1834  - Mexican government took possession of the land owned by the missions; Spanish mission lands were secularized. Mexican officials in California awarded huge grants of mission lands to favored individuals. Great ranching empires were created, and huge cattle herds ranged over the land. These ranchers were known as Californios, members of great land-holding families.

1841 - William Wolfskill planted oranges on two acres of land between, what is now, 4th and 6th streets, east of Alameda Street, in Los Angeles; first attempt to commercially produce oranges in the state; grove expanded to over 2,500 trees on 100 acres; 1862 - owned over two thirds of all orange trees in California (largest grove in the United States); planted first persimmon trees in Los Angeles.

August 15, 1846 - Rev. Walter Colton, Robert B. Semple published first edition of  ‘Monterey Californian’ on cigarette paper in a cigar shop in Monterey, CA; California’s first newspaper, published every Saturday morning; April 24, 1847 - Semple sole publisher (Colton retired); June 1, 1847 - moved offices to Yerba Buena; name changed to ‘Californian’; May 29, 1848 - closed, entire staff left for Gold Rush.

January 9, 1847 - Samuel Brannan (arrived, with 238 other Mormons, on July 31, 1846 aboard the 'Brooklyn') established 'The California Star' at 743 Washington St., San Francisco, CA (Dr. Elbert P. Jones, editor); first newspaper (weekly on Saturday) in San Francisco; April 1847 - Jones withdrew; no editor; October 2, 1847 - edited by Edward C. Kemble (Brannan's partner); 1848 - acquired from Brannan by Kemble for $800; June 14, 1848 - publication suspended due to staff departures (Gold Rush); November 18, 1848 - Kemble resumed publishing ‘California Star’ and ‘The Californian’ as ‘Star and Californian’; January 4, 1849 - partnership between Kemble, Edward Gilbert, George C. Hubbard published first edition of ‘Alta California’ (weekly newspaper published on Thursday; $6/year, $.25/copy); January 23, 1850 - published daily (except Sunday; first daily newspaper in California); April 1, 1850 - name changed to ‘Daily Alta California’; July 4, 1850 - printed on steam press (first in California); August 11, 1850 - began Sunday editions; June 18, 1891 - last issue.

January 24, 1848 - James W. Marshall and Peter L. Wimmer discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill on banks of Sutter's Creek in northern California (South Fork of American River in Sacramento Valley east of San Francisco), sparked gold rush of '49 (John Augustus Sutter had come to Mexican California in 1839, won grant of nearly 50,000 acres in lush Sacramento Valley,  hoped to create thriving colony; hired millwright James Marshall in January 1848 to build sawmill along South Fork of American River; supervised excavation of shallow millrace); Marshall found that much of  millrace was speckled with what appeared to small flakes of gold; gold rush was disaster for Sutter - brought thousands of men to California who overran his property, slaughtered his herds for food, trampled his fields; 1852 - Sutter was nearly wiped out.

March 15, 1848 - ‘The Californian’ reported discovery of gold;  March 25, 1848 - ‘The California Star’ newspaper reported discovery of gold; April 1, 1848 - printed six-page extra edition; described "immensely rich" gold mine in Sacramento Valley; June 10, 1848 - publication of California Star temporarily halted because the staff had rushed of to the Sierra gold fields; November 11, 1848 - The Californian acquired by California Star; November 18, 1848 - Kemble published California Star and The Californian; January 22, 1849 - name changed to The Alta California; first daily newspaper in California.

December 5, 1848 - President James K. Polk triggered the Gold Rush of '49 (had received in November, from Lieutenant Lucien Losier and David Carter, emissaries of Colonel Richard Mason, Military Governor of California, 230 ounces of gold and Mason’s official report to the Adjutant General about the status of California’s gold fields [sent on August 17, 1848] to the War department in Washington, DC; gold put on display); confirmed, in his fourth State of the Union Address to the Thirtieth Congress, that gold had been discovered in California:

“It was known that mines of the precious metals existed to a considerable extent in California at the time of its acquisition. Recent discoveries render it probable that these mines are more extensive and valuable than was anticipated. The accounts of the abundance of gold in that territory are of such an extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief were they not corroborated by the authentic reports of officers in the public service who have visited the mineral district and derived the facts which they detail from personal observation. Reluctant to credit the reports in general circulation as to the quantity of gold, the officer commanding our forces in California visited the mineral district in July last for the purpose of obtaining accurate information on the subject. His report to the War Department of the result of his examination and the facts obtained on the spot is herewith laid before Congress. When he visited the country there were about 4,000 persons engaged in collecting gold. There is every reason to believe that the number of persons so employed has since been augmented. The explorations already made warrant the belief that the supply is very large and that gold is found at various places in an extensive district of country.

Information received from officers of the Navy and other sources, though not so full and minute, confirms the accounts of the commander of our military force in California. It appears also from these reports that mines of quicksilver are found in the vicinity of the gold region. One of them is now being worked, and is believed to be among the most productive in the world.

The effects produced by the discovery of these rich mineral deposits and the success which has attended the labors of those who have resorted to them have produced a surprising change in the state of affairs in California. Labor commands a most exorbitant price, and all other pursuits but that of searching for the precious metals are abandoned. Nearly the whole of the male population of the country have gone to the gold districts. Ships arriving on the coast are deserted by their crews and their voyages suspended for want of sailors. Our commanding officer there entertains apprehensions that soldiers can not be kept in the public service without a large increase of pay. Desertions in his command have become frequent, and he recommends that those who shall withstand the strong temptation and remain faithful should be rewarded.

This abundance of gold and the all-engrossing pursuit of it have already caused in California an unprecedented rise in the price of all the necessaries of life.”

1849 - Isadore Boudin established French bakery at 815 DuPont St. (now Grant Avenue) in San Francisco (one of more than 60 bakeries in the city); continued use of leavening bread with wild yeast starter ('mother dough'); combined ordinary sourdough yeast used by miners with French-style loaf of bread;  1873 - home deliveries by horse-drawn wagon; 1900 - introduced motorized delivery trucks; 1910 - Charles, Jules Boudin (sons) take over; 1941 - acquired by Steve Giraudo Sr.; 1975 - first retail demonstration bakery on Fisherman's Wharf; 1978 - mail order business started; 1984 - focus shifted to bakery-cafes, away from wholesale business; San Francisco's oldest continuously running company.

1849 - Nikola Budrovich, Antonio Gasparich, Frank Kosta (Croatian immigrants) opened New World Coffee Saloon on  Commercial Street in San Francisco, CA; 1876 - John Tadich (Croatian immigrant) began working at Saloon; 1882 - owners Samuel Becir, Eugene Masounette changed name to "Cold Day Restaurant" (Alexander Badlam Jr. defeated in 1882 Assessors Election, "It's a cold day when I get left" slogan); 1883 - Becir interest acquired by Gaspar Pavica; 1887 - Masounette's interest acquired by Tadich; 1888 - bought out Pavica, assumed full ownership of restaurant; August 26, 1912 - renamed Tadich's Grill, located at 525 Clay St.; 1928 - acquired by three Buich brothers (employees since 1913); 1961 - full ownership acquired by Louie Buich (last brother employed under Tadich, in 1922); 1967 - redeveloped, moved to current location at 240 California Street; 1993 - interest passed to Steve Buich (third generation); oldest restaurant in State of California.

February 28, 1849 - The ship California arrived at San Francisco, carried first of the gold-seekers.

April 3, 1849 - Frederick Billings, arrived from Vermont on April 1, rented small office on Brenham Place to practice land law; first lawyer in San Francisco; first customer - John A. Sutter (gold discovered on his property ion January 24); formed partnership with Archibald Peachy, opened an office in City Hotel on Clay St. (at Kearny); December 31, 1849 - Henry Wager Halleck joined firm, renamed "Halleck, Peachy & Billings, Attorneys & Solicitors"; handled more than 800 of California's 1,400 land claim cases; 1861 - firm dissolved.

