As Valensi Rose celebrates the 70th anniversary of the founding of the firm in 1952, we thought it would be interesting to look back at the events that helped shape our community over these years.
1952 – President Richard Nixon delivers his “Checkers” speech from a Los Angeles television studio, defending himself against allegations of financial improprieties. Cal Tech Prof. A.J. Haagen-Smit explains the origin of smog. The UCLA basketball team has a 16-8 record in its fifth year under Coach John Wooden.
1953 – California passes the Brown Act, requiring most government agency meetings to be open to the public. The downtown “Four Level” freeway interchange is completed. Panavision is founded in Woodland Hills, and Litton Industries is founded in Beverly Hills.
1954 – I Love Lucy wins the most awards at the Sixth Primetime Emmy Awards, held at the Hollywood Palladium. Simon Rodia completes the Watts Towers. The J. Paul Getty Museum opens.
1955 – Disneyland, built on 160 acres of former orange groves at a cost of $17 million, opens in Anaheim. The Nickerson Gardens public housing project opens in Watts. Big 5 Sporting Goods is founded in El Segundo.
1956 – The Capitol Records building near Hollywood and Vine opens. The city eliminates its rule limiting building heights to 150 feet.
1957 – The Wham-O toy company introduces the Hula Hoop and sells 100 million over the next two years.
1958 – The Dodgers move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, playing at the Coliseum until their new stadium is completed in 1962. KTLA is the first TV station to use a news helicopter. IHOP, now Dine Brands, is founded in Burbank.
1959 – Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev visits Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena opens. The first Grammy Awards are presented. Mattel Toys introduces the Barbie Doll.
1960 – John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson are nominated at the Democratic National Convention held here. The Minneapolis Lakers move to Los Angeles. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is established. The Aerospace Corporation is founded in Glendale. The population of Los Angeles reaches 2,479,015, making us the nation’s third-largest city, surpassing Philadelphia.
1961 – The Great Bel Air-Brentwood Fire destroys 484 homes. The Theme Building opens at LAX. The Beach Boys launch their band. Twentieth Century Fox releases Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor, with a record-making $10 million budget.
1962 – Dodger Stadium opens in Chavez Ravine. Johnny Carson is named host of The Tonight Show. Zubin Mehta is named Musical Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The last of the Pacific Electric “Red Car” trolley lines ceases operations. The Examiner and Herald-Express newspapers combine as the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.
1963 – The Baldwin Hills Dam fails, killing five people and destroying 277 homes. The Vincent Thomas Bridge opens. The Dodgers win the World Series. The first building of Century City opens on the former backlot of 20th Century Studios, once owned by Tom Mix. The Pacific Cinerama Dome opens, premiering It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
1964 – The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion opens at the Music Center, as home to the Philharmonic. The Beatles make their first appearance here, at the Hollywood Bowl. The Los Angeles Master Chorale is founded. The Whisky A Go Go opens on the Sunset Strip. The Southern California Rapid Transit District (RTD) is established.
1965 – The LA County Museum of Art opens. The Watts Uprising, linked to police abuse and discrimination, rocks the city for six days. The Dodgers win another World Series. Princess Cruises is founded in Santa Clarita. Marina del Rey, the largest man-made pleasure boat harbor in the world, opens.
1966 – The LA Zoo and Busch Garden open. Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda are arrested in protests against city rules targeting Sunset Strip “hippie” and rock music clubs. The Beach Boys release Good Vibrations.
1967 – The Mark Taper Forum opens at the Music Center. Super Bowl I is held at the Coliseum. The RMS Queen Mary is permanently moored in Long Beach. The grocery chain Trader Joe’s is founded in Pasadena. The Forum opens in Inglewood, hosting the Lakers and Kings. A peaceful protest at The Black Cat in Silver Lake is the nation’s first documented LGBTQ demonstration.
1968 – Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel. Latino high school students stage the East LA Walkouts to protest conditions at their schools.
