| Click on decade for details: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 | |
| 1820 | Don Luis Maria Peralta granted 44,800 acres by Spanish crown |
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| 1840 | |
| 1841 | Camps set up in Oakland hills to ship timber to Sandwich Islands |
| 1842 | |
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| 1847 | |
| 1/24/1848 | gold discovered at Sutter’s mill |
| 1849 | |
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| 1850 | 1st steam sawmill in the hills |
| 9/9/1850 | California becomes the 31st state |
| 1851 | Liuse Maria Peralta dies – estate passes to 4 sons. The area of present day Piedmont A venue passes to Vincente |
| 1851 | |
| 8/4/1851 | Carpentier & Moon granted ferry franchise |
| 1852 | Young Ladies Seminary (oredecessor of Mills College) opens in Benecia |
| 5/4/1852 | Town of Oakland incorporated |
| 1853 | The College school (predecessor of the University of California) founded by Henry Durant at 5th and Broadway |
| 1853 | Fire and Police services established |
| 3/25/1853 | Alameda County formed |
| 7/12/1853 | 1st Public school in Oakland founded with attendance of 16 |
| 1854 | ordinance passed prohibiting bullfighting |
| 4/17/1854 | Carpentier elected 1st mayor |
| 1855 | Post Office recognizes the name Oakland |
| 3/5/1855 | Charles Campbell elected 2nd mayor |
| 1/3/1856 | Samuel H. Robinson 3rd mayor |
| 3/2/1857 | Andrew Williams 4th mayor |
| 1858 | St Mary’s catholic church founded |
| 1858 | First African Methodist Episcopal church formed |
| 3/7/1859 | Francis K. Shattuck – 5th mayor |
| Click on decade for details: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 | |
| 1860 | Oakland Population 1,543 |
| 1860 | Oakland Hills have been logged off |
| 3/7/1860 | James Paine Miller Davis 6th mayor |
| 1861 | |
| 3/5/1862 | George M. Blake 7th mayor |
| 1863 | William Henry Bovee 8th mayor |
| 12/26/1863 | Mt View Cemetery Established |
| 1864 | 1st sewer installed in Oakland |
| 3/4/1864 | Edward Gibbons 9th mayor |
| 1864 | 1st street paving laid in Oakland, cost $3.18/foot |
| 3/6/1865 | Benjamin F. Ferris 10th mayor |
| 5/25/1865 | Mt View Cemetery dedicated |
| 7/1/1865 | 1st internment (June Weir) at Mt View cemetery |
| 5/4/1866 | John W. Dwinelle 11th mayor |
| 3/7/1867 | William Watrus Crane, Jr. 12th mayor |
| 1867 | Dr Samuel Merrit donates 155 acres around what will become Lake Merritt to the city |
| 11/1867 | Samuel Merritt 13th mayor |
| 1868 | Lake Temescal formed to bring water to city |
| 1868 | University of California and Oakland Library Association established |
| 5/10/1868 | Holy Names college founded |
| 3/1/1969 | John B. Felton 14th mayor |
| 11/8/1869 | 1st Transcontinental railroad completed – Oakland first train arrives |
| Click on decade for details: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 | |
| 1870 | Piedmont Avenue school begins in dining room of George Hume estate |
| 1870 | Oakland population 10,500 |
| 1870 | Lake Merritt becomes first designated wildlife refuge in North America |
| 3/6/1871 | Nathaniel W. Spaulding 15th mayor |
| 1871 | Webster street drawbridge completed across San Antonio Creek. |
| 1871 | Mills college moves to Oakland |
| 1871 | New city hall opens at 14th and Washington |
| 1871 | Plymouth Congregational Church organized |
| 1872 | Brooklyn annexed into Oakland |
| 3/4/1873 | Rev. Henry Durant 16th mayor |
| 1873 | Oakland becomes Alameda county seat |
| 1873 | University of California opened in Berkeley |
| 1874 | Lake Chabot created |
| 1874 | 1st edition of the Oakland Daily Tribune is published |
| 1875 | Mack Webber 17th mayor |
| 3/13/1876 | Enoch H. Pardee 17th mayor |
| 1876 | Cameron Stanford house erected |
