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George Wittman
George W. Wittman (1857–1950) was a San Francisco Police officer and chief of police.Garvey, John, ''San Francisco Police Department'', Charleston, Arcadia, 2004, p. 14. Wittman is the only San Francisco police chief ever fired outright. During the period before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, business interests desired the removal of the Chinese from Chinatown, San Francisco, San Francisco's Chinatown because the property was valuable as the city was still centered on Portsmouth Square. The plan was to expropriate the land and move the Chinese to Bayview-Hunters Point, San Francisco, Hunters Point. At a rehearing on Wittman's firing in 1975, both historian Kevin Starr and city historian Gladys Hansen stated that Wittman was railroaded. Hansen stated that the city wanted to move the Chinese and, "to make people believe the removal was for the betterment of the city and not a lucrative business deal, someone in high office had to be blamed for allowing vice to exist in Chinatow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1906 San Francisco Earthquake
At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity shaking was felt from Eureka on the North Coast to the Salinas Valley, an agricultural region to the south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Devastating fires soon broke out in San Francisco and lasted for several days. More than 3,000 people died, and over 80% of the city was destroyed. The events are remembered as one of the worst and deadliest earthquakes in the history of the United States. The death toll remains the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California's history and high on the lists of American disasters. Tectonic setting The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that forms part of the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. The strike-slip fault is characterized by ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinatown, San Francisco
The Chinatown centered on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street (San Francisco), Stockton Street in San Francisco, California, () is the oldest Chinatown in North America and one of the largest Han Chinese, Chinese ethnic enclave, enclaves outside Asia. It is also the oldest and largest of the Chinatown, San Francisco (other), four notable Chinese enclaves within San Francisco. Since its establishment in 1848, it has been important and influential in the history and culture of Overseas Chinese, ethnic Chinese immigrants in North America. Chinatown is an enclave that has retained its own customs, languages, Chinese temples, places of worship, Kongsi, social clubs, and identity. There are two hospitals, several parks and squares, numerous churches, a post office, and other infrastructure. Recent immigrants, many of whom are elderly, opt to live in Chinatown because of the availability of affordable housing and their familiarity with the culture. San Francisco's Chinatown is also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portsmouth Square
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most densely populated city in the United Kingdom, with a population last recorded at 208,100. Portsmouth is located south-west of London and south-east of Southampton. Portsmouth is mostly located on Portsea Island; the only English city not on the mainland of Great Britain. Portsea Island has the third highest population in the British Isles after the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. Portsmouth also forms part of the regional South Hampshire conurbation, which includes the city of Southampton and the boroughs of Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, Havant and Waterlooville. Portsmouth is one of the world's best known ports, its history can be traced to Roman times and has been a significant Royal Navy dockyard and base for centuries. Portsmouth w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kevin Starr
Kevin Owen Starr (September 3, 1940 – January 14, 2017) was an American historian and California's state librarian, best known for his multi-volume series on the history of California, collectively called "Americans and the California Dream." After an impoverished childhood, he received degrees from various universities where he studied history and literature. Beginning in 1973, Starr wrote nine books on the history of California during his career, along with being professor or visiting lecturer at numerous California universities. From 1989 until his death in 2017, he was a professor at the University of Southern California. From 1994 to 2004 Starr was California's state librarian. He continued writing California history throughout his career, receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship, membership in the Society of American Historians, and the Gold Medal of the Commonwealth Club of California. In 2006 he was presented a National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush for his w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gladys Hansen
Gladys Cox Hansen (June 12, 1925 – March 5, 2017) was an American librarian, archivist and author. She was an expert on the history of San Francisco and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Early life and education Hansen was born in 1925 in Berkeley, California. She moved to San Francisco as a child, and lived there for the rest of her life. She graduated from Lowell High School and attended San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University) briefly, but did not earn a degree. Career At age 17, Hansen began working part-time at the Presidio branch of the San Francisco Public Library. She then moved to the main branch, and by 1963 she was in charge of the California collection of the library. In 1972, she was named city archivist by Mayor Joseph Alioto. In 1963, Hansen began to research the identities of those killed in 1906 earthquake. In 1989, Hansen co-authored the book ''Denial of Disaster'', claiming that the number of casualties from the earthquake wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1857 Births
Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, ''Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * January 9 – The 7.9 Fort Tejon earthquake shakes Central and Southern California, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''). * January 24 – The University of Calcutta is established in Calcutta, as the first multidisciplinary modern university in South Asia. The University of Bombay is also established in Bombay, British India, this year. * February 3 – The National Deaf Mute College (later renamed Gallaudet University) is established in Washington, D.C., becoming the first school for the advanced education of the deaf. * February 5 – The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States is promulgated. * March – The Austrian garrison leaves Bucharest. * March 3 ** France and the United Kingdom for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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