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Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Oakland, Alameda County, California.
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Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California. A major West Coast port city, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the San Francisco Bay Area, the eighth most populated city in California, and the 45th most populated city in the United States. With a population of 440,646 as of 2020, it serves as a trade center for the San Francisco Bay Area; the Port of Oakland is the busiest port in the San Francisco Bay, the entirety of Northern California, and the fifth busiest in the United States of America. An act to incorporate the city was passed on May 4, 1852, and incorporation was later approved on March 25, 1854. Oakland is a charter city.
Oakland's territory covers what was once a mosaic of California coastal terrace prairie, oak woodland, and north coastal scrub. Its land served as a resource when its hillside oak and redwood timber were logged to build San Francisco. The fertile flatland soils helped it become a prolific agricultural region. In the late 1860s, Oakland was selected as the western terminal of the Transcontinental Railroad. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many San Francisco citizens moved to Oakland, enlarging the population, increasing its housing stock, and improving its infrastructure. It continued to grow in the 20th century with its busy port, shipyards, and a thriving automobile manufacturing industry.
Historical Timeline
19th Century
- 1852 – Town of Oakland incorporated
- 1854 – Horace Carpentier elected mayor
- 1855 – Lyceum founded
- 1863 – Heald's Business College established
- 1864 – Vander Naillen School of Practical Engineering established
- 1866 – Police Court established
- 1868 - Oakland Evening Transcript newspaper begins publication; University of California and Oakland Library Association established
- 1869 - Railway begins operating; Lake Merritt Wild-Fowl Sanctuary and Oakland Fire Department established; Oakland Long Wharf becomes the western terminus of the First transcontinental railroad
- 1871 – Mills Seminary relocates to Oakland
- 1872 - Brooklyn becomes part of Oakland; Theosophical Society Library founded
- 1873 – University of California relocates to Berkeley
- 1875 – Oakland Daily Evening Tribune newspaper in publication
- 1878 – Oakland Free Library opens
- 1884 – Horton School established
- 1899 – Oakland Conservatory of Music established
20th Century
- 1904 – Pacific Technical College established
- 1906 – April 18: San Francisco earthquake; refugees flee to Oakland
- 1907 – California School of Arts and Crafts founded
- 1909 - Samuel Merritt College founded; Moore & Scott Iron Works in business
- 1910 - Oakland Public Museum and YMCA open
- 1912 – Oakland School Women's Club and Children's Hospital founded
- 1913 – Oakland Yacht Club established
- 1914 - Oakland Technical High School established; Oakland City Hall and Civic Auditorium built
- 1917 – Joaquin Miller Park established
- 1922 – Snow Museum of Natural History opens
- 1923 – Tribune Tower completed
- 1924 – Granada Theater opens
- 1927 - Oakland Airport begins operating; Port of Oakland opens
- 1928 - Clorox Chemical Company in business; Posey Tube (traffic tunnel) built
- 1931 – Paramount Theatre built
- 1933 – Oakland Symphony active
- 1936 - San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opens; Alameda County Courthouse built; Alameda County Botanical and Zoological Society established
- 1937 – Caldecott Tunnel opens
- 1944 – Oakland Army Base active
- 1946 – 1946 Oakland General Strike begins on December 3 and ends on December 5
- 1954 – Oakland Junior College established
- 1961 – Coliseum Drive-In opens
- 1966 - October: Black Panther Party established; Oakland Coliseum opens
- 1968 – Athletics baseball team relocates to Oakland
- 1969 – Oakland Museum opens
- 1970 – Regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission established
- 1977 – Lionel Wilson becomes mayor
- 1985 – Alameda County Community Food Bank established
- 1988 – Oakland East Bay Symphony established
- 1989 – October 17: 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
- 1991 – October 20: Oakland firestorm of 1991.
- 1998 – City website online
- 1999 – Jerry Brown becomes mayor
21st Century
- 2002 – Taoist Center opens
- 2003 - April 7: Anti-war protest; Women of Color Resource Center headquartered in Oakland; Urban Habitat headquartered in Oakland
- 2007 - East Bay Meditation Center opens; Ron Dellums becomes mayor
- 2008 – Cathedral of Christ the Light dedicated
- 2009 - January 1: BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant; March 21: 2009 shootings of Oakland police officers; Oakland Local begins publication
- 2010 - Ace Monster Toys founded
- 2011 - October 10: Occupy Oakland begins; Jean Quan becomes mayor; Sudoroom established
- 2012 - April 2: Oikos University shooting; Oakland Wiki begins publication
- 2014 – Oakland Police Beat begins publication
- 2016 - 2016 Oakland warehouse fire