On This Day

5 die in a 2 day riot at Alcatraz prison in San Francisco bay

San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 827,526 in 2024.

San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 827,526 in 2024. Among U.S. cities with a population of 300,000 or more, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income, second by population density, and sixth by aggregate income as of 2023. Some 4.6 million residents live in the city's metropolitan statistical area, which is the 13th-largest in the United States. Around 9.2 million live in the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area, the fifth-largest in the United States.

Prior to European settlement, San Francisco was inhabited by the Yelamu Ohlone.

Historical Significance

San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 827,526 in 2024.

Events Before

  1. German air raid on Allied airfields at Eindhoven, Saint-Trond, and Brussels

    German air raid on Allied airfields at Eindhoven, Saint-Trond, and Brussels

  2. Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in for an unprecedented and never-to-be-repeated fourth term as US President

    Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in for an unprecedented and never-to-be-repeated fourth term as US President

  3. Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and Birkenau Concentration Camps in Poland - now commemorated as International Holocau

    Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and Birkenau Concentration Camps in Poland - now commemorated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day [1]

  4. WWII: US troops under General Douglas MacArthur enter Manila in the Philippines after a month-long battle, ending three

    WWII: US troops under General Douglas MacArthur enter Manila in the Philippines after a month-long battle, ending three years of Japanese military occupation

  5. Declaration of Liberated Europe is signed at the Yalta Conference by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josep

    Declaration of Liberated Europe is signed at the Yalta Conference by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, declaring that liberated nations are to establish democratic governments through free elections

Events After

  1. Mahatma Gandhi begins a march for peace in East Bengal

    Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political thinker who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign…

  2. Benelux agrees to work on related issues

    Benelux agrees to work on related issues

  3. Britain nationalizes its coal industry

    The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 59) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or brought into state control, the coal industry in the United…

  4. French fashion designer Christian Dior presents his first influential collection, named the "New Look"

    French fashion designer Christian Dior presents his first influential collection, named the "New Look"

  5. Earl Mountbatten of Burma is appointed the last viceroy of India to oversee the move to independence

    The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan.

More from the 1940s

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on May 4, 1946?
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 827,526 in 2024. Among U.S. cities with a population of 300,000 or more, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income, second by population density, and sixth by aggregate income as of 2023.
Why is 5 die in a 2 day riot at Alcatraz prison in San Francisco bay significant?
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 827,526 in 2024.

Explore More