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Early human archaeological evidence in the San Francisco area dates back to 3000 BC.
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San Francisco was originally named Yerba Buena. Yerba Buena is the name of a plant found in the area.
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San Francisco got its name in 1847, after having been claimed by Captain John Montgomery in July, 1846.
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The California Gold Rush brought many people to San Francisco's region in the mid-1800s.
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By 1849 the population of San Francisco, thanks to the gold rush, had increased from only 1,000 in 1848 to more than 25,000 people.
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In its early years San Francisco was wild and fairly lawless due to the gold rush.
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Golden Gate Park was planned in 1887, with roughly 1000 acres of land.
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In 1906 the San Andreas Fault caused a devastating earthquake that killed approximately 3000 people in San Francisco. More than 25,000 buildings were destroyed and a quarter million people lost their homes. Fires raged for four days. San Francisco began to rebuild immediately.
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It soon became a financial capital and when the stock market crashed in 1929 none of San Francisco's banks failed.
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The Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bridge were built in the 1930s.
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Another major earthquake hit San Francisco in 1989, killing 67 people and damaging buildings and infrastructure.
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In the 1990s San Francisco became an internet technology center, which resulted in major increases in property values.
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San Francisco is well-known for its streets with very steep hills. Filbert St. has the steepest of all of San Francisco's streets at 31.5 degrees.
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There are several neighborhoods in San Francisco built on landfills including Hunter's Point, Marina, and Mission Bay.
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A law passed in 1867 in San Francisco made it illegal for people considered to be 'ugly' to show their faces in public. This law has since been repealed (struck down).
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San Francisco's cable cars are considered to be a National Historical Monument. They are the only monument capable of moving.
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Fortune cookies were invented by a San Francisco Japanese resident.
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Alcatraz and Treasure Island are both considered to be part of San Francisco.
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San Francisco's tallest building is the Transamerica Pyramid.
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The climate in San Francisco is a Mediterranean climate, with dry summers and mild but moist winters.
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San Francisco is a popular tourist destination, and one in seven people in the city work in tourism.
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