1850 - William H. Bovee (27) hired James Folger to build The Pioneer Steam Coffee and Spice Mills on Powell Street in San Francisco; inaugurated production of coffee ready for the pot: roasted, ground, packaged in small tins, identified by Pioneer labels; 1855 - Ira Marden made partner, Folger bookkeeper; 1859 - Bovee sold his interest, Marden & Folger formed; 1865 -  bankrupt; acquired Marden interest; formed partnership with Otto Schoemann; J. A. Folger & Co. organized; 1877 - Schoemann interest acquired by employees, W. H. Lamb, August Schilling; name changed to Folger, Schilling & Co; September 1881 - Schilling withdrew, name changed back to J. A. Folger & Co.; 1885 - Lamb interest acquired  by Folger, became sole proprietor; 1889 - James A. Folger, II (26) became president; principal product was bulk-roasted coffee, delivered to grocery stores in sacks and drums, stored in bins to be scooped out for customer; February 1890 - business incorporated; March 7, 1922 - registered "Folgers Golden Gate" trademark first used in 1878 (coffee, tea, spices, mustard, and food-flavoring extracts); 1963 - acquired by Procter & Gamble Company; 1968 - introduced Folgers Crystals instant coffee; June 4, 2008 - acquisition by J.M. Smucker Company from Procter & Gamble for $3.3 billion announced; biggest U.S. producer of coffee.

1850 - Thomas Day founded Thomas Day Company, cutlery business, on Montgomery Street in San Francisco; expanded into plumbing, gas fittings to meet needs of Gold Rush clientele; changed focus to lighting industry; became designer, supplier of hand-crafted lighting fixtures; provided first fueled street lanterns to San Francisco; 1870s - first to convert gas lamps to electric lamps; 1906 - renamed Phoenix Day Company, operated by Joseph Guglielmo; serviced needs of lighting fixtures, metalworking; 1958 - Pat and Lawrence Fambini (Guglielmo's niece, nephew) took over; 2007 - owned, operated by Tony Brenta (Guglielmo's great grand nephew); 6th oldest operating business in San Francisco.

1851- Kalman Haas and Leopold Loupe began Loupe & Haas, general-store variety of business, on corner of Davis and California streets in San Francisco; 1865 - Loupe left business; brothers, cousins joined company; William Haas (cousin) became active manager of firm; name changed to Haas Brothers Wholesale Groceries; 1897 - William Haas became first president, company incorporated; major portion of business derived from selling liquor to miners in California, Nevada, Alaska; 1916 - Haas's son became president; sister married Samuel Lilienthal (son of Ernest Reuben Lilienthal, founder of Crown Distilleries Company in 1872); grocery operations of Haas Brothers combined with liquor operations of Crown Distilleries; 1927 - Samuel Lilienthal became company's president; 1954 - Haas Brothers closed grocery business; became premium wholesale liquor distributor.

1851 - Bavarian publisher and book dealer, Anton Roman, struck gold in Shasta City, CA; established bookstore on Montgomery Street, San Francisco; moved, bought, sold, burned, rebuilt; July 1868 - launched Overland Monthly (Bret Harte, editor), regional literary magazine (West Coast's Atlantic Monthly) with advertising, original news, fiction, poetry by Western writers only (early circulation of 3,000); 1946 - renamed Books Inc. by Lew Lengfeld; early 1970s - 26 stores along West Coast; 1996 - Lengfeld died, left company (2 stores) to employees; filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in effort to restructure, save company; August 1997 - emerged from Chapter 11, under ownership of Michael Grant, Michael Tucker (4 stores); 1998 - added 5th store; 2007 - 11 stores, over 200 employees; West's oldest independent bookseller.

1852 - George and Samuel Shreve opened small jewelry shop, The Shreve Jewelry Store, at corner of Montgomery and Clay Streets, San Francisco, CA; sold wide range of European fancy goods, California-manufactured jewelry; launched design, manufacture of fine quality silver; 1894 - incorporated as Shreve & Co., George Rodman (George Shreve's son) as president, partner Albert J. Lewis as majority stockholder; 1912 - acquired by George Lewis (Albert's son); 1948 - acquired by Hickingbotham family; 1967 - acquired by Dayton-Hudson Corporation.

1852 - Peter and James Donahue founded the San Francisco Gas Company; 1901 - California Gas and Electric Company formed as amalgamation of many smaller, scattered gas and electric operations; 1905 - merged with California Gas and Electric Corporation; formed Pacific Gas and Electric Company; 1912 - completed changeover from flat-rate billing system to installation of 116,000 meters to measure electricity used by customers; 1930 - began delivering natural gas instead of gas manufactured form oil; 1985 - Diablo Canyon nuclear facility went online; April 6, 2001 - filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization due to fallout from state's 1996 energy deregulation law ( high cost of energy purchased from outside suppliers, unable to immediately pass on price hikes to consumers, accumulated $9 billion in debt) (third largest bankruptcy filing in US history, largest ever for a utility); April 2004 - emerged from bankruptcy.

1852 - Frenchman named Etienne Theé founded Almaden Vineyards; succeeded by Charles LeFranc (son-in-law); made first commercial planting of fine European wine grapes in Santa Clara County; continued by Henry LeFranc (son), Paul Masson (Henry's son-in-law); 1892 - Masson's first champagne introduced at Almaden (eventually became known as "Champagne King of California"; 1901 - Masson start his own winery in Saratoga, CA; 1940s - Almaden introduced "blush" wine (White Grenache Rosé), first popular pink wine in United States; 1951 - merged with Madrone Vineyards, owned by Lucky Lager; control regained by Lefranc Corporations, Almaden’s original owner; 1967 - acquired by National Distributors; 1987 - acquired by Heublein; 1980s - introduced bag-in-the-box packaging; 1994 - acquired by Canandaigua Wine Company; 2008 - acquired by Wine Group.

March 18, 1852 - Henry Wells, William G. Fargo, several other New York investors created Wells, Fargo and Company to serve, profit from boom in California economy after the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1849; banking [bought gold, sold paper bank drafts as good as gold] and express [rapid delivery of gold, anything else valuable]; July 1852 - began transporting loads of freight between East Coast and isolated mining camps of California; 1869 - transcontinental railroad undermined company's dominant position in transportation, especially in mail and freight; 1905 - Wells Fargo & Co.’s Bank, San Francisco, formally separated from Wells Fargo & Co. Express; 1918 - out of express business.

October 15, 1852 - Richard Tobin admitted to practice before Supreme Court of California; 1875 - Robert (oldest son) joined firm as partner; 1919 - Cyril R. Tobin (grandson) took over; California's oldest law firm.

March 1853 - Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss founded a wholesale dry goods merchant; 1863 - named Levi Strauss & Co.; 1869 - Jacob W. Davis (born Jacob Youphes from Riga, now capital of Latvia), a  Reno, NV tailor made wagon covers and tents with Levi Strauss & Co.'s off- white cotton duck cloth; 1871 - routinely used copper rivets to strengthen duck pants for miners, then used denim; May 20, 1873 - Davis received a patent  for "Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings" ("employment of a metal rivet or eyelet at each edge of the pocket-opening, to prevent the ripping of the seam at those points");  reinforced pocket openings of miners' pants ("waist overalls") with metal rivets;  assigned half of patent to Levi Strauss & Co.; Davis in charge of manufacturing when Levi Strauss & Co. opened two San Francisco factories; 1873 - first copper riveted clothing made and sold; used denim material from Amoskeag Manufacturing Co. (Manchester, NH); 1891 - patent expired, Levi Strauss & Co. had been only company making riveted denim clothing; dozens of garment manufacturers began to imitate the original riveted clothing; December 4, 1928 - Levi Strauss & Co. registered "Levi's" trademark first used April 14, 1927 (overalls).