| 1876 | Elaborate wooden gat built at Mt. View Cemetery entrance |
| 1876 | Enoch H Pardee mayor or Oakland |
| 1876 | March 18 Piedmont Horse Railroad opened from 7th Street to Mt View Cemetery |
| 1877 | Oakland City Hall burns to the ground |
| 1877 | Flume & fountain built at Mt. View Cemetery entrance |
| 3/25/1878 | Washburne R. Andrus 19th mayor |
| 1878 | Oakland Free Library opens |
| 1878 | 1st telephones installed in Oakland |
| 1879 | |
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| 1880 | Piedmont Avenue school moves to building on the west side of Piedmont Avenue |
| 1880 | Night school program begins in Oakland |
| 3/8/1880 | James E. Blethen 20th mayor |
| 1880 | Oakland Population 34,456 |
| 1881 | |
| 3/13/1882 | Charles K. Robinson 21st mayor |
| 3/12/1883 | J. West Martin 22nd mayor |
| 1883 | Heinolds’ First and Last Chance Saloon opens |
| 3/10/1884 | Ashmun Cooke Henry 23 mayor |
| 1884 | Horton School established. |
| 1885 | Mills college issued charter |
| 3/9/1885 | Eli W. Playter 24th mayor |
| 3/14/1887 | William R. Davis 25th mayor |
| 1887 | Fabiola hospital opened at Broadway and Moss (now MacArthur) |
| 1887 | John Raglan Glascock mayor of Oakland |
| 3/12/1888 | Charles D. Pierce 26th mayor |
| 3/11/1889 | John R. Glascock 27th mayor |
| 1889 | H.C. Capwell opens the Lace House on Washington Street |
| Click on decade for details: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 | |
| 1890 | Consolidated Piedmont Cable Railroad founded |
| 1890 | Maternity building added to Fabiola hospital |
| 1890 | Oakland Population 48,682 |
| 1890 | County passes $16,000 bond for construction of Piedmont Avenue School |
| 1891 | School completed at the present site |
| 1891 | Oakland annexes Vernon Heights (Today’s Adams point district) |
| 3/9/1891 | Melvin C. Chapman 28th mayor |
| 1892 | First classes in the new Piedmont Avenue school building |
| 1893 | George C. Pardee mayor of Oakland |
| 3/13/1893 | George C. Pardee 29th mayor |
| 1894 | Pullman strike |
| 1894 | Fenton’s Founded |
| 3/11/1895 | John L. Davie 30th mayor |
| 3/9/1897 | William R. Thomas 31st mayor |
| 1897 | Giovanni Ratto opens G.B. Ratto & Company at 6th and Washington |
| 1897 | Piedmont Avenue area annexed into city of Oakland |
| 3/13/1899 | Roland W. Snow 32nd mayor |
| 1899 | Oakland Conservatory of Music established. |
| Click on decade for details: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 | |
| 1900 | Oakland Population 66,960 |
| 3/11/1901 | Anson Barstow 33rd mayor |
| 1902 | |
| 1902 | Piedmont Grocery established |
| 1903 | Idora Park Amusement park opened |
| 3/1/1903 | Warren Olney 34th mayor |
| 1903 | Green Gates build by James Cobbledick |
| 1903 | Buds tavern (now Kings X) established by Herman Voigt at Piedmont and Pleasant Valley |
| 1904 | Plymouth Church merges with Oak Chapel on Piedmont Avenue |
| 1904 | Key System terminal opens at Piedmont and 41st |
| 1905 | Frank Mott elected mayor |
| 1906 | April 18 – San Francisco earthquake 150,000 take refuge in Oakland |
| 1907 | Piedmont elects to remain a separate city by a 10 vote margin |
| 1907 | California College of Arts and Crafts founded by Fredrick Meyer |
| 1908 | Port commission founded |
| 1908 | Children’s building added to Fabiola hospital |
| 1909 | |
| 1909 | Oakland annexes Clairmont, Fruitvale, Melrose, Fitchburg, Elmhurst and otheroutlying areas |
| Click on decade for details: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 | |
| 1910 | Oakland Population 150,174 |
| 1910 | Oakland Public Museum and YMCA open. |
| 1911 | Oakland re-incorporated under a new city charter |
| 1911 | President William Howard Taft lays the cornerstone fo the new Oakland City Hall |
