The fabled 2,448-mile highway from Chicago to Santa Monica is established in 1926. It doesn’t receive signs until 1927 and isn’t completely paved until 1938.…
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Stories about technology and commerce in California
On a chilly, wet January 8, 1863, invited dignitaries and passers-by gather at K and Front Streets in what’s now Old Sacramento to watch the…
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Chowchilla becomes a city on February 7, 1923. Fifteen miles northwest of Madera in the Central Valley, Chowchilla embraces city hood almost 11 years after Pennsylvania-born…
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Dr. Norman E. Shumway performs the first heart transplant on an adult patient in the United States at Stanford University Hospital on January 6, 1968.…
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In part to silence potential criticism by U.S. senators over his use of government funds, Howard Hughes flies his gigantic H-4 Hercules cargo plane off…
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It’s February 19, 1915. Top-hatted Mayor James “Sunny Jim” Rolph is at the head of 150,000 San Franciscans as they march from the Civic Center…
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To better coordinate state public works efforts, Gov. James Gillett signs legislation on March 11, 1907 creating the Department of Engineering, whose Division of Highways…
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To better accommodate Pasadena-bound traffic for the Rose Bowl two days later, the state dedicates California’s first “freeway,” the Arroyo Seco Parkway on December 30,…
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On December 13, 1900, the Automobile Club of Southern California is founded in Los Angeles. It’s one of the country’s first motor clubs. although the…
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Built to resemble a mission, the first – and only — Milestone Mo-tel in San Luis Obispo is a new kind of lodging designed for California’s…
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