December 23, 1853 - Montgomery Block opened as San Francisco's largest, most expensive, most desirable office property; built by Halleck, Peachey, and Billings (HPB) law firm (estimated total cost of $2,000,000); largest building in West until 1875 (Palace Hotel) - 150 offices, 14 street-level stores, 28 basement areas; 1959 - torn down.

1857 - Count Agoston Haraszthy (45), first Sheriff of San Diego County, founder of a city in Wisconsin (Sauk City), ferryboat owner and member of the Hungarian Royal Guard, founded Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma, CA; planted some of the state’s first European varietals (Tokay, Zinfandel, and Shiras grape varieties); 1906 - earthquake destroyed its underground cellars; 1940 - Frank Bartholomew, former head of AP, acquired 500 acres of Sonoma land without knowing an abandoned winery came with the property; with help of Andre Tchelistcheff, considered America's most influential post-Prohibition winemaker, restored Buena Vista's vineyards, caves and winery to its original grandeur; 1981 - acquired by Moller-Racke family of Germany; 2001 - acquired by Allied-Domecq; California’s oldest premium winery.

February 3, 1857 - James McClatchy published first issue of The Daily Bee in Sacramento, CA: "The name of The Bee has been adopted as being different from that of any other paper in the state and as also being emblematic of the industry which is to prevail in its every department"; 1883 - Valentine Stuart and Charles Kenny (sons) bought out last remaining co-owner of newspaper after their father's death; September 1, 1923 - After nearly 40 years of running the company as equals, brothers agreed to bid privately against each other for sole control of company; C.K. submitted higher bid, took over; 1979 - acquired first out-of-state newspapers; 1989 - Erwin Potts became first non-family member to head company; 1999 - revenues exceed $1 billion for the first time; 2004 - 20th consecutive year of daily circulation growth, record unmatched in U.S. newspaper industry; March 13, 2006 - announced agreement to purchase Knight Ridder, United States' second largest chain of daily newspapers for $4.5 billion in cash and stock; gave McClatchy 32 daily newspapers in 29 markets, total circulation of 3.3 million.

1858 - Henry Miller (born Heinrich Alfred Kreiser in Brackenheim, Germany), Charles W. Lux, immigrant butchers, formed partnership to sell beef during California Gold Rush; acquired massive land empire, owned over 1.25 million acres of land (stretched from California’s San Joaquin Valley across northwestern Nevada, northward over much of Oregon’s Harney County, Idaho’s Owhyee County into Blue Mountains of Baker and Grant counties, Oregon); 1889 - organized Pacific Live Stock Company; detested as "ruthless monopoly" to many of region’s smaller ranchers, newer residents; meat wholesalers to cattle, irrigation, land reclamation leaders; 1900 - one of nation's largest industrial corporations.

November 13, 1858 - Gustav, Charles, Albert, Emil Sutro (relatives of Adolf Sutro) founded Sutro & Co. in San Francisco to engage in general banking; oldest investment banking firm in San Francisco; oldest New York Stock Exchange Member Firm west of Mississippi; largest full-service regional investment firm in California; 1986 - acquired by John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. (part of Freedom Securities Corporation subsidiary); April 2000 - Freedom Securities Corporation name changed to Tucker Anthony Sutro; October 2001 - acquired by Royal Bank of Canada for $600 million, merged into Dain Rauscher unit; ninth largest full-service securities firm in United States (nearly 2,100 retail representatives).

June 12, 1859 - Two miners, Pat McLaughlin and Peter O'Reilly, discovered silver at the head of Six-Mile Canyon south of Reno, NV (eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, 40 miles from the Truckee Meadows); fellow miner, Henry Thomas Paige Comstock, stumbled upon their find, claimed it was on his property (sold his mining interests for $10,000); "Comstock Lode" - richest known U.S. silver deposit; 1859-1878 - yielded $400 million in silver and gold; 1877 - peak production: over $14,000,000 of gold and $21,000,000 of silver; 1880 - considered exhausted; 1898 - virtually abandoned.

1860 - First federal census conducted in California; counted 308,000 residents (triple since 1847).

May 6, 1860   - Organizational meeting held at Lafayette Hook and Ladder firehouse (Rueben H. Lloyd had suggested club devoted to fitness); formed San Francisco Olympic Club, first U.S. athletic club; 23 young athletes became charter members; December 1860 - held first public exhibition (Pratt’s Hall on Montgomery Street) for benefit of a young ladies seminary; February 1992 - Olympic Club Foundation created.

June 1860 - Joseph Donohoe, William Ralston, Eugene Kelley, Ralph Fretz opened The Bank of Donohoe, Ralston & Company in San Francisco; June 15, 1864 - The Bank of California incorporated; first incorporated commercial bank in West; June 30, 1864 - Donohoe, Ralston & Company dissolved, continued under name of Fretz & Ralston;  July 5, 1864  - Bank of California opened (in former offices of Fretz & Ralston); Darius Ogden Mills, respected Sacramento banker, president; William Ralston named Cashier; August 26, 1875 - Bank of California forced to close after news of William Ralston's failed mining investments sparked run on bank; August 27, 1875 - Ralston's body found in San Francisco bay; October 5, 1875 - Bank, reorganized, reopened; April 1, 1996 - merged with Union bank, formed Union Bank of California.

1861 - Charles Krug (27), Prussian immigrant, founded Charles Krug Winery; first in Napa Valley; major local winery figure of his era; 1893 - acquired by James Moffitt; 1943 - acquired by Cesare (60) and Rosa Mondavi, Italian immigrants, for $75,000; 1959 - Rosa named president at Cesare’s death; Robert (son) - General Manager, Peter (son) - Vice President; 1965 - Robert moved south to Oakville, Peter became President; 1966 - Robert founded Robert Mondavi Winery.

1861 - David Hausemann founded business to manufacture mirrors, mantels and fine wood work and to import European paintings and art novelties; 1863 - Solomon Gump (brother-in-law) acquired an interest, 1864 - acquired entire business; 1871 - Gustave Gump (brother) joined company, renamed S. & G. Gump; 1906 - Abraham Livingston ("A. L.") Gump (son) took over as head of business;   established company as leading dealer in Asian art, antiquities on West Coast;  March 1947 - Richard Benjamin Gump (43, grandson), artist and entrepreneur, assumed control; February 8, 1949 - registered "Gump's" trademark first used April 22, 1919 (bracelets, brooches, earrings, necklaces, and finger rings made of gold and silver, solid and plated hollow ware); July 10, 1989 - acquired from Macmillan by Charterhouse Group International, Tobu Department Store Co. fro $32.75 million; May 1993 - acquired by Hanover Direct Inc. (formerly Horn & Hardart) for $13.2 million; 2005 - acquired by Gump's Holdings, LLC (venture capital firms WaldenVC, Stone Canyon Venture Partners, private investment firm Sand Springs Holdings) for $8.5 million; oldest continuously operating gallery in northern California.

June 28, 1861 - The "big four" leaders of western railroad construction--Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker--organized Central Pacific Railroad Company of California.

