This Week in California History: Whoops! We Mistakenly Waged War on Mexico

Where would we be without this week in California history?

It was this week in 1842 that an American Naval Commodore accidentally captured Mexico’s California capital based on a false rumor that we were at war with Mexico. The next day he apologized and gave the city back to Mexico. Speaking of rumors, tabloid queen Kim Kardashian was born this week 35 years ago.

It was also this week in 1850, that California finally celebrated statehood. The golden state was admitted into the union all the way back in September, but it took 38 days for word to actually reach us.

Here are the highlights of Oct. 17 to Oct. 23 in California history courtesy of thisweekincaliforniahistory.com and thepeoplehistory.com

Oct. 17

1989: A 7.1 Earthquake interrupts Game 3 of the Oakland A’s vs San Francisco Giants World Series, killing 67 and causing billions of dollars in damage.

Oct. 18

1850: California was officially made a state on Sept. 9, but word didn’t reach the golden state for 38 days, so ‘Admission Day’ was celebrated in October.

1955: The anti-proton was identified by U.C. Berkeley physicists Emilio Segrè and Owen Chamberlain earning them the Nobel Prize.

Oct. 19

1842: U.S. Naval Commodore Jones captured the capital of Alta California (Monterey) based on rumors that we had gone to war with Mexico. The rumor turned out be false, and Jones said sorry and left town.

Oct. 20

1929: San Francisco’s Bayshore Highway opened connecting San Jose to San Francisco.

1973: The racially motivated San Francisco Zebra murders began terrorizing the Bay Area, killing 15 people and wounding eight more over the course of 179 days.

1988: The Dodgers beat the Oakland A’s in the World Series, 4 – 1, but the A’s still won the series in five games.

Oct. 21

1971: Half Moon Bay kicked off its annual Pumpkin Festival with the winning gourd weighing 132 pounds.

1980: Kim Kardashian entered this world.

1985: Former San Francisco Supervisor Dan White killed himself. White had killed Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978 before serving only 5 years thanks to the infamous “Twinkie defense.”

2007: Orange County’s massive Santiago Canyon Fire was just one of 23 wildfires raging amid Santa Ana winds. A child admitted to playing with fire, accidentally starting a 38,000-acre blaze. Ultimately the fires consumed 300,000 acres, destroying 700 homes. Chilling footage captured the scene as firefighters were caught in a burnover.

Oct. 22

1996: Wildfires burned 35,000 acres in Malibu and San Diego County.

1976: The Warriors’ Rick Barry, started his record-setting free throw streak of 60.

Oct. 23

1871: In the nation’s largest mass lynching, a white mob killed 18 Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles.

2001: Apple released the first iPod.

2003: Narinder Badwal, who owned a 7-Eleven in Santa Clara, found out he sold a winning Lottery ticket worth almost $50,000,000. Then he learned he had sold it to himself.

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