1969 – Actress Sharon Tate and six others are murdered by Charles Manson and six of his followers. Floods and mudslides cause 91 deaths and $400 million in damage. The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) opens. Angels Flight Railway, which opened in 1901, ceases operations.
1970 – Journalist Ruben Salazar is killed by a tear-gas grenade fired by a deputy sheriff while covering the National Chicano Moratorium March in East Los Angeles. Superior Court Judge Albert Gittelson orders the desegregation of city schools. The census records 2,816,061 residents in the city and 7,032.075 in the county.
1971 – The Sylmar Earthquake destroys the Olive View Veterans Hospital and damages freeways, dams, and buildings. The Los Angeles Convention Center opens. Magic Mountain opens in Santa Clarita. Chrysler closes its plant in the City of Commerce. California Institute of the Arts opens in Valencia. Charles Manson and his followers are convicted of the Tate-LaBianca murders.
1972 – The Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center opens. The Lakers win their first NBA championship. Public Storage is founded in Glendale. The 44th Academy Awards, hosted by Helen Hayes at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, honors The French Connection as Best Picture. The Wattstax Music Festival, dubbed “the Black Woodstock,” is held at the Coliseum,
1973 – Tom Bradley defeats Sam Yorty to become Mayor of Los Angeles, the first Black mayor of the city; he will serve for the next 20 years. Loyola University and Marymount University merge to form Loyola-Marymount University.
1974 – Police seeking to rescue kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst storm a house on East 54th Street occupied by the Symbionese Liberation Army; five of its members die. The J. Paul Getty Museum moves to a replica of a Roman villa in Pacific Palisades. The “Alphabet Bomber,” Muharem Kurbegovic, kills three people with a bomb at LAX’s Pan Am terminal. The film Chinatown is released.
1975 – The George C. Page Museum opens. The Southern California Air Quality Management District (AQMD) is established. The Chinese Historical Society of Southern California is founded. The LAPD agrees to destroy secret files it kept on 5,500 citizens. The first People’s Choice Awards is broadcast. Jaws is released.
1976 – The Bonaventure Hotel opens, featuring glass elevators and a rotating restaurant on its 34th floor. Artist Judith Baca oversees hundreds of students who paint the half-mile-long “Great Wall of Los Angeles” mural in the San Fernando Valley. The first carpool lane opens, on the Santa Monica Freeway.
1977 –Tommy Lasorda becomes manager of the Dodgers. Former U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is killed in the crash of a KNBC-TV news helicopter. Star Wars opens. The mini-series Roots, filmed in Burbank and Malibu, premieres on ABC. “Hustler” magazine publisher Larry Flynt is convicted of obscenity.
1978 – The 153,000-acre Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area, the world’s largest urban national park, is established. The Los Angeles Conservancy is founded. The first Doo-Dah Parade is held in Pasadena.
1979 – The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is founded. The City Council passes a bill safeguarding gay civil rights. The Laugh Factory opens on Sunset Strip. Video game publisher Activision, now Activision Blizzard, is founded in Santa Monica.
1980 – With a population of 2,950,010, LA surpasses Chicago as the nation’s second-largest city. Ford closes its Pico Rivera assembly plant, which produced more than 1.4 million vehicles. Herbalife is founded in Los Angeles.
1981 – Los Angeles celebrates its 200th anniversary. The first case of AIDS appears in Los Angeles County. The California African American Museum opens. An aerial spraying assault is launched on the Mediterranean Fruit Fly, or Medfly. The glam metal band Mötley Crüe is formed.
1982 – The NFL’s Oakland Raiders move to Los Angeles. The twin-tower 54-floor Crocker Center (now Wells Fargo Center) opens. Wolfgang Puck opens the restaurant Spago on the Sunset Strip. Blade Runner and Fast Times at Ridgemont High open. Frank Zappa and his daughter Moon Unit record Valley Girl.
1983 –The Temporary Contemporary Art Museum opens downtown. Lily Lee Chen is elected mayor of Monterey Park, making her the first Chinese-American female mayor of a U.S. city. Cynthia Barbee becomes the first woman firefighter in Los Angeles County. Panda Express is founded in Glendale. Randy Newman releases “I Love LA,” which would become the city’s unofficial theme song.