1862 - Bohemian Frantisek (Francis) Korbel ("goblet, drinking cup" in Czech), Joseph and Anton Korbel, formed F. Korbel & Bros., opened the first cigar box factory in San Francisco; opened sawmills to produce lumber for use in San Francisco's booming building industry; 1872 - purchased sawmill, property near Guerneville in Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, in partnership with another entrepreneur; brought in another brother, Winsel, from Bohemia, to run business; brothers bought out partner 1882 - ran small winemaking operation, produced some 20,000 to 30,000 gallons of wine from vineyard yields; 1884 - closed dairy, converted all ranch lands to vineyards, devoted all of energy to winemaking; mid-1890s - shipped first champagnes; 1900 - internationally known, award-winning label; 1954 - acquired by Adolf Heck, third-generation winemaker (former president of Italian Swiss Colony Wine Company); 1956 - reintroduced Korbel Brut, lighter and drier than any American champagne on market; introduced Korbel Natural', Korbel Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay), Korbel Blanc de Noirs (100% Pinot Noir), all created using champagne yeasts; October 13, 1970 - Adolf L. Heck and Allan J, Hemphill, both of Guerneville, CA of received two patents for an "Apparatus for Riddling Bottled Wines"; automatic riddling machine allowed each bottle of Korbel champagne to undergo exact turns at precise times to ensure consistent taste and quality in every bottle (riddling done by hand, costly and time-consuming method that left champagne's quality vulnerable to variability of human hands); November 9, 1971 - received a second patent for "Riddling Bottled Wines"; 1982 - Gary Heck (son) appointed president; 1984 - named chairman of board; 2000 - shipped record 1.678 million cases of champagne.

September 11, 1862 - Forty members organized San Francisco Stock and Exchange Board (adopted by-laws, elected officers) as marketplace for mining company stocks after Comstock Lode strike, first mining exchange; rented room in Montgomery Block; J. B. E. Cavallier President.

1863 -  Claus and Bernard Spreckels built Bay Sugar Refinery in San Francisco, CA (with proceeds from sale of grocery business, brewery); used raw sugar from Hawaii; 1866 - sold refinery; 1867 - incorporated California Sugar Refinery in San Francisco   to refine, produce sugar made from Hawaiian sugar cane (became largest factory on West Coast in value of output); July 28, 1874 - received a patent for an "Improvement in Processes of manufacturing hard Sugar" ("To make the crystals or grains adhere to each other, so as to be molded, pressed, and dried into hard sugar ...water to do the cleansing and white liquor to give the necessary adhesiveness"); September 30, 1878 - organized Hawaiian Commercial Company; 1881 - organized Oceanic Steamship Company (shipping line between San Francisco, Hawaii); March 31, 1882 - organized Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company as plantation company;  1888 - established Western Beet Sugar Company in Watsonville, CA; 1889-1892 - battled Havemeyer Sugar Trust; 1891 - 50% of California Sugar Refinery acquired by American Sugar Refining Company); renamed Western Sugar Refinery; 1895 - President of the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railway (acquired by Santa Fe in 1901); August 6, 1896 - incorporated Spreckels Sugar Co., beet sugar company, in Salinas, CA;  1908 - Adolph B. Spreckels (second son) assumed control; January 14, 1936 - California and Hawaiian Sugar Refining Corporation registered “C and H” trademark first used August 4, 1934 (sugar); 1963 - acquired by American Refining Company (AMSTAR); 1987 - went private in management buyout; renamed Spreckels Industries; 1996 - acquired by Holly Sugar; 2005 - Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative acquired Holly Sugar from Imperial Sugar Company; name changed to Spreckels Sugar Company, Inc.  

May 3, 1863 - William Holdredge, ship's captain, incorporated  Fireman's Fund Insurance Company to insure San Franciscans against fire; paid 10 percent of profits to widows and orphans of firefighters; June 18, 1863 - first policy written on half-interest in 1,000 kegs of Boston syrup (premium of $12 cash, in advance); 1957 - premium income of nearly $300 million; 1966 - became holding company called Fund American Companies; 1968 - acquired by American Express for about $500 million; September 1985 - sold 59% in IPO; 1989 - holding company name changed to Fund American Companies, Inc.; January 2, 1991 - acquired by Allianz AG Holding for $3.3 billion.

1865 - Timothy Guy Phelps (first president), group of businessmen in San Francisco, CA, founded Southern Pacific Railroad to build rail connection between San Francisco and San Diego, CA; 1868 - acquired by The Big Four (Leland Stanford president); 1870 - merged Central Pacific Railroad into its system; April 1, 1885 - took control of Central Pacific; 1890 - Collis P. Huntington president; 1984 - merged with Santa Fe Railroad, formed Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corporation; October 13, 1988 - acquired by Rio Grande Industries.

January 16, 1865 -Charles and Michael de Young (19 and 17) founded Daily Dramatic Chronicle in San Francisco with a borrowed $20 gold piece; circulation: 2,000; San Francisco population: 60,000; September 1, 1868 - changed name to Morning Chronicle; July 27, 2000 - The Chronicle acquired from The Chronicle Publishing Company by Hearst Corporation.

June 1865 - Union Mattole Oil Company made its first shipment of oil from the North Fork of the Mattole River, approximately three miles east of Eureka, CA (Humboldt County) to a San Francisco refinery; California's first drilled oil wells that produced crude to be refined and sold commercially.

1868 - Etienne Guittard opened Guittard Chocolate on Sansome Street, San Francisco; 1950s - Horace A. Guittard (grandson) became President; 1955 - relocated factory to Burlingame; remains one of foremost suppliers of fine chocolate to professionals in pastry, confectionery, ice cream trades; oldest family owned, operated chocolate company in US.

1868 - Anthony Zellerbach began selling paper goods (stationary, bags, wrapping) from horse drawn wagon in San Francisco, CA; established A. Zellerbach & Sons, Wholesale Paper Dealers and Stationers, at 416-426 Sansome St.; 1924 - Isadore Zellerbach (son) founded Zellerbach Corporation; 1928 - merged with Crown Willamette Paper Company (formed in 1914 by merger of Crown Columbia Paper Company, Willamette Pulp and Paper Company), formed Crown Zellerbach; 1986 - acquired by James River Company; 1997 - merged with Fort Howard Paper, formed Fort James Corporation; 2000 - acquired by Georgia-Pacific Corp., became leading global producer of tissue products.

1868 - John Augustus McNear purchased property in San Rafael, CA from the estate of Timoteo Murphy (granted 22,000 acres of land at San Rafael, the ranchos of Las Gallinas, San Pedro, and Santa Margarita in 1844); 1898 - with Erskine B. McNear (son) built large brick manufacturing plant along point San Pedro, San Pablo Bay (most valuable clay in state for manufacture of brick); founded McNear Brick Company; 2005 - Jeff McNear, president, fourth generation owner; California's oldest manufacturer of brick.

September 1, 1868 - Isaias William Hellman founded Hellman, Temple and Co., Los Angeles's second (but first successful) bank; 1871 - with  John G. Downey founded Farmers and Merchants Bank (lent money to Harrison Gray Otis to buy the Los Angeles Times, to Henry Huntington to build Pacific Electric line); first incorporated bank in Los Angeles; 1956 - merged with Security First National Bank; later named Security Pacific National Bank; 1992 - acquired by Bank of America.

October 10, 1868 - Colonel William Jeff Gatewood, lawyer and publisher of the San Andreas Register, partner Edward W. Bushyhead, San Andreas miner and printer (retired June 1873), J. N. Briseno, printer, published first edition of San Diego Union (4 pages on hand press) at 2626 San Diego Avenue, Old Town; 1886 - acquired by San Diego Union Co.; 1890 - acquired by John D. and Adolph B. Spreckels; December 2, 1895 - T.D. Beasley, F.E.A. Kimball published first issue of The Evening Tribune as daily paper; 1901 - acquired by John D. Spreckels; 1928 - acquired from Spreckels estate by Ira Clifton Copley (The Copley Press Inc. of Illinois); February 2, 1992 - two newspapers merged, formed San Diego Union-Tribune; oldest business in San Diego County, second-oldest newspaper in Southern California.

1869 - John W. Mackay, James G. Fair, James C. Flood, and William S. O'Brien formed partnership, Bonanza Firm; developed Comstock Lode; 1873 - struck one of the richest veins in history, Big Bonanza; produced more than $180 million in ore in just over four years.

