United States · Regional archive
Read Los Angeles through the sites where civic power, racial violence, labor conflict, protest, transportation, and earthquakes altered the city’s direction.
On the ground
Open any marker for the sourced File, or use the chronological index below.
Curated itineraries
Evidence-led sequences for understanding the region. Always check current access and local conditions.
Chronological index
Every result is mapped, sourced, and revision-tracked.
24 October 1871
Calle de los Negros and old Chinatown, represented at El Pueblo, United States
On 24 October 1871, a dispute within Los Angeles's small Chinese community and the shooting of a white bystander became the pretext for a mob assault on …
1 October 1910
Former Los Angeles Times Building at First Street and Broadway, United States
At 1:07 a.m. on 1 October 1910, dynamite exploded beside the Los Angeles Times building. The blast and fast-moving fire killed twenty-one people working on the morning …
12–13 March 1928
St. Francis Dam ruins in San Francisquito Canyon, United States
Minutes before midnight on 12 March 1928, the two-year-old St. Francis Dam failed in San Francisquito Canyon. Roughly twelve billion gallons of water swept through the Santa …
10 March 1933
Offshore Newport–Inglewood Fault epicenter south of Huntington Beach, United States
At 5:54 p.m. on 10 March 1933, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake ruptured the Newport–Inglewood Fault offshore. Unreinforced masonry failed across Long Beach, Compton, and the Los Angeles …
3–8 June 1943
Downtown Los Angeles theater district, represented at Pershing Square, United States
In June 1943, groups of white servicemen moved through Los Angeles attacking, beating, and publicly stripping Mexican American youths identified by zoot suits; Black and Filipino residents …
11–17 August 1965
Arrest site at Avalon Boulevard and 116th Street, United States
On 11 August 1965, California Highway Patrol officer Lee Minikus stopped Marquette Frye near Avalon Boulevard and 116th Street and attempted to arrest him for suspected drunk …
29 August 1970
Laguna Park, now Ruben F. Salazar Park, United States
On 29 August 1970, an estimated twenty to thirty thousand people marched through East Los Angeles against the Vietnam War and the disproportionate burden borne by Mexican …
29 April–4 May 1992
Florence and Normandie flashpoint within a citywide uprising, United States
On 29 April 1992, a Simi Valley jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of state charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King. Anger erupted across …
17 January 1994
USGS epicenter beneath the San Fernando Valley, United States
At 4:30 a.m. on 17 January 1994, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake ruptured a previously unmapped blind thrust fault beneath the San Fernando Valley. Violent shaking collapsed apartments …
12 September 2008
Ventura Subdivision milepost 444.123 near tunnel 28, United States
At 4:22 p.m. on 12 September 2008, westbound Metrolink train 111 collided head-on with an eastbound Union Pacific freight train on single track near Chatsworth. Twenty-five people …