1984 –Los Angeles hosts the Summer Olympic Games, for the second time. The city of West Hollywood is incorporated. The Tom Bradley International Terminal opens at LAX. The San Diego Clippers move here. Forever 21 is founded in Highland Park. The Aerospace Museum opens. With the introduction of the 818 phone number prefix, L.A. becomes the first city in America with two area codes.
1985 – The Los Angeles Music Center Opera is founded. Roger Mahony is appointed Archbishop of Los Angeles. “Night Stalker” serial killer Richard Ramirez is arrested. California Pizza Kitchen is founded in Beverly Hills. The environmental group Heal the Bay is launched to battle coastline pollution. The California State Lottery begins operation.
1986 – An intentionally-set fire at the Central Library downtown destroys a million books and documents. The Los Angeles Opera is inaugurated. The first Los Angeles Marathon attracts nearly 11,000 runners. "Hands Across America" links five million people from Long Beach to New York. A DC-9 jet collides with a small plane over Cerritos, killing 92.
1987 – Pope John Paul II visits, celebrating two outdoor masses. The Whittier Narrows Earthquake jolts the area. Paramount Pictures celebrates its 75th anniversary. CBS begins broadcasting shows in stereo. Santa Clarita is incorporated as a city.
1988 – The Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum opens. Dodger Kirk Gibson hits a World Series walk-off home run, considered one of the greatest moments in LA sports history. Magnum P.I. concludes with a two-hour series finale. The Young and the Restless becomes the number one daytime TV drama, where it remains today.
1989 – The Los Angeles Herald Examiner halts operations, leaving the city with one major daily. Richard Ramirez, the "Night Stalker," is sentenced to death for torturing and murdering 13 people. The Simpsons debuts on Fox TV. Fire destroys the long-closed Pan Pacific Auditorium.
1990 – Nelson Mandela visits the city and addresses 70,000 at the Coliseum. The Hammer Museum opens. The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra is founded. The 73-story US Bank Tower opens as the tallest building on the West Coast. LAPD Chief Darryl Gates tells a Senate Committee that drug users should be shot. The Metro Blue Line connects downtown to Long Beach. The census shows the city’s population as 3,485,398, and the county’s as 8,863,164.
1991 – Earvin “Magic” Johnson announces that he is retiring from the Lakers because he is HIV-positive, reducing the stigma previously attached to the disease. A third area code, 310, is introduced. The cities of Malibu and Calabasas are incorporated. General Motors closes its Van Nuys auto plant. Maxine Waters represents the 29th Congressional District.
1992 – The acquittal of four LAPD officers shown on video beating Rodney King triggers five days of unrest. The Japanese-American National Museum opens in Little Tokyo. Esa-Pekka Salonen is named conductor of the Philharmonic. Yvonne Brathwaite Burke is the first African American elected to the Board of Supervisors. Jay Leno takes over as host of The Tonight Show. The Metrolink commuter train begins operations.
1993 – The Central Library reopens after two devastating fires in 1986. Richard Riordan is elected as the city’s first new mayor in 20 years. The Museum of Tolerance, focused on the Holocaust, opens. The Red Line, the city’s first subway, begins operations. The Century Freeway (Interstate 105) opens.
1994 – The Northridge Earthquake kills 57, injures thousands, and causes billions in property damage. The Petersen Automotive Museum opens. O.J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman, after a widely-viewed slow-speed car chase. The FIFA World Cup Finals are held at the Rose Bowl.
1995 – The Los Angeles Rams leave Anaheim for St. Louis, and the Raiders return to Oakland. Chasen's restaurant closes after 58 years. The American Film Market is launched. Sen. Bob Dole says Hollywood debases American culture. DreamWorks is founded in Universal City.