1871 - Dr. James Madison Dawson, his wife Eloise Jones Dawson, their son Thomas Dawson established first successful commercial canning operation in Santa Clara Valley (300 cases of peaches, apricots, pears, plums processed in woodshed in Dawson’s backyard); 1872 - founded JM Dawson & Co.; 1875 - incorporated as San Jose Fruit Packing Company; 1889 - joined forces with 17 other small companies, formed California Fruit Canners Association; 1916 - Tom Dawson went on to serve as general superintendent of California Packing Corporation.

1872 - Livingston Stone (sent by Professor Spencer F. Baird, first United States Commissioner of Fisheries, to Pacific Coast to obtain supply of king salmon eggs for introduction into East Coast waters to compensate for depletion of Atlantic salmon), William T. Perrin (nephew), Myron Green established Baird Hatchery on McCloud River in Shasta County, CA; first salmon breeding station on Pacific Coast;  1874–1875 - largest in world for hatching of salmon eggs (six to ten million hatched, distributed each year); 1884 - closed due to railroad construction; 1888 - reopened to supply eggs for newly established Sisson Hatchery; 1943 - inundated by water stored behind gigantic Shasta Dam; cut off king salmon of Sacramento River system from ancestral spawning grounds.

May 17, 1872 - Bohemian Club incorporated

1873 - George A. Ralphs established grocery store at store at Sixth and Spring Streets in Los Angeles, CA; Walter Ralphs (brother) joined; ran Ralphs Bros. Grocers; 1909 - incorporated as Ralphs Grocery Company; 1928 - 10 stores; 1930s - 25 stores, began featuring bakeries and creameries; 1940s - introduced delicatessens, other in-store conveniences; 1950s - over 100 stores; 1968 - acquired by Federated Department Stores for $60 million; among first to introduce checkout stations with laser price scanners; 1994 - merged with Food-4-Less; 1997 - oldest, most recognized chain west of Mississippi; merged with Fred Meyer, Inc.; 1999 - Meyer merged with The Kroger Company; largest food retailer in Southern California; over 440 stores.

February 1, 1873 - Jesse Yarnell, T. J. Caystile and Samuel J. Mathes published Los Angeles  Weekly Mirror advertising sheet; printed by Mirror Printing Office and Book Bindery; December 4, 1881 - Nathan Cole Jr. & Thomas Gardiner launched  Los Angeles Daily Times, went bankrupt;  January 1, 1882 - Mathes assumed editorial control; August 1, 1882 - former Union army lieutenant colonel Harrison Gray Otis assumed Times editorship and part control ( bought a quarter interest in Los Angels Daily Times for $6,000);  October 1884 - acquired holdings of Yarnell, A.W. Francisco; Colonel Henry H. Boyce acquired Mathes's interest; gained control of Mirror and Mirror's printing company; incorporated Times-Mirror Company; 1886 - Otis bought Boyce's half-interest in paper, named himself president, general manager, editor-in-chief; 1891 -  Weekly Mirror incorporated with Saturday Times, became Los Angeles  Saturday Times & Weekly Mirror; 1965 - first newspaper to publish over 4 million classified advertisements in one year, first US newspaper to publish over 100 million lines of advertising in year; 1970 - bought controlling interest in Newsday; 1979 - acquired Hartford (Connecticut) Courant; 1980 - acquired Denver Post for $95 million; 1986 - acquired Baltimore Sun, Evening Sun, WMAR-TV for $600 million; June 2000 - acquired by Tribune Company (Chicago Tribune) in $8.3 billion takeover.

December 1873 - Eliza Lovell Tibbets and Luther Tibbets, Riverside, CA, received Bahia navel orange seedlings (sweet, seedless grown in Brazil) bought from William Saunders, head of Experimental Gardens at Department of Agriculture (Washington, DC); planned oranges as source of income (prior plantings failed in rough desert climate); watered them with dishwater; February 1879 - oranges shown at first California Citrus Fair; sold buds of mature trees ($1 per bud) to neighboring nurserymen; birth of California citrus industry; 1893 - Riverside County formed, wealthiest city per capita in country due to orange industry; Washington Navel Orange most successful of Saunders's tenure at Experimental Gardens.

1875 - Frederick and Jacob Beringer purchased 215 acre parcel of land for $14,500 in Napa Valley; called winery Los Hermanos, or "The Brothers"; 1876 - first crush (approximately 40,000 gallons or 18,000 cases; 1887 - Beringer wines won first awards at Mechanics Institute Exposition in San Francisco; 1934 - first winery to offer public tours, began area's tourist wine business; 1956 - wine tasting offered; 1990 - Beringer 1986 Cabernet Sauvignon named #1 Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator; 1996 - Beringer 1994 Chardonnay named #1 Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator (first time for a white); oldest continuously operating winery in Napa Valley; October 1, 2000 - Beringer Wine Estates Holdings, Inc. acquired by Foster's Brewing Group Limited for $1.2 billion.

June 4, 1876 - Transcontinental Express train arrived in San Francisco 83 hours after leaving New York City (vs. four days).

September 26, 1876 - Charles Alexander Mentry (30) drilled first commercially successful oil well in western United States for California Star Oil Works at depth of 617 feet in Pico Canyon (‘Pico Number 4’) in Santa Clarita area of Southern California (35 miles northeast of Los Angeles); Frederick Taylor, native of New York, kerosene distiller, became involved with company; Demetrius Scofield, junior partner; 1877 - Mentry put in charge of drilling, later made superintendent.

1878 - Austin & Reuben Hills sold coffee, tea extracts, dairy products in San Francisco market stall; 1882 - opened retail store on Harrison St. called Arabian Coffee and Spice Mills; 1903 - first to introduce vacuum-packed technology in coffee; 1906 - company trademark selected, "the taster", inspired by coffee's Ethiopian origin; 1914 - Red Can brand of coffee introduced; January 9, 1923 - registered "Hills Bros" trademark first used March 1, 1878 (coffee); 1930 - expended to Chicago, became region's best selling coffee; 1964 - expanded to New York area; 1985 - acquired by Nestle; 1999 - acquired by Sara Lee Corporation; 2005 - acquired by Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA.

1878 - James M. Curtis founded J.M. Curtis & Son, oldest continually operating environmental analytical test and measurements laboratory in United States in San Francisco; served wine industry provided analyses for sugars, acidity, alcohol, solids in wines primarily for export to Europe; 1905 - Phillip W. Tompkins joined firm; president of Curtis and Tompkins Ltd. (1910 - 1953); 1926 - 45 people provided foods, feeds, mineral, petroleum, fats and oils analyses for California's agricultural, mining industries; satellite offices, labs served mining industry in Reno, NV, fishing products industry on Cannery Row in Monterey, CA; 1953 - acquired by employee group headed by Hugo deBusseries; 1976 - ownership changed; core business in Foods, Feeds, Agricultural, Fats, Oils analyses; 1991 - C&T offered agricultural, bacteriological, food, feed, petroleum, water, wastewater, bulk cargo inspection, consulting services from three labs with staff approaching 100; 1997 - exited food, bacteriology, petroleum, agricultural services sectors, concentrated on core competency in environmental testing and data management.

1879 - William Morrison DeWolf established DeWolf Realty Company, Inc. in the Palace Hotel in San Francisco;  with William Waldo DeWolf (son) managed, developed, sold properties throughout San Francisco, Northern California; 1949 - Oliver A. Talmage joined company, soon became partner, eventually sole owner; became exclusive Management Broker for all Veteran's Administration properties developed, managed by VA throughout San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin counties; 1982 - William A.Talmage (son) assumed ownership; oldest real estate firm west of Mississippi.

