
• 1888-07-23 Gluyas Williams, American cartoonist (Fellows Citizen), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1982)
• 1888-11-18 Frances Marion, American screenwriter and actress (Pollyanna), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1973)
• 1889-02-04 Walter Catlett, American actor (Climax, Front Page, Tale of 2 Cities), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1960)
• 1889-07-15 Marjorie Rambeau, American stage, silent and sound screen actress (Primrose Path; Torch Song), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1970)
• 1889-12-02 William Gaxton [Arthur Gaxiola], American stage and screen actor (A Connecticut Yankee; Destry; Convoy), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1963)
• 1890-01-10 Ernest Milton, American actor (Cat Girl, Fiddler's Three), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1974)
• 1890-07-25 Julian Rivero, American actor (Son of Oklahoma, Via Pony Express), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1976)
• 1890-07-26 Daniel J. Callaghan, US Admiral (Medal of Honor), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1942)
• 1891-05-04 Frederick Jacobi, American composer, born in San Francisco (d. 1952)
• 1891-05-22 Robert Gordon Sproul, American educator and college president (University of California), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1975)
• 1893-03-03 Bill Nestell, American actor (Dangerous Venture, Buckskin Frontier), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1966)
• 1893-11-03 Robert Lindley Murray, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1917-18), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1970)
• 1894-02-10 Roy D'Arcy [Roy Giusti], American actor (Warning Shadows, Revolt of Zombies), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1969)
• 1894-03-26 Will Wright, American actor (Adam's Rib, Living Christ Story), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1962)
• 1894-08-02 Hal Mohr [Harold Leon Mohr], American Cinematographer and husband of Evelyn Venable (Captain Blood), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1974)
• 1894-08-03 Harry Heilmann, American Baseball HOF outfielder (4 × AL batting champion, Detroit Tigers) and broadcaster (WXYZ), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1951)
• 1894-10-03 Elmer Robinson, American politician (33rd Mayor of San Francisco), born in San Francisco (d. 1982)
• 1894-11-02 Bill Johnston, American tennis player (US Open 1915, 19; Wimbledon 1923), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1946)
• 1894-12-17 David Butler, American director (April in Paris, Calamity Jane), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1979)
• 1895-05-15 Charles Lamont, American actor and director (Abbott & Costello films), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1993)
• 1895-07-23 Aileen Pringle, American actress (Murder at Midnight), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1989)
• 1895-07-26 Gracie Allen, American comedian and actress (Burns & Allen), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1964)
• 1895-11-19 Louise Dahl-Wolfe, American fashion photographer, born in San Francisco, California (d. 1989)
• 1896-03-12 Jesse Fuller, American one-man blues band ("San Francisco Bay Blues"), born in Jonesboro, Georgia (d. 1979)
• 1896-06-07 Douglas Campbell, American aviator and World War I flying ace, born in San Francisco, California (d. 1990)
• 1896-10-01 Ted Healy [Ernest Nash], American vaudeville, stage, and screen actor, comedian (Mad Love, San Francisco, Soup to Nuts), and creator of the Three Stooges, born in Kaufman, Texas (d. 1937)
• 1897-02-19 Alma Rubens, American actress (Humoresque), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1931)
• 1897-11-17 Frank Fay, American vaudeville comedian and actor (God's Gift to Women, Love Nest), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1961)
• 1898-06-19 James Joseph Sweeney, American Catholic prelate, born in San Francisco, California (d. 1968)
• 1898-07-28 Lawrence Gray, American actor, born in San Francisco, California (d. 1970)
• 1899-04-04 Carmel Myers, American stage and silent and sound screen actress (Ben-Hur; Svengali), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1980)
• 1899-04-19 George O'Brien, American actor (Sunrise: A Song of Two Human), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1985)
• 1900-08-23 Malvina Reynolds, American folk singer and songwriter (Morningtown Ride), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1978)
• 1900-10-15 Mervyn LeRoy, American movie producer (Devil at 4 O'Clock), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1987)
• 1900-10-16 Lloyd Corrigan, American actor (Papa Dodger, The Manchurian Candidate), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1969)

• 1902-05-03 Hugo Friedhofer, American composer, born in San Francisco, California (d. 1981)
• 1902-08-11 Lloyd Nolan, American actor (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Peyton Place), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1985)

