Timeline of Kithain History in San Diego 1900 - Present
1900 - Katherine Tingley moves the international headquarters of the Theosophical Society to 132 acres on Point Loma, where she established the Raja-Yoga School, built the first open-air Greek Theater in America, and formed youth and adult symphony orchestras.
1902 - By decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, Indian inhabitants of Cupa, San Felipe and nearby villages around Warner Springs are evicted and removed to lands near the Pala Reservation. It brings a new influx of Nunnehi to San Diego County but they have been forcibly uprooted from their own places and moved here - there are frictions with the local Nunnehi tribes as well as the Kithain.
1903 - Marine Biological Association of San Diego founded; now Scripps Institution of Oceanography. It is watched with distrust and discomfort with the Merfolk, they create a troop of guards dedicated to keeping the dirtwalkers away from their sacred places and protecting the Rorquals.
1905 - USS Bennington (PG-4) explodes in the harbor due to a faulty boiler, killing 66 and injuring 46. The dead are buried and a memorial is built at what later becomes Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. The undersea court sends a warning about the ‘mess’ left by this event, seeming unconcerned by the death or injuries.
- The Salton Sea is formed between 1905 and 1907, when the Colorado River breaks out of a canal dug to carry irrigation water to the Imperial Valley, pouring into the ancient, dry Salton Basin seabed that was most recently occupied by Lake Cahuilla until about 300 years ago. Nunnehi celebrate this as the return of one of their ancient sources of natural Glamour, the Inanimae tied to Lake Cahuilla reawakens.
1908 - U.S. Navy’s Great White Fleet makes San Diego its first U.S. stop on a worldwide tour, bringing more than 16,000 sailors into San Diego Harbor on 16 battleships, 7 destroyers and 4 auxiliary ships. Some are changelings and the sudden influx brings a few Dreamers with it.
1912 - The International Workers of the World (“Wobblies”) protest downtown for the right to speak freely in public after the passing of Ordinance No. 4623 that banned all kinds of speech in an area that included "soapbox row" downtown. They draw a crowd of nearly 5000 people. Clashes with the police in the area lead to riots, multiple deaths including the deaths of police officers, as well as the retaliatory kidnapping and torture (tarring and feathering) of Ben Reitman. The aftermath of this fight sees the neighbourhood of Stingaree razed to the ground and the obliteration of Chinatown. Naturally the commoner changelings felt sympathy for those fighting to have their labor recognised and their rights protected, the majority of the Autumn sidhe steered clear of the conflict.
1913 - The Cabrillio National Monument is created - a cross made of tiles from an abandoned Spanish fort, it is placed on Presidio Hill where it remains today and produces a tiny glimmer of a Balefire.
- The Coronado Yacht Club is founded but any activity is disrupted by the outbreak of war.
1914 - World War One begins.
1915 - The Panama-California Exposition opens, a Goblin Market runs alongside the Exposition with changelings visiting from all over.
1916 - Unusually heavy rains cause severe flooding in San Diego, washing out all but two of the city’s 112 bridges and breaking the Lower Otay Dam. Twenty people drown as the Tia Juana River Valley floods and leaves 135 Little Landers settlers homeless. “Rainmaker” Charles Hatfield (hired by the city) gets all the credit and the blame, but never gets paid the $10,000 city fathers had promised him. Hatfield did indeed cause it to rain, being a Clurichaun with more than a little facility in the Primal Art, however it seems his usage of the magic also triggered some building weather event that resulted in far more rain than intended. Perhaps if he had been paid for his services he would have been more inclined to seek a way of stopping the rains.
- San Diego Zoo established by Dr. Harry Wegeforth when animals imported for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition are quarantined and not allowed to leave.
1918 - “Spanish influenza” strikes, killing 368 people in San Diego. Over 600,000 Americans will die from the pandemic, over 20 million people worldwide. Dauntain are seen in the area along with more dark chimera and the combined forces of the changelings struggle to fight them off.
- WW1 comes to an end with an estimated toll of 9 million military dead and 23 million wounded, along with up to 8 million civilian deaths from various causes including genocide.
1932 - The Coronado Yacht Club leases a wing of the Hotel del Coronado Boat House and invites new members to join. Many of the 200 new members work side by side on docks and slips for the club. A portion of these members are changelings with several Autumn sidhe wishing to support the dreams of freedom and excitement that lie at the base of this idea. Sidhe and commoners work shoulder to shoulder.
1934 - The flag of San Diego is adopted and the various groups of people, both mortals and changelings begin to find common ground and new understandings under this symbol of unity.
1935 - The Old Globe Theatre opens in Balboa Park, taking its design from the Globe Theatre in London where Shakespeare performed during his lifetime. It brings some of the story that goes along with its namesake and inspiration and becomes a centre for many gatherings of changelings as they luxuriate in the Glamour provided by actors and excited audiences.
1936 - Bill Lane brings his Hollywood Stars baseball team to play in San Diego as the Pacific Coast League Padres. Dreams of sporting greatness arise.
1938 - Hitler occupies Austria.
1939 - Germany invades Poland, WW2 breaks out in Europe.
1941 - Japanese forces bomb Pearl Harbor, bringing the USA into WW2.
1942 - Residents of Japanese descent are evicted from San Diego and relocated to internment camps. The Hsien and other changelings who have mortal family among them cannot go with them because the taint of Banality is too painful.
- The Japanese submarine I-17 lands secretly at Point Loma before heading north to attack Santa Barbara. Despite the attempts of the merfolk to destroy this invading vessel they do not warn the land based changelings and it is not stopped.
1945 - WW2 ends as an Allied victory in first Europe and then Japan is declared after the surrender (or death) of the leaders of Axis powers.