June 30, 1879 - George H. Roe (27) incorporated California Electric Light Company in San Francisco; first electric company in U.S. formed to produce,  sell electricity; September 1879 - central generating station supplied power for lighting Brush arc light lamps;  first electric company in PG&E family tree; 1891 - acquired by new Edison Light and Power Company (exclusive rights to Edison patents within radius of 100 miles); Roe as president.

September 10, 1879 - Charles N. Felton, Lloyd Tevis, George Loomis formed Pacific Coast Oil Co. in San Francisco; acquired assets of California Star Oil Works (Newhall Refinery and oil properties in Pico Canyon in Los Angeles); George Loomis first President; Taylor and Scofield join company's board; 1900 - acquired by Standard Oil Company (New Jersey).

1880 - Forty prominent Angelenos, sons of pioneers, adventurers, athletes, gathered in Frank Gibson's law office (Judson, Gillette, and Gibson) on second floor of old McDonald Block on Main Street, to create Los Angeles Athletic Club, American style club for “best young men” of the community; ladies were welcome at social events, exhibitions; initiation fee was $5, monthly dues set at $1; Colonel James B. Lankershim (family owned good portion of San Fernando Valley) elected first LAAC president; city's first private club, located from 1882-1889 in ex-Governor Downey's block on New High Street.

1883 - Benjamin Holt produced his first horse-drawn "Link-Belt Combined Harvester"; founded Holt Manufacturing Company in Stockton, CA; later called Caterpillar Tractor.

1886 - Del Monte Brand first appeared, property of Tillman & Bendel, Oakland-based firm which used it for a blend of coffee prepared for luxury Hotel Del Monte in Monterey, CA; later used by Oakland Preserving Company; 1889 - Marco Fontana, Italian immigrant, and Antonio Cerruti founded California Fruit Canners Association (included Oakland Preserving Company, San Jose Fruit Packing Company, 15 others); set purchase prices for crops that challenged those set by growers’ cooperatives; canneries soon became largest food processing corporation in world; premium brand marketed under Del Monte label; January 1, 1918 - California Packing Corporation registered "Del Monte" trademark first used October 1, 1891 (canned fruits, canned vegetables, canned fish, tomato sauce, catsup, peppers, sauerkraut, dried fruits, raisins).

October 1886 - William H. Crocker (son of Charles Crocker), R. C. Woolworth, W. E. Brown incorporated Crocker-Woolworth National Bank (founded 1883 as Crocker-Woolworth & Co., private bank); 1893 - Crocker succeeded as President; September 1, 1906 - became The Crocker National Bank of San Francisco; 1986 - acquired by Wells Fargo.

1887 - Edwin W. Sargent assisted in organizing, became legal adviser to Los Angeles Abstract Co.; 1893 - Abstract and Title Insurance Co. merged with Los Angeles Abstract Co.; 1894 - name changed to Ticor Insurance & Trust Co.; 1982 - acquired by Southern Pacific; 1984 - acquired in $271 million leveraged buyout by "investors" (including former ITT chairman Harold S. Geneen, former Avis rental car chief Winston V. "Bud" Morrow, two other major investors);  1988 - Ticor Title Insurance Cos. recorded more than 18,867 grant deeds in Los Angeles, insured $5.8 billion in mortgages, revenues in L.A. County were $40.5 million; 1990 - changed name to Westwood Equities Corp.; 1991 - acquired by Chicago Title & Trust for $85 million.

February 1, 1887 - Harvey H. Wilcox, prohibitionist from Kansas, filed a map of his 160-acre ranch in Southern California (Rancho La Brea, seven miles west of Los Angeles) with the county recorder for subdivision purposes for a town called Hollywood (named after a Dutch settlement); 1903 - community incorporated; 1910 - lack of water forced annexation with city of Los Angeles.

March 4, 1887 - William Randolph Hearst (23) took over San Francisco Daily Examiner from his father (George acquired paper in October 1880); 1895 - bought New York Morning Journal; 1903 - started his first magazine, Motor; 1905 - bought Cosmopolitan; 1911 - acquired Good Housekeeping;  1915 - formed King Features Syndicate to consolidate comics syndication business; 1929 - started Hearst Metrotone News (newsreel company); 1948 - acquired WBAL-TV (Baltimore), one of country's first TV stations; 1965 - Examiner and San Francisco Chronicle printed, distributed under joint operating agreement (JOA); 1997 - formed Hearst-Argyle Television, nation's second largest non-network-owned television station group; August 6, 1999 - acquired San Francisco Chronicle; 2007 - 20,0000 employees, six operating groups; world's largest publisher of monthly magazines.

October 10, 1888 - Maj. Edward W. Jones, William W. Workman, Col. Harrison G. Otis, Samuel B. Lewis, J.I. Redick, Thomas A. Lewis founded Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to reverse population drain city had recently suffered; formulated two objectives: stimulate migration, market area’s products in other parts of country; Frank Wiggins, superintendent of events since 1890, initiated "California on Wheels", two year tour of railroad car outfitted with agricultural products of state sent to every town of importance in Midwest and South (visited by more than 1 million); 1896 – conventions department secured National Education Association Convention, first national convention held in Los Angeles; 1910 - Los Angeles Harbor finished (started in 1890 with Chamber resolution presented to Congress); post World War II - transition from organization that sought to attract new business to Los Angeles County to one that addressed modern issues associated with major metropolitan center; converted from county-sponsored organization to private business organization funded solely by members; 1958 – attracted Dodgers to Los Angeles; 1967 - name changed to Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.

October 17, 1890 - Lyman Stewart and Wallace Hardison (Hardison & Stewart Oil), Thomas Bard (Sespe Oil, Torrey Canyon Oil) merged properties, formed  Union Oil of California in Santa Paula, CA; 1901 - only Stewart remained; moved offices to Los Angeles; 1914 - Will Stewart (son) took over; March 1922 -  fended off hostile takeover from Shell Oil; 1925 - more than 400 service stations on West Coast; February 28, 1950 - registered "76" trademark first used January 2, 1932 (gasoline, lubricating oils and greases, and diesel fuel oils); 1965 - merged with The Pure Oil Company (lL), from regional to national status with operations in 37 states; 1983 - reorganized, became operating subsidiary of holding company, Unocal Corporation; 1985 - fended off takeover bid by Mesa Petroleum (T. Boone Pickens, Jr.);  April 2005 - acquired by ChevronTexaco Corporation for $17 billion.

1892 - Edward L. Doheny,  unsuccessful gold and silver prospector, and Charles A. Canfield, his mining partner, struck oil in Los Angeles along Glendale Boulevard between Beverly Boulevard and Colton Avenue; set off major land boom; April 20, 1893 - Doheny discovered oil at State and Patton Streets at a depth of about 200 feet - first free-flowing oil well ever drilled in the city of Los Angeles.

May 28, 1892 - Sierra Club founded "to explore, enjoy, and rendure accessible the mountain regions of the Pacific Coast; to publish authentic information concerning them," and "to enlist the support and cooperation of the people and government in preserving the forests and other natural features of the Sierra Nevada." John Muir elected president; 182 men and women charter members; first conservation effort -campaign to defeat a proposed reduction in the boundaries of Yosemite National Park; June 4, 1892 - Sierra Club Incorporated in San Francisco.

May 1898 - Southern Pacific Railroad, largest landowner in California, launched first-ever Western magazine, Sunset Magazine (named in honor of Sunset Limited railroad line) to "chronicle the world of the West over which the dawn of future commercial and industrial importance is just beginning"; first issue contained 16 pages, ran stories on wonders of Yosemite, beautiful, garden-filled streets of Los Angeles; made good things about Western living seem accessible, possible for masses; 1928 - acquired by Lane Publishing Co.; 1990- acquired by Time Warner.

