May 6, 1860 - Olympic Club (San Francisco) organization meeting; 1881 - moved to Morton House above retail establishment on Post Street (above).

May 6, 1860   - Organizational meeting held at Lafayette Hook and Ladder firehouse (Rueben H. Lloyd had suggested club devoted to fitness after participating in gymnastics exercise at 79 Broadway home of Charles and Arthur Nahl, German immigrants and pioneer photographers); 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.

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.

June 3, 1888 - Poem ''Casey at the Bat,'' by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, first published, in San Francisco Daily Examiner.

January 1, 1902 - University of Michigan (10-0) crushed Stanford (3-1-2) by score of 49-0 in first Tournament East-West football game (Rose Bowl); game discontinued; 1916 - game resumed.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/1st-Rose-Bowl-game-1902.jpg)

May 31, 1915 - Balboa Stadium opened adjacent to San Diego High School (capacity of 23,000); largest municipal stadium in nation at the time.

1935 - Badger Pass Ski Resort opened in Yosemite National Park (Yosemite Ski School established in 1928); first, oldest ski resort in California; first alpine ski resort in state of California; Sierra Nevada's first ski area.

November 24, 1949 (Thanksgiving Day) - Alexander C.  Cushing, former Wall Street lawyer, opened Squaw Valley Development Company (with $400,000 of his own money, investment from few friends), "uphill transportation business" (first visited in 1946); May 1, 1949 - John Buchman, former taxi-driver from Morristown, NJ, became company's first employee "at the business end of a shovel" (over period of 45 years became General Manager, President, Director of the Company); 1960 - hosted VIII Olympic Winter Games (beating internationally regarded resorts such as Innsbruck, Austria, St. Moritz, Switzerland, Garmisch-Partenkirschen, Germany).

May 28, 1957 - National League approved move of Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants baseball teams to Los Angeles,  San Francisco, respectively.

September 16, 1957 - LA City Council approved 300-acre site in Chavez Ravine for Dodgers; September 24, 1957 -  Brooklyn Dodgers played last game at Ebbets Field, defeated Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0; October 8, 1957 - Walter O'Malley announced Dodgers were moving from Brooklyn, NY to Los Angeles, CA; February 7, 1958 - Dodgers officially became Los Angeles Dodgers, Inc.

1959 - Larry Gordon (chemistry major at San Diego State College), Floyd Smith built a mold, bought necessary foam chemicals (from Gordon Plastics, dad's family business), started blowing foam blanks in Smiths's garage in San Diego, CA; started Gordon & Smith Surfboards; 1961 - most popular surfboard brand in the San Diego area; invented surfer t-shirt; 1965 - made 4,000 boards per year; 1971 - Smith sold his interest in the business.

February 26, 1963 - Hobart L. Alter (doing business as Hobie-Surfboard Shop in Dana Point, CA) registered "Hobie" trademark first used February 1, 1954 (surfboards and the like).

1965 - Joe Gold, son of junk dealer, created his first gym, Dugout Athletic Club, in junior high school, in back room of auto repair shop, opened Gold's Gym, modest fitness center, in Venice, CA; became landmark for bodybuilders; 1968 - aspiring Arnold Schwarzenegger made first visit;  1970 - acquired by two investors; 1977 - body-building cult classic documentary film “Pumping Iron” filmed there; acquired by bodybuilder, fitness expert Ken Sprague; Gold established World Gym chain (grew to 250 gyms by 2005); 1979 - acquired by Pete Grymkowski, Tim Kimber, Ed Connors; 1980 - began licensing clubs across country; July 27, 1982 - Gold's Gym Enterprises, Inc. registered "God's Gym" trademark fist used in February 1974 (Gymnasium Services); 1999 - acquired by Brockway Moran & Partners for $50 million ( 538 Gold's Gyms around world) ; 2001 - franchisees formed Gold's Gym Franchisee Association (GGFA); 2004 - acuired by TRT Holdings, founded in 1989 by Texas oil explorers Reese and Robert (son) Rowling (2.5 million members, 56% women); 2008 - 600 locations across the globe.

February 11, 1966 - San Francisco Giant Willie Mays signed highest contract, $130,000 per year.

October 18, 1967 - AL voted to allow Athletics to move from Kansas City to Oakland; 1971 - expand league to 12 teams  with Kansas City, Seattle teams.

1970 - Arthur Jones introduced "Blue Monster" at Los Angeles weight-lifting convention; August 27, 1974 - registered "Nautilus" trademark first used December 11, 1972 (manually activated exercise machines for physically exercising parts of the human body); 1986 - sold interest in company for $23 million; June 6, 1989 - received a patent for an "Apparatus for Exercising Muscles of the Lower Trunk of the Human Body"; February 20, 1990 - received a patent for a "Machine for Exercising and/or Testing Muscles of the Lower Trunk, and Method"; 1999 - acquired by Direct Focus, Inc. (Vancouver, WA); 2002 - name changed to Nautilus, Inc.; variable resistance weight machines, bridge between free weights and high-tech resistance equipment; employed system of pulleys that ensured constant resistance on muscles during entire range of exercise's motion.