1996 – The Skirball Cultural Center, a museum of Jewish history and culture, opens in Brentwood. The LA Galaxy debuts as a member of Major League Soccer. Entertainment company Live Nation is founded in Beverly Hills. The Museum of Latin American Art opens in Long Beach. The Army Corps of Engineers begins to pave and wall off the LA River. The restored Angels Flight funicular reopens on Bunker Hill.
1997 – The Getty Center opens in Brentwood. Two heavily armed bank robbers wearing body armor engage in a shootout with police in North Hollywood; both are killed, and 20 officers and civilians are injured. The Long Beach Naval Shipyard closes.
1998 – Peter O’Malley sells the Dodgers to Rupert Murdoch. ICANN is founded in Los Angeles to oversee Internet domain names. L.A. gets yet another area code, 323. The Long Beach Aquarium opens. El Nino storms severely damage the Malibu coastline.
1999 – Staples Center opens. The US beats China in the final of soccer’s Women’s World Cup at the Rose Bowl; Brandi Chastain celebrates by tearing off her jersey in an iconic moment for women’s sport. The Rampart Division scandal, involving perjury, false arrests, theft, and drug dealing, rocks the LAPD. The first Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is held.
2000 – The census shows the city’s population as 3,694,820, and the county’s as 9,519,338. The Democratic National Convention is held at Staples Center. The Los Angeles Times is sold to Chicago’s Tribune Co. The Screen Actors Guild ends a six-month strike, winning pay for ads on cable TV. A portion of East Hollywood is named America’s first Thai Town. Fandango Media is founded in Beverly Hills.
2001 – The Kodak Theatre opens at the corner of Hollywood and Highland. Angels Flight is again shut down after a fatal accident. James Hahn replaces Richard Riordan as mayor. Santa Monica entrepreneur Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist.
2002 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels opens downtown. Elon Musk founds SpaceX. Halle Berry wins the Oscar for Best Actress, the first Black woman to receive the award. Comedian Rosie O’Donnell comes out as gay. American Idol, taped at CBS Television City, debuts; Kelly Clarkson is the first season winner. The Dr. Phil show tapes its first show, at Paramount Studios.
2003 – Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry, opens downtown as the home of the Philharmonic. Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected as governor. Home Depot Center opens in Carson. The Metro Gold Line begins operation.
2004 – Former President Ronald Reagan dies at 93. Marlon Brando dies at 80. Frank McCourt buys control of the Dodgers from Fox. USC beats Michigan in the 90th Rose Bowl. In Culver City, Ken Jennings has a 74-game winning streak on Jeopardy. SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded vehicle to enter space, launches from Mojave.
2005 – Antonio Villaraigosa becomes mayor, the city’s first Hispanic mayor since 1872. Two trains derail in Glendale, killing 11 and injuring 200. The city holds its first homeless census. The Topanga fire scorches 24,000 acres. The Metro Orange Line opens.
2006 – After major renovations, the Getty Museum in Pacific Palisades reopens at the Getty Villa. The Griffith Observatory reopens after extensive renovations. Video game developer Riot Games is founded in Santa Monica. The Metro Purple Line opens.
2007 – The Los Angeles Theatre Center opens. May Day rallies at MacArthur Park demand amnesty for undocumented immigrants; the LAPD respond with rubber bullets and batons, later paying $13 million in damages.
2008 – LA Live and The Grammy Museum open. A head-on collision in Chatsworth between a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train kills 25 and hospitalizes 85. The first Anime Expo is held. Proposition 8 bans same-sex marriage.
2009 – Gustavo Dudamel is named Musical Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. The Annenberg Space for Photography opens in Century City. Michael Jackson dies at 50 of an accidental propofol overdose. Madam Tussaud’s opens in Hollywood. The Metro Silver Line opens.
2010 – After nine years of repairs, Angel’s Flight reopens on Bunker Hill. Scandal causes Bell councilmembers to resign; seven are convicted. Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, is founded in Santa Monica. The first CicLAvia closes streets to cars in favor of bicycle riders and pedestrians. The population of the city is 3,792,621, and the county’s is 9,818,605.