1899 - Carl and Hannah Olson planted their first cherry tree in Valley of Heart’s Delight (now Silicon Valley) in Sunnyvale, CA; 1933 - Rual Charles Olson (son) built original fruit stand for his wife Rosie; 1996 - lost last major fruit orchard, shut down main operations; July 15, 2009 - opened C.J. Olson airport kiosk in new Terminal B, Mineta San José International Airport, serving Southwest Airlines; fourth generation management (great granddaughter).

April 2, 1902 - Thomas L. Tally opened first permanent movie theater designed specifically for exhibition of films at 262 South Main Street in Los Angeles; dubbed "The Electric Theater"; earliest pictures included "New York in a Blizzard"; admission cost about 10 cents for one-hour show; Henry Miles of San Francisco began renting films to theaters, formed basis of today's film distribution system.

October 17, 1904 - Amadeo Peter Giannini opened the Bank of Italy in a former San Francisco, California saloon; a bank for "people who had never used one"; first day's deposits totaled $8,780; 1906 - rescued $80,000 in cash before the bank building burned during San Francisco earthquake (hid it in wagon full of oranges, brought it to his house for safekeeping); used money to reopen his bank days before any other bank, began making loans from a plank-and-barrel counter on the waterfront; 1909 - bought first branch, struggling San Jose bank; 1910 - assets of $6.5 million; 1920 - assets totaled $157 million, far outstripping the growth of any other California bank, dwarfed its onetime benefactor, Crocker National; sidestepped Federal Reserve system regulation which did not allow member banks to open new branches (establishing separate state banks for southern and northern California, in addition to the Bank of Italy, as well as another national bank, put them all under the control of a new holding company, BancItaly; 1927 - California regulations were changed to permit branch banking, Giannini consolidated his four banks into the Bank of America of California; 1928 - created another holding company to supplant BancItaly; called Transamerica to symbolize what Giannini hoped to accomplish in banking; 1929 - assets exceeded $1 billion mark;  1936 - fourth-largest banking institution in the United States (second-largest savings bank), assets had grown to $2.1 billion;  1945 - with assets of $5 billion, passed Chase Manhattan to become the world's largest bank; 1957 - Federal Reserve forced Transamerica to separate from Bank of America; 1959 - first bank to fund a small-business investment company; first U.S. bank to adopt electronic and computerized recordkeeping; 1960 - assets totaled $11.9 billion; 1961 - operations completely computerized; 1968 - BankAmerica Corporation created as holding company to hold the assets of Bank of America N.T. & S.A., to help bank expand and better challenge its archrival, Citibank; 1971 - A. W. "Tom" Clausen succeeded Rudy Peterson as chief executive officer (CEO); 1971-1978 - only one of 20 largest U.S. banks to average 15 percent growth; 1981 - $112.9 billion in assets; 1986 - First Interstate Bancorp offered $2.78 billion in an unsolicited bid for nation's second-largest banking group - rejected; April 22, 1992 - merged with Security Pacific Corporation, largest merger in history of banking; became nation's second-largest bank with nearly $190 billion in assets and $150 billion in deposits; April 13, 1998 - announced $65 billion merger with NationsBank.

November 24, 1904 - Benjamin Holt , of Holt Manufacturing Company in Stockton, CA, invented first successful track-type tractor (crawler track, with tracks to disperse weight, provide better traction; used later for tanks, moving heavy artillery); made first 'caterpillar' tractor (chosen because motion of track as it traveled resembled movement of caterpillar); December 17, 1907 - received a patent for a "Traction Engine" ("improvement in vehicles, and especially of the traction engine class; and included endless traveling platform supports upon which the engine is carried"); 1925 - merged with longtime competitor, C. L. Best Tractor Company, formed Caterpillar Tractor Co.; consolidated dealerships of both companies into network of strong, independent Caterpillar dealerships; predecessor to modern-day Caterpillar, Inc.

1909 - Aviation pioneer Glenn L. Martin launched maiden voyage of first aeroplane, made of silk and bamboo, in Santa Ana, CA.; June 16, 1909 - sold first commercial U.S. airplane, for $5,000; January 26, 1911 - Glenn Curtiss piloted first successful hydroplane in San Diego; 1912 - Glenn L. Martin Company incorporated in Los Angeles, CA;  1914 - delivered first Model TT Trainer planes to U.S. Army Signal Corps.; 1916 - merged with Wright Company, formed Wright-Martin Aircraft Company; 1917 - backed by group of Ohio investors, Glenn Martin left Wright-Martin Company, reestablished Glenn L. Martin Company in Ohio; 1926 - incorporated in Maryland, opened aircraft manufacturing plant in Middle River, near Baltimore (still in operation); first airplane built is XT5M-1 bomber; 1961 - merged with American-Marietta Company, renamed Martin Marietta; March 15, 1995 - merged with Lockheed Corporation.

1909 - Dr. Charles Herrold, scientist and inventor, began, as hobby, broadcasting regularly-scheduled programming on 14-watt transmitter in San Jose, CA; first to "broadcast" radio entertainment, information to mass audience (daily through 1917) of experimenters who listened on home made crystal radios; first regular radio broadcasting station, in continuous operation, in world; lacked call letters, simply identified itself as "This is San Jose Calling"; 1921 - radio licenses issued, Herrold assigned call letters of KQW; operated station KQW for several years, ran out of money; worked as radio time salesman, audiovisual technician for high school, janitor at local naval facility; 1949 - acquired by CBS (740 AM on dial); 1968 - became first all news station in Northern California; has won every major national award for excellence in broadcast journalism (Peabody Award, duPont-Columbia Award, five Edward R. Murrow Awards for Overall Excellence from national Radio-TV News Directors Association, Sigma Delta Chi Award from Society of Professional Journalists, Crystal Award for public service from National Association of Broadcasters).

August 1909 -William N. Selig established second studio (temporary studio on Olive St. in downtown LA), first permanent film studio in Los Angeles, with director Francis Boggs, in rented bungalow at 1845 Allesandro Street (now Glendale Blvd.) in Edendale (now Echo Park); [had established Selig Polyscopemotion picture company, in Chicago, IL in 1896; produced first commercial two-reel film, 'Damon and Pythias' in June 1908; released four one-reel silent movies based on 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' on September 24,1908];  February 1910 - two new studios established in LA: Bison unit of The New York Picture Co. (made westerns), American Mutoscope and Biograph Company [Biograph] with D.W. Griffith; March 10, 1910 - Biograph first company to shoot movie in Hollywood, CA, 'In Old California'); March 26, 1910 - Selig released new version of “The Wizard of Oz”; produced successfully distributed pictures in Great Britain.

January 10-20, 1910 - Los Angeles International Air Meet held at Dominguez Field in Southern California (followed Reims International Air Meet of 1909 in France); first International Air Meet held in the United States; estimated 226,000 spectators; gate receipts equaled over $137,500; considered phenomenal success, helped to alleviate perceived economic drought in Los Angeles area; launched aviation industry on West Coast; marked beginning of long lasting, lucrative relationship between aerospace industry and region.

1912 - Allan and Malcolm Loughead formed Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company in San Francisco, CA; June 15, 1913 - flew first aircraft, Model G wood and fabric seaplane, over San Francisco Bay; 1916 - established the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara, CA; December 13, 1926 - Lockheed brothers (last name spelled phonetically to avoid being pronounced as 'log-head'), group of investors formed Lockheed Aircraft Company (51% owned by Fred E. Keeler); 1929 - acquired by Detroit Aircraft Corporation (including Keeler's stock); 1931 - went into receivership;  1932 - investors led by Robert Gross bailed company out, acquired Lockheed's assets for $40,000; formed new Lockheed Aircraft Corporation (Lloyd C. Stearman as president, Allan Lockheed as consultant); March 15, 1995 - Lockheed Corporation, Martin Marietta Corporation merger completed; one of largest aerospace, defense and technology companies in the world; July 3, 1997 - announced $11.18 billion acquisition of Northrop Grumman Corp.

