The story of the Los Angeles region and city begins before recorded history. Evidenced is left behind of civilizations dating from thousands of years B.C. The Tongva and the Chumash people are the first known people to settle before Europeans came.
First Known Europeans
As recorded, Europeans first visited in the 1500s. An explorer from Portugal, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, claimed the region for Spain in 1542. The Franciscan Friar, Junipero Serra had the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel built in the 1770s. The region was under Spanish rule until the 1820s.
The 1800s to the Present
After its independence in the early 1820s, Mexico ruled, and Los Angeles was the capital of Alta California.Get more information here. http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/history/la-as-subject/how-orange-county-tamed-the-santa-ana-river.html Then, the war between Mexico and the United States ended in 1847. Officially from 1848 to the present, the region has been a part of the United States.
The Southern Pacific railroad connected to Los Angeles in 1876, and the city was further populated between the railroad and the oil industry begun in the 1890s. The city grew, especially with Holywood beginning in the 1920s. Los Angeles hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1986, and the prosperous city is an international hub for business and entertainment today.