• 1903-12-26 Elisha Cook Jr, American actor (Maltese Falcon, Shane, Magnum PI), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1995)
• 1904-03-01 Paul Hartman, American actor (Petticoat Junction, Inherit the Wind), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1973)
• 1904-05-03 John Breeden, American actor (Salute, Madame Racketeer, Joy Street), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1977)
• 1904-05-06 Raymond Bailey, American actor (Vertigo, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Incredible Shrinking Man), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1980)
• 1904-09-22 Ellen Church, American 1st female airline stewardess (United flight in 1930 from San Francisco to Cheyenne), born in Cresco, Iowa (d. 1965)
• 1905-01-26 Charles Lane, American actor (Homer-Petticoat Junction, Lucy Show), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2007)
• 1905-04-21 Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, American politician and Governor of California (D: 1959-67), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1996)
• 1906-01-03 Gus Suhr, American baseball first baseman (1435 MLB games Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies; only player to be sued by a fan injured after struck by a foul ball), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2004)

• 1906-12-18 Kam Tong, Chinese American actor (Have Gun Will Travel, Across the Pacific, Flower Drum Song), born in San Francisco (d. 1969)
• 1906-12-20 Irving Krick, American meteorologist and inventor, born in San Francisco, California (d. 1996)
• 1908-05-30 Mel Blanc, American radio comedian and voice actor, best known for his Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons (Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd & Porky Pig), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1989)
• 1909-08-13 Wilhelmina Von Bremen, American 4X100 relay sprinter (Olympic gold 1932), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1976)
• 1910-07-28 Bill Goodwin, American television announcer (Jolson Story, Burns & Allen), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1958)
• 1910-10-04 Frankie Crosetti, American baseball shortstop and 3rd base coach (record 17 World Series titles as player and coach; NY Yankees), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2002)
• 1911-01-27 Benay Venuta [Benvenuta Rose Crooke], American actress, singer and dancer (Annie Get Your Gun, Call Me Mister), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1995)
• 1911-06-13 Luis Alvarez, American physicist (subatomic particles, Nobel 1968), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1988)
• 1912-03-22 Karl Malden [Mladen George Sekulovich], American actor (Streets of San Francisco; A Streetcar Named Desire; American Express commercials), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2009)
• 1913-06-10 John Edmunds, American composer, born in San Francisco, California (d. 1986)
• 1913-12-25 Tony Martin [Alvin Morris], American singer ("It's a Blue World; "To Each His Own"), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2012)
• 1914-09-26 Jack LaLanne, American fitness and nutritional expert, born in San Francisco, California (d. 2011)
• 1915-06-25 Peter Lind Hayes, American comedian and singer (Peter Lind Hayes Show), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1998)
• 1915-10-18 Victor Sen Yung [Cheung Young], American actor (Across the Pacific, Charlie Chan in Honolulu), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1980)
• 1916-01-24 Walter Haas Jr., American businessman and sports team owner (Levi Strauss & Co, Oakland A's), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1995)
• 1916-02-12 Joseph L Alioto, American politician (Mayor-San Francisco), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1998)

• 1916-08-28 Jack [Holbrook] Vance, American sci-fi author (2 Hugo, Dirdir, Pnume), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2013)
• 1916-11-26 Bob Elliott, MLB player (Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Braves), born in San Francisco (d. 1966)

• 1917-04-16 Barry Nelson, American actor, first actor to play James Bond, born in San Francisco, California (d. 2007)
• 1918-01-26 Vito Scotti [Scozarri], American actor (The Godfather, Flying Nun, Barefoot in the Park), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1996)
• 1918-04-26 Stafford Repp, American actor (Playhouse 90, Batman, Plunder Road), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1974)
• 1918-06-25 Ken Mayers, American actor (Little Big Man, Dick Tracey, Space Patrol), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1985)
• 1918-07-24 Ruggiero Ricci, American composer and violinist (Paganini), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2012)
• 1918-07-26 Marjorie Lord [Wollenberg], American actress (Make Room for Daddy, Sherlock Holmes in Washington), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2015)
• 1919-02-17 Joe Hunt, American tennis player (US National C'ship 1943), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1945)
• 1919-11-18 Jocelyn Brando, American actress (The Big Heat, Ugly American, China Venture), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2005)

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