1914 - Sam Seelig founded Seelig Grocers, chain of 4 stores in CA; 1915 - Marion B. Skaggas (27) acquired his father's grocery store (18 x 32 feet), Skaggs Cash Stores, in American Falls, ID; 1919 - Skaggs brothers formed partnership named Skaggs United Stores; 1925 - Seelig changed name to Safeway Stores; July 14, 1925 - Safeway Stores, Incorporated registered “Safeway” trademark first used February 16, 1925 (matches); 1926 - Skaggs United Stores (673 stores) merged with Safeway (322 stores), formed Skaggs Safeway, changed to Safeway Stores Inc., incorporated in Maryland, Maron B. Skaggs first president; 1928 - more than 2,000 stores; 1928 - went public; 1971- world’s largest food retailer; 1982 - taken private in leveraged buyout by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts; 1990 - went public again as Safeway Inc.

July 22, 1920 - Donald W. Douglas, David R. Davis formed Davis Douglas Co. near Santa Monica, CA; July 1921 - Donald W. Douglas incorporated The Douglas Co.; April 1922 - awarded first production contract for DT-2s for Navy; February 16, 1925 - awarded largest contract to date for 75 observation aircraft by War Department; November 20, 1928 - Douglas Aircraft Co. Inc. organized; July 1, 1933 - first Douglas airliner, DC-1, made first flight; May 11, 1934 - DC-2, larger version of the DC-1, made first flight; April 28, 1967 - McDonnell and Douglas companies merged, formed McDonnell Douglas; August 1, 1997 - Boeing acquired McDonnell-Douglas in a deal valued at $16.3 billion.

January 1, 1939 - Bill Hewlett and David Packard formalized partnership (with encouragement of Stanford professor and mentor Fred Terman); decided company's name with a coin toss; revenue: $5369. Employees: 2; operations in shed behind house in which Packard rented an apartment; $538 working capital consists of cash and a used Sears-Roebuck drill press.

September 29, 1946 - Los Angeles (previously Cleveland) Rams played first NFL game in LA.

April 20, 1949 - Sigurd and Russell Varian incorporated Varian Associates in California; 1953 - became first building of Silicon Valley, in Stanford Industrial Park, Palo Alto, CA (blend of academic, commercial interests, became model for for modern electronics, computer industries).

1951 - Frederick Terman, dean of School of Engineering at Stanford University, allocated 700 acres of unused land on Stanford campus to creation of Stanford Industrial Park in response to demand for industrial land near university resources,  emerging electronics industry tied closely to School; first university-owned industrial park, nation's first high-tech research park; Varian Associates first lessee; 2008 - 162 buildings, 23,000 employees, 140 different companies in electronics, software, biotechnology, other high-tech fields.

October 1, 1957 - Fairchild Semiconductor formed in Mountain View, CA to develop, produce silicon diffused transistors, other semiconductor devices; based on work done by Gordon E. Moore, C. Sheldon Roberts, Eugene Kleiner, Robert N. Noyce, Victor H. Grinich, Julius Blank, Jean A. Hoerni, Jay T. Last, eight scientists who left Shockley Semiconductor Laboratories in Santa Clara Valley (founded 1955) due to management style and disenchantment with pure research of founder William Shockley, co-inventor of transistor (1948); used $3500 of their own money to develop method of mass-producing silicon transistors using a double diffusion technique and a chemical-etching system; Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation invested $1.5 million in return for option to buy company within eight years; profitable in six months.

April 25, 1961 - Robert Noyce, of Los Altos, CA, received a patent for a "Semiconductor Device-and-Lead Structure" ("electrical circuit structures incorporating semiconductor devices"); integrated circuit; complete electronic circuit inside small silicon chip; assigned to Fairchild Semiconductor Corp.

July 18, 1968 - Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, Andy Grove incorporated The Intel Corporation ( INTegrated ELectronics or 'Intel' for short) to design and manufacture microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits; 1971 - released its first microprocessor (4004) designed for a calculator; 1972 - 8008 microprocessor; 1974 - 8080 introduced, first personal computers made possible.

July 1, 1970 - Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)  opened (founded by Dr. George E. Pake); 1971 - world's first laser computer printer demonstrated artificially generated laser raster output scanner (ROS) xerography (basis of Xerox's xerographic printing business,  $1 billion in sales in 1986); 1975 - engineers demonstrated graphical user interface for personal computer, included icons, first use of pop-up menus; 1989 - world leader in development of embedded data schemes; 1993 - PARC's Chief Technologist and his band first musical group to perform live on Internet (beat Rolling Stones by 20 minutes); January 4, 2002 - became independent,  renamed Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated (research, innovation to industry leaders in many fields).

April 1, 1976 - Steve Jobs (entrepreneur) and Steve Wozniak (engineer) created computer circuit boards in Jobs's parents' Los Altos, CA garage, named the product Apple I, sold it to a local computer store; initial financing: Jobs sold his VW van, Wozniak sold his Hewlett Packard calculator; January 3, 1977 - company incorporated; December 12, 1980 - went public.

April 7, 1976 - Venture capitalist Robert A. Swanson,  biochemist Dr. Herbert W. Boyer (pioneered recombinant DNA technology) founded Genentech, biotechnology company, in rented building in South San Francisco (two staff members); 1977 - produced first human protein (somatostatin) in microorganism (E. coli bacteria); 1978 - cloned human insulin; 1979 - cloned human growth hormone; 1980 - went public; 1985 - received approval from U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market first product, Protropin® (somatrem for injection) growth hormone for children with growth hormone deficiency (first recombinant pharmaceutical product manufactured, marketed by biotechnology company); September 7, 1990 - majority interest (56%) acquired by merged Roche Holdings Ltd. (Basel, Switzerland) in $2.1 billion deal; total assets of $1.1 billion; March 26, 2009 - 44% interest (balance of outstanding shares) acquired by Roche forn $47 billion; 7th-largest pharmaceutical company (market share), annual sales of $17 billion, 17,500 employees (in U.S. segment).

October 29, 1969 - Internet created; connection established between computers at UCLA, Stanford Research Institute in first wide area packet switching network, two nodeARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) of US Department of Defense, over 50 kbps line provided by AT&T.

December 13, 1977 - Robert M. Metcalfe, of Woodside, CA, David R. Boggs, of Palo Alto, CA, Charles P. Thacker; of Palo Alto, CA, Butler W. Lampson of Portola Valley, CA, received a patent for a "Multipoint Data Communication System with Collision Detection" ("apparatus for enabling communications between two or more data processing stations comprising a communication cable arranged in branched segments including taps distributed thereover"); ethernet; assigned to Xerox Corporation.

February 1994 - Stanford University Ph.D students Jerry Yang, David Filo created Yahoo! (acronym for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle!).

September 1995 - Pierre Omidyar, developer services engineer for General Magic (mobile communication platform company),  launched online service called Auction Web as sole proprietorship in his San Jose living room as online venue for direct person-to-person auction of collectible items; correspondents began to register trade goods of enormous variety; 1997 - name changed to eBay; hosted nearly 800,000 auctions a day; 1998 - went public; more than million registered users; recruited Hasbro executive Margaret Whitman to serve as CEO.

January 1996 - Larry Page, Sergey Brin began collaboration on search engine called BackRub (named for unique ability to analyze "back links" pointing to given website); September 1998 - Google Inc. opened (play on word googol, coined by Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner, popularized in book, Mathematics and the Imagination by Kasner and James Newman; refers to number represented by numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros; reflected company's mission to organize seemingly infinite amount of information available on web); September 21, 1999 - beta label came off website, search engine launched; August 19, 2004 - initial public offering; priced at $85 per share,traded above $300/share within first year; November 6, 2007 - traded at $747.24, all-time high.