Historical eventSeptember 171859

San Francisco

Disgruntled with the legal and political structures of the United States, Joshua Norton (pictured) distributed letters to various newspapers in San Francisco proclaiming himself to be Emperor Norton.

Everything on September 17Original source

In context

When
Saturday, September 17 1859167 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
19th century · 1850s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

Russia, Greece and some other countries used the Julian calendar into the early 20th century, so local records may show a date up to 13 days earlier.

At a glance

Dates: From 1859.

What happened

San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 826,079 in 2025. Among U.S. cities with a population of 200,000 or more, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income, third by population density, and sixth by aggregate income as of 2024. Some 4.6 million residents live in the city's metropolitan statistical area, which is the 13th-largest in the United States.

September 17 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1859San Francisco
  2. 2006Őszöd speech
  3. 2006Fourpeaked Mountain
  4. 2008Al-Qaeda in Yemen
  5. 2011Adbusters
  6. 2011Occupy Wall Street
  7. 2013Grand Theft Auto V
  8. 20162016 New York and New Jersey bombings
  9. 2018Israeli Air Force
  10. 2018Syria missile strikes (September 2018)
  11. 2025Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement

Also in 1859

  • August 27Edwin DrakeEdwin Drake successfully drilled for oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania, resulting in the Pennsylvania oil rush, the first oil boom in the U…
  • June 15San Juan IslandsThe shooting of a pig in the San Juan Islands led to the so-called Pig War over the border between the United States and British North Am…
  • June 15Pig War (1859)Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the "Northwestern Boundary Dispute" between American and British/Canadian settlers.
  • November 15Evangelos ZappasSponsored by Greek businessman Evangelos Zappas, the first modern revival of the Olympic Games took place in Athens.
  • March 2Great Slave AuctionThe Great Slave Auction, the largest single sale of slaves in U.S. history, with more than 400 people sold, began in Georgia.
  • September 1Carrington EventA powerful solar flare caused a coronal mass ejection that struck Earth a few hours later, generating the most intense geomagnetic storm…
  • February 16Musical noteThe French government passed a law setting the musical note A4 to a frequency of 435 hertz, in the first attempt to standardize concert p…
  • November 24Charles DarwinBritish naturalist Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was first published, and sold out its initial print run on the first day.

Everything we record for 1859 →

Sources

Cite this page

“San Francisco”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/san-francisco-1859-september-17, accessed October 27, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did San Francisco happen?

September 17 1859 — 167 years ago, on a Saturday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

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