| 1911 | 1st powered flight over Oakland |
| 1911 | 22,085 telephone subscribers in Oakland |
| 1912 | Oakland School Women’s Club and Children’s Hospital founded. |
| 1912 | Piedmont Branch Library Opened |
| 1912 | St Leo’s established |
| 1912 | Green Gates sold to Lloyd Robbins |
| 1914 | Oakland Technical High School established. |
| 1914 | Oakland city hall completed – the tallest building west of the Mississippi |
| 1914 | Plymouth congregation moves to new building on Linda |
| 1915 | Name changed from Piedmont school to Piedmont Avenue school |
| 3/1/1915 | John L Davie elected Mayor |
| 1915 | Oakland YWCA (designed by Julia Morgan) opens at 1515 Webster |
| 1916 | |
| 1916 | Fred Turner building (40th & Piedmont) completed – designed by Julia Morgan |
| 1917 | Joaquin Miller Park established. |
| 1918 | |
| 1919 | |
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| 1920 | |
| 1920 | Oakland Population 216,261 |
| 1921 | |
| 1922 | Snow Museum of Natural History opens. |
| 1923 | Calfiornia College of Arts and Crafts moves to present location in Oakland |
| 1923 | Green Gates transformed from brown shingle to current look. |
| 1923 | Tribune Tower completed. |
| 1924 | Granada Theater opens. |
| 1925 | C. L. Dellums helps found the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters formed |
| 1925 | St Leos church opened in present location. Old church moved to Howe street where it is the school auditorium |
| 1926 | Grand Lake theater opens |
| 1927 | H.C. Capwell department store opened at 20th & Broadway |
| 1927 | Land acquired for Oakland municipal airport |
| 1927 | Port of Oakland opens |
| 12/15/1927 | Oakland is west coast terminus for all transcontinental air mail |
| 1928 | Fox Oakland theater opens |
| 1928 | Clorox Chemical Company in business |
| 1929 | Idora park razed to build new homes |
| 1929 | |
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| 1930 | |
| 1930 | Oakland Population 284,063 |
| 1930 | Oakland adopts city manager form of government |
| 3/1/1931 | Fred N. Morcom 37th mayor |
| 1931 | Paramount theater opens |
| 1931 | Sweet’s Persian Gardens ballroom opens |
| 1931 | Paramount Theatre built. |
| 1932 | Fabiola hospital closes |
| 1932 | Municipal rose garden opens. |
| 1932 | New library building built by S.M. Greenwood for that purpose opens and is leased to the city for 5 years |
| 7/1/1933 | William J. McCracken 38th mayor |
| 7/9/1933 | groundbreaking for Oakland Bay Bridge |
| 1933 | Oakland Symphony active. |
| 1934 | July 16-18th General strike |
| 1934 | May 9th – Longshoreman’s strike |
| 1934 | Voters create the East Bay Regional Park district |
| 1935 | |
| 1936 | Nov 12 – Oakland Bay Bridge opened |
| 1936 | Alameda County Courthouse built. |
| 1937 | May 27th Golden Gate Bridge opened |
| 1937 | Broadway tunnel to Contra Costa opens |
| 1937 | William J. McCracken mayor or Oakland |
| 1938 | Piedmont Avenue School burns |
| 1938 | 1st Longs Drugs store opens on Piedmont Avenue |
| 1939 | |
| Click on decade for details: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 | |
| 1940 | Oakland Population 302,163 |
| 7/1/1941 | John F. Slavich 39th mayor |
| 1942 | Permanante Foundation Hospital (Kaiser) dedicated |
| 1942 | |
| 1943 | |
| 1944 | Oakland Army Base active. |
| 7/1/1945 | Herbert L. Beach 40th mayor |
| 1946 | 1946 Oakland General Strike begins on December 3 and ends on December 5. |
| 7/1/1947 | Joseph E. Smith 41st mayor |
| 1948 | Key system streetcars replaced with busses |
| 7/1/1949 | Clifford E. Rishell 42nd mayor |
| Click on decade for details: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 | |
| 1950 | Oakland Population 384,575 |
| 1950 | Children’s Fairyland opens |
