Timeline of San Diego

Before the 19th century

1542 – First European contact with the area, as Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo enters San Diego Bay.

1602 – Second European contact, as Sebastián Vizcaíno maps and names San Diego Bay.

1769 – Presidio of San Diego and Mission San Diego de Alcalá established; first settlements of Alta California in New Spain.

1774 – Mission is moved from Presidio Hill to current site 6 miles away, near San Diego River

1795 – Public school opens.

19th century

1821 – Mexico gains its independence from Spain; San Diego becomes part of the Mexican province of Alta California.

1834

Mission secularized; Mission lands sold or given to wealthy Californios

San Diego becomes a pueblo.

Richard Henry Dana, Jr. visits San Diego as a sailor, later writing about his experiences in the best-selling book Two Years Before the Mast.

1835 – Juan María Osuna becomes alcalde.

1838 – San Diego loses pueblo status because of declining population

1840 – Population: 140.

1846-47 Mexican-American War

Battle of San Pasqual on December 6–7, 1846

Treaty of Cahuenga ceasefire signed January 13, 1847

1848 – Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (proclaimed July 4, 1848) transfers San Diego and all of Alta California to the United States of America

1850

California is admitted to the United States; San Diego becomes seat of San Diego County; San Diego is granted a city charter by the California legislature

William Heath Davis proposes "New San Diego" by the bay front, builds a pier and lays out streets, but proposed development is unsuccessful

1851 – Herald newspaper begins publication.

1852

City goes bankrupt; city charter repealed by legislature; city placed under control of a board of trustees

U.S. Army sets aside southern part of Point Loma for military uses, later developed into Fort Rosecrans

1855 – Point Loma Lighthouse built.

1858 – October: Hurricane.

1866 – Louis Rose lays out town of Roseville, later incorporated into San Diego

1867 – Alonzo Horton promotes move to "New Town", site of current Downtown.

1868

City reserves 1,400 acres (570 ha) of land as City Park, now Balboa Park

San Diego Union newspaper begins publication.

1870

Chamber of Commerce established.

Horton House hotel in business.

1871 – City and County records are moved from Old Town to New Town, establishing New Town as the city's hub

1872 – San Diego incorporated.

1880 – Population: 2,637; county 8,018.

1881 – The Sun newspaper begins publication.

1882 –

San Diego Free Public Library established.

Russ High School (now San Diego High School) opens; first high school in the city.

YMCA established.

1883-1886 - John J. Montgomery makes successful flights with manned gliders at Otay Mesa, the first controlled flights in a heavier-than-air flying machine in America.

1885 – Santa Fe railway begins operating.

1886 – Horse-drawn streetcar line established downtown.

1887

Ocean Beach founded.

San Diego Daily Bee newspaper begins publication.

National City & Otay Rail Road begins operating.

Electric streetcar line established between Downtown and Old Town.

1888 – Sweetwater Dam completed.

1889

City rechartered; mayor-council form of government adopted.

Beth Israel synagogue built.

1892 – San Diego Electric Railway begins operating.

1895 – Evening Tribune newspaper begins publication.

1897 – San Diego State Normal School (now San Diego State University) established.

1898 – Lomaland established by the Theosophical Society in Point Loma.

1900s–1940s

1901 – Raja Yoga Academy established at Lomaland.

1903 – Marine Biological Association of San Diego founded; now Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

1904 – Navy Coaling Station established on Point Loma; first navy establishment in the city.

1905 – USS Bennington (PG-4) explodes in the harbor due to a faulty boiler, killing 66 and injuring 46; burial and memorial at what later becomes Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery

1906 – Navy wireless radio station established on Point Loma.

1908 – Great White Fleet visits San Diego.

1909

Scripps Building constructed.

Construction begins on Broadway Fountain in Horton Plaza.

William Smythe founds San Ysidro, later (1957) annexed to San Diego.

1910

"City Park" renamed Balboa Park.

U.S. Grant Hotel built.

San Diego Civic Orchestra active.

Aero Club established.

Population: 39,578; county 61,665.

Broadway Fountain completed and dedicated October 15, 1910.

1912 – February: San Diego free speech fight begins.

1913 – Cabrillo National Monument established.

1915

Santa Fe Depot opens.

March 9: Panama–California Exposition opens.

May: San Diego stadium opens; now Balboa Stadium.

1916 – January–February: the "Hatfield flood", a major flood blamed by San Diegans on Charles Hatfield, a rainmaker they had hired.

1917

Army Camp Kearny established at the site of what would later become Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

Marine Corps Camp Matthews marksmanship range established at the site of what would later become the University of California, San Diego

1919

San Diego and Arizona Railway completed.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch established.

Holy Cross Cemetery dedicated.

1920 – Population: 74,683; county 112,248.

1921

U.S. Marine Corps training base commissioned.

San Diego Zoo established.

1922

U.S. Navy Destroyer Base, San Diego established; now Naval Base San Diego.

Rancho Santa Fe settled near San Diego.

1923 – Naval Training Center San Diego established.

1924 – The first United States aircraft carrier USS Langley began operating out of North Island.

1925

Mission Beach Amusement Center (amusement park) opens.

U.S. Naval hospital built.

1926

Star of India is towed into San Diego harbor; later renovated and opened as a museum ship

Fine Arts Gallery opens; now the San Diego Museum of Art.

1927

Charles Lindbergh's plane The Spirit of St. Louis is designed and built in San Diego by the Ryan Airline Company.

