Hollywood Feb. 1, 1887: Harvey Wilcox, a transplant from Kansas, officially registers Hollywood with the Los Angeles County recorder’s office after his wife Daeida meets a woman on a train who speaks of her summer home called Hollywood. She convinces her husband to name their new community "Hollywood." 1903: The community is incorporated as Hollywood. Wilcox, a prohibitionist, bans the sale of alcohol in the community except by pharmacists. 1910: Hollywood officially becomes a part of Los Angeles in order to benefit from the water and sewage systems. 1911: David Horsley purchases the Blondeau Tavern on Sunset Boulevard and turns it into the Nestor Film Company, Hollywood's first film studio. 1917: The Charlie Chaplin Studios are built just south of Sunset.  Charlie Chaplin Studios 1923: The Hollywood sign, which reads "Hollywoodland," is put up as an advertisement for a Hollywood Hills housing development. After the advertisement is over, the sign remains. 1927: Grauman's Chinese Theatre has its Grand Opening. The film shown is Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings. A riot breaks out as onlookers try to see the stars entering the theater. 1929: The first Academy Awards ceremony and banquet takes place in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. 1935: Max Factor opens his beauty salon to the stars. It is now the home of The Hollywood Museum. 1949: The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce takes charge of the Hollywood sign, removing the "land" and repairing the letters that now spell simply "Hollywood." 1960: The first star is placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The celebrity honored is Joanne Woodward. 1968: Grauman’s Chinese Theatre is declared a historical and cultural landmark.  Grauman's Chinese Theatre 1980: Los Angeles population rises to 3,005,072, surpassing Chicago as second in the nation. 1998: The American Film Institute announces its list of the top 100 films of all time. Citizen Kane tops the list. 2000: A section of East Hollywood is designated as America’s first and only Thai Town. So many ethnic Thais live in Los Angeles (roughly 80,000) that the city is sometimes referred to as Thailand’s 77th province. 2001: The Kodak Theatre opens on Hollywood Boulevard in the location of the old Hollywood Hotel.
2009: Madame Tussauds opens in Hollywood. Feb.1, 2012: Hollywood celebrates its 125th birthday! | | The Movies 1889: William K. Dickson, commissioned by Thomas Alva Edison, builds the first motion-picture camera and names it the Kinetograph. 1903: Edison Corporation mechanic Edwin S. Porter turns cameraman, director and producer to make the first film: The Great Train Robbery. It is also the first Western. 1909: The New York Times publishes the first movie review, a report on D. W. Griffith's Pippa Passes. 1910: Thomas Edison introduces his kinetophone, which makes "talkies" (talking motion pictures) a reality. 1914: In his second big-screen appearance, Charlie Chaplin plays the Little Tramp, his most famous character.  Charlie Chapman as the Little Tramp 1919: Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford establish United Artists in an attempt to control their own work. 1923: German Shepherd Rin Tin Tin becomes film's first canine star. 1927: Al Jolson astounds audiences with his nightclub act in The Jazz Singer, the first feature-length talkie. 1939: Gone with the Wind premieres and will go on to gross $192 million, making it one of the most profitable films of all time. It's also one of the longest films, clocking in at 231 minutes.  Screenshot of the title page from the trailer for the film Gone with the Wind 1953: To counteract the threat of television, Hollywood develops wide-screen processes such as CinemaScope, first seen in The Robe. 1968: The motion picture rating system debuts with G, PG, R and X. 1975: Jaws, a film by a young director named Steven Spielberg, inaugurates the age of the modern blockbuster. Hollywood. 1980: Sherry Lansing, 36, was named president of production at 20th Century Fox, becoming the first female to hold this position and head a major studio. 1999: The 71st annual Academy Awards show was the longest Oscars awards ceremony ever held at 4 hours and 2 minutes. 2000: The national average ticket price for theatre admission was $5.39, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners. 2008: A back-lot fire at Universal Studios destroyed iconic sets including the clock tower from Back to the Future and the King Kong exhibit on the studio tour. 2010: Johnny Depp was the highest-paid actor of the year ($75 million). |
The world-famous Hollywood sign. 