1946 - The CYC acquires the lease for its current location, its changeling members using the harbour as a means of avoiding immediate conflict with the merfolk. The position of chairman goes to a member of House Fiona and they quickly argue for the kindling of a Balefire at the club. With a spirit of cooperation amongst its members and the excitement of sailing for both sport and pleasure, it seemed a logical step.
1957 - First test of USAF Atlas A missile is launched, built in San Diego by Convair. First successful test firing occurs on Dec 17, 1957 (on the 54th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first flight), the missile landing in the target area after a flight of some 500 miles. The first operational missile, the Atlas D, will serve for launching Mercury manned spacecraft into orbit. Atlas becomes the workhorse of the space program, launching John Glenn in Mercury 7 for the nation’s first manned orbital flight in 1962. Dreams of space flight and what it might mean begin to ripple through the Dreaming
- Theodore Seuss Geisel, long-time La Jolla resident writing as Dr. Seuss, publishes “The Cat in the Hat”, changing the way American children learn to read. He had been given a 225-word list, with a challenge to develop a book which would improve children’s literacy. As his name begins to spread it is not uncommon to find Pooka speaking in ‘Seussish’ rather than their more usual twisting of words and meanings.
1958 - Interstate Highway 8 opens in February, following ancient Indian trails through Mission Valley. Rather than supporting the Trods that once mirrored these trails, the I8 acts as a steady stream of banality, eroding the trods and making Dreaming travel more difficult.
1961 - San Diego harbor depth was increased to 42 feet (13 m) to allow stationing supercarriers in San Diego. USS Kitty Hawk was the first supercarrier based in San Diego. The merfolk demand to know why this was allowed as it has disrupted their territories and will cause yet more disturbance in the future.
- The first manned space flight carried out by Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union and further excitement grows about the ideas of space travel
1965 - Archeological digs begin at Presidio Park above Old Town, eventually revealing foundations and artifacts from the earliest Spanish inhabitation of the 1700s, some changelings recover unexpected memories of past lives connected to the settlement.
- The Beatles perform before 18,000 adoring fans at Balboa Stadium, the Glamour generated by this event is significant and lingers for some time afterwards as ‘Beatlemania’ seems to encourage certain dreamers and dreams.
1969 - San Diego hosts year-long festival to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the founding of California on Presidio Hill. Old Town becomes a state park.
- The first moon landing by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in Apollo 11 triggers the Resurgence.
1970 - San Diego's Golden State Comic-Minicon begins, now San Diego Comic-Con. The event is a rich source of Glamour but for changelings this is somewhat overshadowed by the beginnings of the Accordance war.
- San Diego City Council dedicates 6,000 acre La Jolla Underwater Park. The merfolk are unconcerned by the Accordance war as they do not separate themselves by noble and commoner - all are noble - however they are deeply concerned by the idea of an ‘underwater park’ and what it might mean for further dirtwalker incursion to their territory.
- While the Merfolk are not affected by the Accordance war and the Nunnehi mostly find it baffling, the Kinain are thrown into chaos once more. There is still a Liam at the Mission, now working cautiously alongside the Mages, and this becomes neutral ground where those not wanting to fight can find sanctuary.
1973 - The Accordance war comes to an end on the stroke of midnight, December 31st 1973 with the accession of a new High King.
1980 - Dennis Conner brings sailing’s America’s Cup to the West Coast, he will go on to win several more times and the CYC expands with the new interest in sailing. It also begins to allow larger, luxury yachts rather than simply sport or racing craft.
1997 - In a Rancho Santa Fe home, 39 members of Heaven’s Gate cult are discovered dead and covered in purple shrouds after largest mass suicide on U.S. soil. They apparently believed they were shedding their earthly “containers” to catch a ride on a spaceship trailing the Hale-Bopp Comet. It happens to coincide with the disappearance of High King David and rumours of all kinds of strange creatures start to spread shortly afterwards.
1999 - San Diego Presidio ruins are covered up once again to preserve them for posterity and future archaeological digs. A pocket of the Dreaming accessed from the ruins leads to a small fortress underground but there seems to be no egress from it so its discovery mostly causes confusion among scholars. Stories spread that something Dark lurks down there and it is recommended that people avoid it.
2000 - Millennium celebrations are held world wide as the world moves into the 21st century. Despite the expectations of a new millennium bringing new advancements it also brings fear and the Red Sun is seen in the skies by those with faerie sight. News of the vision seen in the Parliament of Dreams spreads swiftly and responses are mixed with most preparing for danger.
2017 - Hepatitis A outbreak occurs in San Diego, particularly in downtown, which infected 592 people and killed 20. Bogies are seen lurking around hospitals with other, darker things in their shadows. The changeling population is on high alert for incursions of both Thallain and Denizens as well as Nightmare Chimera but the new Baron at the CYC is content to simply suggest avoiding the Downtown area until the crisis is over.
2020 - The COVID-19 Pandemic reaches the city of San Diego, which impacted the city's economy, culture, society, and the business of every district or neighborhood. Dreamers die as easily as any other mortal, perhaps more so as they are often in more contact with others. Terrifyingly the disease also seems to strike at the chimerical flesh of changelings, the fear that goes along with it creating Banality and spreading it with every new infection.
- Changeling History - Overview
- Timeline of Kithain History in San Diego to 1900
- The Mythic Age (pre-history and early hominids)
- The Time of Legends (Middle-Paleolithic - Late Bronze Age)
- The Sundering (circa 1500BCE - 1230CE)
- The Shattering (1230CE - circa 1380CE)
- The Interregnum (circa 1380CE - 1969CE)
- The Resurgence (1969)
The Accordance War and the High King (1970 - 2000) - The Red Sun and Present Day (2000 onwards)
- The Nunnehi