| 1950 | |
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| 1952 | |
| 1953 | AC Transit District created |
| 1954 | Oakland Junior College established |
| 1954 | C. E. Rishell mayor of Oakland |
| 1955 | |
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| 1957 | |
| 1958 | Last train cross the Bay Bridge |
| 1959 | |
| Click on decade for details: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 | |
| 1960 | Oakland Population 367,548 |
| 1960 | AC Transit takes over assets of Key System |
| 1961 | Fenton’s moved from Howe street to Piedmont Avenue |
| 1961 | John Houlihan mayor of Oakland |
| 1961 | |
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| 1963 | |
| 11/23/1963 | John F Kennedy assasinated |
| 1964 | Construction begins for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) district |
| 1964 | |
| 1965 | |
| 2/21/1965 | Malcolm X assasinated |
| 1966 | John H. Reading elected mayor of Oakland |
| 1966 | Black Panther Party founded in Oakland |
| 1966 | Oakland Coliseum opens. |
| 1967 | |
| 4/4/1968 | Martin Luther King assassinated |
| 6/5/1968 | Robert Kennedy assassinated |
| 1968 | Athletics baseball team relocates to Oakland. |
| 1969 | Oakland museum of California opens |
| Click on decade for details: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 | |
| 1970 | Oakland Population 361,561 |
| 1971 | |
| 1972 | BART begins service |
| 1972 | Savings & Loan buys library property |
| 1972 | Oakland A’s win world series |
| 1973 | Oakland Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marcus Foster assassinated by Symbionese Liberation Army |
| 1973 | Paramount Theatre reopens |
| 1973 | Oakland A’s win world series |
| 1974 | BART Transbay tube opens |
| 1974 | Oakland A’s win world series |
| 1975 | |
| 1976 | Oakland Raiders win superbowl |
| 1977 | Lionel J. Wilson mayor of Oakland |
| 1977 | April – Lionel Wilson elected mayor |
| 1977 | Glen Echo park dedicated as a walkway |
| 1978 | |
| 1979 | |
| Click on decade for details: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 | |
| 1980 | Oakland Population 339,337 |
| 1980 | Oakland Raiders win superbowl |
| 1981 | |
| 1982 | |
| 1983 | |
| 1983 | Robert Maynard acquires the Oakland Tribune |
| 1984 | |
| 1985 | |
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| 1987 | |
| 1987 | Lionel J. Wilson mayor of Oakland |
| 1988 | |
| 1989 | Loma Prieta earthquake collapses Cypress freeway |
| 1989 | |
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| 1990 | 1990 – Population: 372,242 |
| 1/7/1991 | Elihu M. Harris 46th mayor |
| 10/20/1991 | Oakland firestorm of 1991. |
| 1992 | |
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| 1997 | |
| 1998 | Edmund G. Brown, Jr. mayor of Oakland |
| 1998 | |
| 1/4/1999 | Jerry Brown becomes mayor. |
| Click on decade for details: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 | |
| 2000 | Oakland Population 399,484 |
| 2001 | |
| 2002 | Taoist Center opens. |
| 2003 | |
| 2004 | |
| 2005 | |
| 2006 | |
| 1/8/2007 | Ronald V. Dellums 48th mayor |
| 2007 | East Bay Meditation Center opens. |
| 2008 | |
| 1/1/2009 | January 1: BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant. |
| 3/31/2009 | 2009 shootings of Oakland police officers. |
| Click on decade for details: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 | |
| 2010 | Population: city 390,724; metro 4,335,391 |
| 1/3/2010 | Jean Quan becomes 49th mayor. |
| 10/10/2011 | Occupy Oakland begins. |
| 2012 | April 2: Oikos University shooting. |
| 2013 | |
| 2014 | Oakland Police Beat begins publication. |
| 1/5/2015 | Libby Schaaf 50th mayor |
| 2016 | 2016 Oakland warehouse fire |
| 2017 | |
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| 2019 | |