On this day in history; the 4th of September 1781, the city of Los Angeles was founded.
LA was founded by 16 families of Spanish settlers, 11 of whom were civilian. The families had arrived from Mexico earlier that year and named their new settlement 'El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles' or 'The Town of the Queen of the Angels'
Despite the settlers all being subjects of the Spanish crown, only two of them claimed direct Spanish decent. The group was made up of Native Americans, Africans and one who was said to be 'the son of a black slave and an Indian woman'
Although not Spanish in the strictest sense, the settlers and the city were part of the state of Mexico and remained loyal to the Spain until it's independence in 1821.
The city, along with the rest of California, was given to the U.S on the 2nd of February 1848 after the Mexican-America war. Los Angeles has been an American city ever since. Growing from it's humble 'pueblo' roots to become the county's 2nd biggest city and 3rd in North America.
