Portal:San Francisco Bay Area/Years/1

History prior to 1846
 * The San Andreas Fault begins to form in the mid Cenozoic about 30 million years ago
 * 9.5 million years ago, the Moraga Volcanics produces most of the lavas that underlie the East Bay ridges from present day Tilden Regional Park to Moraga
 * During the Quaternary glaciation beginning 2.58 million years ago, the basin now filled by the bay was a large linear valley with small hills, similar to most of the valleys of the Coast Ranges. The rivers of the Central Valley ran out to sea through a canyon that is now the Golden Gate. As the ice sheets melted, sea level rose 300 ft over 4,000 years, and the valley filled with water from the Pacific.
 * Evidence of human occupation of California dates from at least 17,000 BCE.
 * The Ohlone people (pictured) inhabit the Bay Area region as early as 6,000 year ago, with a 1770 estimated population of 10,000–20,000
 * The Coast Miwok inhabit the Sonoma region as early as 4,000 years ago, with a 1770 estimated population of 2,000
 * The Patwin people inhabit the northern Bay region as early as early as 1,500 years ago, with a 1770 estimated population of 12,000
 * The Bay Miwok inhabit the region that is now Contra Costa County, with a 1770 estimated population of approximately 1,700
 * In 1539, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo lands on islands off the coast of California, and names them Farallones, Spanish for cliffs or small pointed islets
 * On 13 November 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sights a peninsula from his ship and names it "Cabo de Pinos", while missing the entrance to San Francisco Bay
 * Francis Drake lands at what is now known as Drakes Bay in 1579 (pictured), and claims the land for England, as New Albion
 * Las Californias is established in 1768 by 🇪🇸 New Spain, encompassing the Bay Area
 * Gaspar de Portolà arrives in the Bay Area in 1769
 * Mission San Francisco de Asís and El Presidio Real de San Francisco are founded in 1776 in Yerba Buena
 * Baptisms of the Yelamu by Spanish missionaries begin in 1777
 * La Misión Santa Clara de Thamien is established in 1777 on the Guadalupe River
 * In 1786, Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse sails to San Francisco and maps the Bay Area
 * In 1792, British explorer George Vancouver stops in San Francisco, in part, according to his journal, to spy on the Spanish settlements in the area
 * In 1804, The Bay Area is part of the newly created 🇪🇸 New Spain state of Alta California
 * The Russian-American Company establishes Fort Ross (pictured) in 1812, in what is now Sonoma County
 * In 1821, 🇪🇸 New Spain cedes Alta California, including the Bay Area, to the newly created Mexican Empire
 * William A. Richardson (pictured) arrives in San Francisco in 1822, and in 1838 is given Rancho Saucelito in present day Marin County by Mexican Governor Juan Alvarado
 * In 1823, the Bay Area, as part of Alta California, becomes part of the newly founded 🇲🇽 United Mexican States
 * In 1836, a 6.8 Richter scale earthquake strikes in the East Bay, likely on the Hayward Fault
 * In 1837, Antonio Ortega begins operating a pulqueria (tavern) north of San Francisco, on the former site of Mission San Francisco Solano
 * In 1838, a 7.0 MLa earthquake strikes the Peninsula, on or near the San Andreas Fault, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe)