1. On September 24, 1786, the Mission San Buenaventura was founded in present-day Ventura. It was the ninth Spanish mission established in California and played a significant role in the early colonization of the state.

2. In 1890, Yosemite National Park was established, encompassing 1,200 square miles of scenic wilderness in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It is one of the oldest and most famous national parks in the United States.

3. The first automobile race in California took place on September 24, 1896, in which two electric cars raced from San Francisco to San Jose. The race was organized by the California Electric Vehicle Company to promote the use of their vehicles.

4. On September 24, 1957, the Los Angeles Dodgers played their last home game at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, NY, before moving to Los Angeles the following year. The Dodgers would go on to win multiple championships in the decades that followed.

5. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Global Warming Solutions Act on September 24, 2006, making California the first state in the nation to enact comprehensive climate change legislation. The law requires the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.