Before the arrival of Europeans, the Tongva (Gabrielino Nation) had a village called Yang-na in what is now downtown Los Angeles . On September 4, 1781, 44 settlers from Mexico (called “Pobladores” in Spanish) arrived in the area. The Pobladores named their settlement El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles sobre El Rio Porciuncula, The Town of Our Lady Queen of the Angels on the Porciuncula River. Of the original 44 original pobladores, only two were white," 26 had some degree of African ancestry and 16 were Indians or mestizos [people of mixed Spanish and Indian blood)]." Over time, the area became known as the Ciudad de Los Angeles , "City of Angels ." California was ruled by Spain until 1822 when Mexico assumed jurisdiction. After the 2-year Mexican-American war ended in 1848, the area came under U.S. control. On April 4, 1850 the city was renamed the City of Los Angeles .
Interesting tid bits:
1896: Col. Griffith J. Griffith donated five square miles of parkland - to be named after him - to the city. On top of Mount Hollywood, the Griffith Observatory has been a Hollywood landmark -- and working observatory -- since 1935, The climactic scene of the James Dean movie "Rebel Without a Cause" was shot here, and his bronze memorial bust can be found on the west lawn.
1923: The sign "HOLLYWOODLAND" was erected on top of Mount Lee as to advertise a new housing development. The sign cost $21,000 and was fifty feet tall and thirty feet wide. In 1932, aspiring actress Peg Entwhistle jumped from the letter "H" after her dreams of becoming a celebrity shattered. In 1939, developers decided to donate the sign to the city by threatening to tear it down, and the city agreed under the condition that " HOLLYWOOD" would be restored without the 'land'.
Grauman's Chinese Theatre was opened in 1927, it was the idea of Sid Grauman and C.E. Toberman. When actress Norma Talmadge accidentally stepped into wet cement on the forecourt, a tradition was born. Handprints and footprints of the stars are immortalized in the forecourt of the theatre, ranging from those of Marilyn Monroe to Bud Abbot and Lou Costello. The theatre was renamed "Mann's Chinese" after Ted Mann in 1973, in 2000 it was bought by a partnership of Paramount and Warner Brothers who changed the name back it its original name. Graumann's Chinese Theatre underwent extensive renovation and now looks exactly the way it looked back in 1927.