January 6, 1970 - Hoyle Schweitzer, of Pacific Palisades, CA, and Jim Drake, of Santa Monica, CA, received a patent for a "Wind-Propelled Apparatus"; windsurfboard - the "windsurfer"; Schweitzer incorporated Windsurfing International to promote the sport, manage the patent; 1973 - bought rights to patent from Drake; 1980s - S. Newman Darby filed "prior art" patent suit (1965 - published his designs for "sail boarding " in Popular Science Monthly magazine, never sought patent protection); Windsurfer's original patent voided, lost use of "windsurfer" as a trademark; 1987 - reissued patent expired.

January 12, 1971 - Coast Catamaran Corp. (Capistrano Beach, CA) registered "Hobie Cat" trademark first used July 30, 1968 (sailboat).

April 5, 1984 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became highest-scoring player in NBA history with 31,421 career points (31,421); Wilt Chamberlain (31,419).

April 6, 1987 - Al Campanis, Los Angeles Dodgers executive for 40 years, said on ABC's ''Nightline'' that blacks ''may not have some of the necessities'' to hold managerial jobs in major-league baseball; April 7, 1987 - resigned.

October 3, 1989 - Art Shell became first African-American to coach professional football team, Los Angeles Raiders.

August 17, 1993 - Thomas Welsh, of San Diego, CA, received a patent for a "Platform Steerable Skateboard".

January 29, 1995 - San Francisco 49ers became first team in NFL history to win five Super Bowl titles, beat San Diego Chargers 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX.

(Los Angeles Dodgers), Neil J. Sullivan (1987).  The Dodgers Move West: The Transfer of the Brooklyn Baseball Franchise to Los Angeles. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 252 p.). Los Angeles Dodgers (Baseball team) -- History; Brooklyn Dodgers (Baseball team) -- History; Sports and state -- California; Baseball -- California -- Management; Baseball -- New York (State) -- New York -- Management.

(LA Dodgers), Michael D'Antonio (2009). Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O'Malley, Baseball's Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles. (New York, NY: Riverhead, 368 p.). Pulitzer Prize-winner. O’Malley, Walter F. (Walter Frank), 1903-1979; Brooklyn Dodgers (Baseball team); Los Angeles Dodgers (Baseball team); Baseball team owners --United States --Biography. Biography of Walter O'Malley, most controversial owner in history of American sports; changed baseball, Brooklyn forever when he moved Dodgers to California; refused to apologize, defend himself; used political contacts to grow wealthy during Great Depression, maneuvered to take control of formerly downtrodden Dodgers; didn’t decide to uproot the borough’s team until he had been outmatched in war of wills with famed power broker Robert Moses; once transplanted to Los Angeles, O’Malley overcame opponents of his stadium, helped define the city; worked behind scenes to usher in age of players union, free agency; new revelations on O’Malley’s battle with Moses, pioneering business strategies, relationship with Jackie Robinson.

(Oakland A's), Michael Lewis (2003).  Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. (New York, NY: Norton, 288 p.). Baseball--Economic aspects--United States; Baseball--Scouting--United States; Baseball players--Salaries, etc.--United States.

(Oakland Raiders), Mark Ribowsky (1991). Slick: The Silver and Black Life of Al Davis. (New York, NY: Macmillan Pub. Co., 358 p.). Davis, Al, 1929- ; Oakland Raiders (Football team); Football coaches--United States--Biography; Football team owners--United States--Biography.

(Olympic Club), Foreword by Richard G. Smith (1960). Olympic Club of San Francisco 1860/1960 Centennial. (San Francisco, CA: James H. Barry Printing Co., 160 p.). Olympic Club--San Francisco, CA; Athletic clubs--history--California.

(San Diego Chargers), Gene Klein and David Fisher (1987). First Down and a Billion: The Funny Business of Pro Football. (New York, NY: Morrow, 300 p.). Owner from 1966-1984. Klein, Gene; San Diego Chargers (Football team); Football team owners--United States.

(San Diego Chargers), Alex Spanos with Mark Seal and Natalia Kasparian; with a foreword by Rush Limbaugh (2002). Sharing the Wealth: My Story. (Washington, DC: Regnery Pub., 254 p.). Spanos, Alex; San Diego Chargers (Football team); Football team owners--United States--Biography; Businessmen--United States--Biography.

Business History Links

50 Years of Dodger Baseball, 1958-2008                                                       

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/la/history/50th/index.jsp               

Details about golden anniversary celebration in 2008 of move of Dodgers baseball team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Features history of the team's move, other articles, trivia, event listings, video clips, opportunities for fan participation, other material related to celebration. From the official Major League Baseball website for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Surfing Heritage Foundation                                                              

http://www.surfingheritage.com                                                          

Preserves the history of surfing for future generations. We collect, preserve, and document, surf craft, print, photos, oral histories, art, cinematography, and surfing memorabilia. Through education and outreach we tell surfing's story and bring its rich lore to life.