1542History
The first known European visitor to the Goleta area was Spanish mariner Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, who spent time around the Channel Islands in 1542, and died there the following ...
1579History
During the 1980s, the discovery of a 16th-century] cannon on the beach led to the advancement of a theory that Sir Francis Drake sailed into the Goleta Slough in 1579.
1602History
In 1602, another sailing expedition, led by Sebastian Vizcaino, visited the California Coast.
1769Infrastructure
The first land expedition to California, led by Gaspar de Portolà, spent several days in the area in 1769, on its way to Monterey Bay, and also spent the night of August 20 near...
1770Infrastructure
Portola returned to San Diego via the same route in January 1770, where he mounted a second expedition to Monterey that year.
1774History
A second Spanish expedition came to the Santa Barbara area of Alta California in 1774, led by Juan Bautista de Anza.
1782Military
An expedition in 1782, led by military governor Felipe de Neve, founded the Presidio of Santa Barbara, and soon thereafter, the Santa Barbara Mission.
1821History
After Mexico became independent of Spain in 1821, most of the former mission ranch lands were divided up into large grants.
1842Culture
The parts of Goleta to the west of Fairview Avenue were in Rancho Dos Pueblos, granted in 1842 to Irish immigrant Nicholas Den, son-in-law of Daniel Hill.
1921Architecture
Skubic (1921–1998) built two houses in Del Playa Drive that, with a third one, were historic evidence of the mid-20th century international style presented by architect Richard B.
1940Culture
Starting in 1940, boosters from the city of Santa Barbara lobbied and obtained federal funding and passed a bond measure to formally develop an airport on the Goleta Slough.
1941Military
The island retained the name Mescalitan Island (dropping the extra 'T' of the Aztec spelling), until it was bulldozed and flattened in 1941 to provide fill for the military airf...
1942Military
The necessity for an airport, or at least a military airfield, became more apparent after a Japanese submarine shelled the Ellwood Oil Field in 1942.
1949History
The coldest maximum temperature on record is 45 °F (7 °C) in 1949 with the annual average between 1991 and 2020 being 54 °F (12 °C).
1954Education
In 1954, the University of California, Santa Barbara, moved to part of the former Marine base.
1979Military
The warmest night measured is a freak event of 81 °F (27 °C) during a heat snap in 1979, a full 10 °F (5.6 °C) warmer than the second-warmest night on record.
2000Infrastructure
A significant portion of the census territory of 2000 was not included in the city.
2001Government
census and then as a city in 2001 after incorporation formed from part of deleted Goleta CDP, part of Isla Vista CDP, and additional area.
2002Government
It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated populated area in the county.
2006Crime
=== Postal shooting ===
On January 30, 2006, Jennifer San Marco shot and killed six postal workers, before fatally shooting herself at the postal processing facility where she ...
2014History
(*) Ed Easton stepped down in 2014, and Tony Vallejo was appointed to fill the remainder of his term.
2016History
=== Cannabis ===
Following the statewide passage of Proposition 64 in 2016, the city began accepting retail applications on a first-come, first-served basis in August 2018.
2017Government
=== Energy ===
In 2017, the city established an ambitious goal of supplying 100% of the city's municipal facilities and community-wide electricity supply with renewable power by...
2018History
In November 2018, the voters of Goleta passed Measure Z-2018, establishing a tax on cannabis business operations within the city.
2019History
In 2019, the city adopted a strategic energy plan as a roadmap on how to accomplish this, which includes switching to Central Coast Community Energy as the default energy provid...
2020History
A medical marijuana dispensary was issued the first license for sales of recreational cannabis and began selling in January 2020.
2025Government
The city also resolved to have at least 50% of electricity use by municipal facilities come from renewable sources by 2025.