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Under orders of King Carlos III of Spain, the governor of California Felipe de Neve laid out a small settlement along a river valley and, on September 4, called it El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles (The Town of the Queen of the Angels), another name for the Virgin Mary (see El Pueblo de Los Angeles).

After the US-Mexican War ended in 1846–48, Los Angeles became part of the USA on April 4, five months before California became the 31st state. With a tiny population of about 1,600, this unruly and lawless backwater lacked even such basic urban infrastructures as graded roads and street lights.

Few events have stimulated LA’s growth more than its connection to the transcontinental railroad. A small army of Chinese immigrants built the Southern Pacific railroad from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The last spike – made of gold – was driven in ceremoniously on September 5.

British immigrants David and William Horsely founded Hollywood’s first permanent movie studio, the Nestor Film Company, in an old tavern at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. Today, the site is occupied by CBS Television. Within a decade, the district had become the world’s movie capital and by the 1930s and 1940s, Hollywood had officially entered its “Golden Age.”

“There it is! Take it!” is how William Mulholland, father of the world’s longest aqueduct, famously greeted the first spurt of water to arrive in LA from the Owens Valley, some 250 miles (400 km) north, on November 5. Even today, the Los Angeles aqueduct continues to supply over 75 percent of the water needed by the residents of this metropolis, as it is partly located in a subtropical desert.

In possession of just $1,000, but driven by a dream, 28-year-old Donald Douglas began designing airplanes in the back of a barber shop. A year later, the first Cloudster cargo plane propelled his Douglas Aircraft Company into prominence. It went on to become one of the world’s leading airplane manufacturers.

The arrest of a young black motorist suspected of drunk driving by white policemen on August 11 sparked off six days of rioting and resulted in 34 deaths, over 1,000 injuries, and $40 million in property damage.

On June 5, just minutes after wrapping up a speech to celebrate his victory in the California primary, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was brutally gunned down by Sirhan Sirhan.

The city erupted into violence on April 29 after the acquittal of four white police officers on trial for beating up black motorist Rodney King, an incident famously captured on videotape. The toll this time: 55 dead, 2,300 injured, and $785 million in property damage.

Millions were jolted awake on January 17 by a violent earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale. It caused 57 deaths and 6,500 injuries, interrupting water, electrical, and gas services, and damaging freeways and homes.