2011 – Dinosaur Hall opens at the Natural History Museum. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes opens across from Olivera Street. Occupy LA protesters set up tents on City Hall lawns on Oct. 1, staying until evicted by police two months later. The Honest Co. is founded in Playa Vista by actress Jessica Alba; Dollar Shave Club is founded in Venice.
2012 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour goes on display at the California Science Center. Frank McCourt sells the Dodgers to a group led by Magic Johnson, Stan Kasten, and Guggenheim Partners. The battleship Iowa opens as a museum in San Pedro. The Metro Expo Line opens. The LA Kings win their first Stanley Cup. Construction begins on Wilshire Grand Tower, to be the city’s tallest building.
2013 – Eric Garcetti becomes LA’s first elected Jewish mayor. The Natural History Museum celebrates its 100th anniversary. Garcetti hires Tom Sherak as the city’s first “Film Czar” to help support the entertainment industry. The first phase of the LA River Recreation Zone opens to the public.
2014 – The Broad Contemporary Art Museum opens downtown. The Forum reopens after a $100 million renovation. Beverly Hills celebrates its centennial. Hackers incensed by a Sony Pictures film about North Korea’s leader seize control of its computers and release confidential data. The Tall Ships Festival LA includes a huge rubber duck.
2015 – Los Angeles hosts the Special Olympics World Games. A massive leak of natural gas is discovered in Aliso Canyon, near Porter Ranch. Because of a drought, thousands of plastic balls are put into reservoirs to reduce water losses to evaporation. Bruce Jenner announces he is transitioning to Caitlyn Jenner.
2016 – The Metro Expo Line connects downtown and Santa Monica. The Rams return to LA after 22 years. Vin Scully retires after 67 years and over 9,000 games as the voice of the Dodgers. The Space Shuttle fuel tank is installed at the Science Center.
2017 – The Chargers move back to Los Angeles from San Diego. The Dodgers unveil a statue honoring Jackie Robinson on the 70th anniversary of the date he broke baseball’s color barrier. Downtown’s Grand Central Market celebrates its centennial. The city’s population tops 4 million. Angels Flight reopens.
2018 – The Philharmonic celebrates its hundredth anniversary. The Woolsey Fire burns across Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong purchases the Los Angeles Times. Banc of California Stadium opens at Exposition Park. A typhus outbreak infects 167 in the city, most on Skid Row.
2019 – UCLA, The Huntington Library, and Musso & Frank Grill all celebrate their centennials. The 91st Academy Awards airs without a host when Kevin Hart withdrew over earlier remarks seen as homophobic. Jeopardy host Alex Trebek announces he has pancreatic cancer. Celebrities and others are ensnared in a bribery scheme to get their children admitted to USC and other schools. Disney purchases 21st Century Fox.
2020 – SoFi Stadium opens in Inglewood as the home of the Rams and Chargers. Kobe Bryant dies in a helicopter crash. The city is hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Criminal Minds concludes after 15 years on CBS. Bob Iger steps down after 15 years as CEO of Disney. Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is imprisoned for rape and sexual assault. City Councilmember Jose Huizar is indicted on bribery and corruption charges.
2021 – The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opens on Miracle Mile with more than 13 million objects. Staples Center is renamed the Crypto.com Arena. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle roil the royal household in a candid interview with Oprah Winfrey. Former City Councilmember Mitchell Englander is sentenced to prison for accepting bribes. Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda dies at 93. An LAPD bomb squad damaged homes and businesses by overloading a detonation chamber. Tiger Woods is seriously injured in a car crash.
2022 – SoFi Stadium hosts Super Bowl LVI, which the Rams win. The Hollywood Bowl and the Rose Bowl Stadium celebrate their centennials. The Tail o’ the Pup hot dog stand reopens on Historic Route 66. Six Flags Magic Mountain unveils the world's longest and tallest single-rail roller coaster. Dae Yong “David” Lee is convicted of paying a $500,000 bribe in 2017 to then-City Councilmember Jose Huizar. Homeowners warned about excessive water use. Gasoline prices hit record levels.