1. In 1839, the first shipment of gold to the United States was received in San Francisco. This shipment came from Mexico and was supposed to be used for the payment of customs duties.

2. In 1870, the first official baseball game in San Francisco was played between the Eagles and the Pacifics.

3. In 1909, the first automobile races were held at the Santa Monica Road Race. This race was attended by thousands of spectators and featured some of the fastest cars of the time.

4. In 1960, the Los Angeles Dodgers hosted the first-ever Major League Baseball game played on artificial turf. The Dodgers beat the Houston Astros 6-3 at the Astrodome in Houston.

5. In 1976, the first-ever commercial plane hijacking in California history occurred when a TWA flight was hijacked by two men and flown to Havana, Cuba. The hijackers demanded $2 million in ransom and eventually surrendered to Cuban authorities.