Prudden-San Diego Airplane Company in business; later Solar Aircraft Company, now Solar Turbines.

El Cortez Hotel built.

1928

San Diego Municipal Airport dedicated as Lindbergh Field.

San Diego Historical Society founded; now the San Diego History Center.

1929 – Fox Theatre dedicated.

1930 – Population: 147,995; county 209,659.

1931 – San Diego State College dedicated; formerly San Diego State Normal School, now San Diego State University.

1933 – Aztec Brewing Company relocates to city.

1934 – Ryan Aeronautical Company in business.

1935

May 29: California Pacific International Exposition opens.

Old Globe Theatre established.

Consolidated Aircraft Company relocates to city.

1936

San Diego Padres established as a minor league team within the Pacific Coast League.

Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego established.

1937 – U.S. Coast Guard Air Station San Diego commissioned.

1938 – San Diego Civic Center dedicated; now the San Diego County Administration Center.

1940

Marine base Camp Elliott established adjacent to Camp Kearny.

Population: 203,341; county 289,348.

1941 – Consolidated Aircraft becomes San Diego's largest employer with 25,000 employees.

1942

U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton established near city.

Japanese submarine I-17 lands secretly at Point Loma before heading north to attack Santa Barbara.

1943

Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft merge to become Convair.

Camp Kearny recommissioned as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Camp Kearny and Marine Corps Air Depot Miramar.

1945 – Navy Electronics Laboratory established, now part of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific.

1946 – Submarine Group San Diego established, now part of Naval Base Point Loma.

1950s–1990s

1950 – Population: 333,865; county 556,808.

1952

San Diego College for Women opens; now the University of San Diego.

Miramar Naval Air Station established.

1953 – Urban League established.

1955

General Atomics in business.

Journal of San Diego History begins publication.

1957

Fort Rosecrans transferred to U.S. Navy.

Sister city relationship established with Yokohama, Japan.

1960

University of California, San Diego and Salk Institute for Biological Studies established.

Population: 573,224; county 1,033,011.

1961

San Diego Chargers move to San Diego after one season in Los Angeles.

San Diego harbor depth was increased to 42 feet (13 m) to allow stationing supercarriers in San Diego. USS Kitty Hawk was the first supercarrier based in San Diego.

1963

Navy Submarine Support Facility established, now part of Naval Base Point Loma.

San Diego Aerospace Museum established.

Executive Complex built.

1964

San Diego Community Concourse and City Hall open.

SeaWorld San Diego opens.

1965 – Timken Museum of Art established.

1966 – San Diego County Comprehensive Planning Organization established, now San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG).

1967

San Diego Stadium opens, later Jack Murphy Stadium, now Qualcomm Stadium.

Historical Resources Board established.

1969

San Diego Padres established as a major league team.

San Diego–Coronado Bridge and Union Bank of California Building constructed.

TOPGUN United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program was established at Miramar Naval Sir Station.

Sister city relationships established with Cavite City, Philippines; and León, Mexico.

1970

Golden State Comic Book Convention begins, now San Diego Comic-Con International.

Chicano Park established in Barrio Logan.

1972 – The 1972 Republican National Convention, scheduled to take place in San Diego, was moved to Miami on three months' notice; Mayor Pete Wilson proclaimed "America's Finest City Week" during what would have been convention week.

1975 – Centre City Development Corporation formed.

1976 - Sister city relationship established with Tema, Ghana.

1977 - Sister city relationship established with Edinburgh, UK.

1978 – September 25 – PSA Flight 182 crashes on approach to San Diego Airport, killing all 137 people on board and 7 people on the ground; at the time the deadliest plane crash in the U.S.

1980 – Population: 875,538; county 1,861,846.

1981 – San Diego Trolley begins operating.

1982 - Sister city relationships established with Alcalá de Henares, Spain; and Jeonju, South Korea.

1983 - Sister city relationship established with Taichung City, Taiwan.

1985

Westfield Horton Plaza in business.

Sister city relationship established with Yantai, China.

1986 - Sister city relationship established with Perth, Australia.

1989

San Diego Convention Center opens.

Symphony Towers built.

1990 - Population: 1,110,549.

1991

One America Plaza built.

Sister city relationship established with Vladivostok, USSR.

1992 – inSITE art exhibition begins.

1993 - Sister city relationship established with Tijuana, Mexico.

1994 - City website online.

1995

May 17 – Shawn Nelson steals an M60A3 Patton tank and goes on a rampage with it before being shot and killed by police.

Sister city relationship established with Campinas, Brazil.

1996

August: 1996 Republican National Convention held.

Sister city relationship established with Warsaw, Poland.

1997 – U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command ("SPAWAR") headquarters relocated to San Diego.

21st century

2000 - Population: 1,223,400.

2001 – San Diego River Park Foundation established.

2004

Petco Park (ballpark) opens.

Sister city relationship established with Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

2005

Voice of San Diego begins publication.

San Diego Derby Dolls (rollerderby league) formed.

2007 – Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego sex abuse trial held.

2008 – Electra highrise built.

2009 – Watchdog Institute established at San Diego State University.

2010 – Population: 1,307,402; metro 3,095,313.

2011

March 18 – Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge opens.

September 8 – 2011 Southwest blackout occurs. 1.4 million customers in San Diego County are left without power.

2013 - Population: 1,355,896.

2015 - Carlsbad desalination plant opens December 14.