Cabrillo Arrives at San Diego: First European in California
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed into what's now San Diego Bay in 1542 and called it 'closed and very good' — precise words from a precise navigator who knew a harbor when he saw one. He was working for the Spanish Crown, looking for a Northwest Passage and mythical cities of gold, and found neither. He died a few months later on San Miguel Island after an injury. But his log described the California coast in enough detail that Spain knew what it had — and didn't seriously colonize it for another 227 years.
September 28, 1542
484 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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