Curated playlist
Populated coastal places in California
- San DiegoJapan once planned to crash plague-flea planes into San Diego. Surrender five weeks earlier stopped the 1945 plan.
- Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California became the first American city to lose three major league teams within five years.
- Dana Point, CaliforniaA harbor built in 1966 wiped out a famous surf wave at Dana Point. The breakwater cut through Killer Dana.
- Santa Barbara, CaliforniaSanta Barbara once had the world's largest silent-film studio. Flying A Studios worked there from 1910 to 1922.
- San Jose, CaliforniaFrom 1950 to 1969, San Jose's city manager annexed property 1,389 times. The city grew from 17 to 149 square miles.
- Goleta, CaliforniaGoleta, California did not legally exist as a city until 2002. For years it had tens of thousands of residents.
- Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, California got its name from a line of poetry quoted at a rock. Frederick Billings recalled it in 1866.
- San FranciscoGold rush sailors abandoned about 500 ships in San Francisco's harbor. Many became storehouses, saloons and hotels.
- Alameda, CaliforniaAlameda, California became an island when workers dredged a canal through marshland.
- Los AngelesIn 1908, a librarian reported at least 12 ways to say Los Angeles. The federal government picked one in 1934.