Bay History Facts

• San Diego Bay is the "birthplace of San Diego." On his search for a northwestern Pacific-to-Atlantic passage, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo set anchor in San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542.
  
  
• In 1602, explorer Sebastián Viscaíno arrived in San Diego when it was called "San Miguel" and renamed it "San Diego de Alcalá" after the patron saint of his flagship.
  
  
• Charles Lindbergh flew off from San Diego on May 9, 1927, in the Spirit of St. Louis, headed for New York, and then non-stop to Paris.
  
  
• From the early thirties and up until the late seventies San Diego was known as the Tuna Capital of the World. More than 40,000 people were employed directly or indirectly by the industry.
  
  
• By 1945, Consolidated Aircraft plant near San Diego Bay had turned out 6,724 B-24 Liberators in support of World War II.
  
  
• With headquarters adjacent to Lindbergh Field, San Diego's Consolidated Aircraft's workforce grew during 1940 from 3,170 to 33,000. By 1942, nearly 40 percent of the workforce was female, nicknamed "Rosie the Riveter."
  
  
• The Star of India at San Diego's Maritime Museum was built in 1863 and christened the Euterpe, after the Greek goddess of music. The ship circumnavigated the world 21 times.
  
  
• Before the Coronado Bay Bridge opened in 1969, commuters to and from the island relied on ferry service to cross the Bay.
  
  
• San Diego hosted the 1996 Republican National Convention, the first national political convention for the city.