USGS 50 Years in Menlo Park

This document is a work in progress. Please send corrections and additions to Leslie Gordon <lgordon@usgs.gov> 650-329-4006. Look for future versions of this timeline on this web site.

Highlights of USGS history in Menlo Park —a timeline,
1954 - 2004

Color key to items in timeline:

Idea to establish “Survey Field Centers” advanced by Director W.E. Wrather
Albert Einstein's General Field Theory
Glenn T. Seaborg discovers the elements Californium and Berkelium

1951

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed for espionage
Univac I is the first mass-produced computer.

1952

Director Wrather identified locations of field centers
First fare-paying passengers in an jet airliner
First Hydrogen Bomb (USA), tested Eniwetok Atoll, 6 Nov 1952
Telephone area codes debut
John Steinbeck publishes East of Eden

1953

USGS scientists worked out of Wash DC, and other offices throughout the west including Salt Lake City, Spokane, Portland, Los Angeles, Sacramento, & San Francisco
General purpose building is sought near Stanford University with goal to consolidate government scientists dispersed in the SF Bay region and through out the west.
GSA enters lease/purchase option to construct Bldg 1 with an option for an adjacent building later
Ground breaking and construction of Bldg 1, completed Dec 1953
Alfred C. Kinsey, publishes Sexual Behavior in the Human Female
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climb Mount Everest

1954

USGS moves into new Pacific Coast Center (Bldg. 1) in Menlo Park (~ 120 people) (mostly mineral deposit studies, Alaska research, and engineering geology)
Our address is 4 Homewood Place, and the main entrance is via Homewood Place off Linfield Drive.
USGS topo maps (not yet sold in Menlo Park) costs 30 cents
USGS Alaska Branch geologists embark on large scale reconnaissance geologic mapping, reinterpreting the geologic history, and tectonic setting of Alaska. Mineral resource evaluations
Peninsula Geological Society formed providing a social setting for the lively exchange of scientific ideas.
RCA introduces the first mass-produced color TV, costs $1000.
First coast-to-coast color Television broadcast
Mass testing of Salk polio vaccine, half a million children inoculated in USA
J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the A-bomb, kicked out of U.S. Government service and his security clearance revoked
U.S. Supreme Court decides Brown v. Board of Education
Edward R. Murrow TV documentary on Sen. Joseph McCarthy
City Lights bookstore opens in San Fransisco home to the “Beat Generation”
Local PBS affiliate KQED-TV established in San Francisco
Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” becomes first ever No.1 Rock ‘n Roll record.
Roger Bannister breaks 4-minute mile

1955

Palo Alto flood
Albert Einstein dies (1879-1955)
Brooklyn Dodgers beat New York Yankees 4-3, to win World Series
Ohio State beats USC 20-7, wins Rose Bowl
Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California
Rosa Parks refuses to go to the back of the bus.
Roy Kepler establishes paperback Bookstore in Menlo Park.

1956

Second building is built for western region scientists to work at "Pacific Coast Center" in Menlo Park, (added about 50 water folks from SF). New building technique of “post-tension lift slab” construction would later prove to be a liability for earthquake safety.
First Pick and Hammer Show staged in Menlo Park
TV remote control invented
Invasion of the Body Snatchers movie
New York Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers 4-3 to win World Series
Chet Huntley and David Brinkley bring star system to U.S. TV newsscasting.
Allen Ginsburg's poem of beatnik angst, Howl.

1957

International Geophysical Year
Begin studies of gold deposits in Nevada, ore deposit models, leads to discovery of Carlin gold trend
Daly City Earthquake (Magnitude=5.3, Mar 22, 1957, Daly City, CA)
Soviet Union launches Sputnik satellite
Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team moves to Los Angeles; New York Giants move to San Francisco
President Eisenhower orders National Guard to Little Rock, Arkansas, to escort nine black students to Central H.S. to enforce Brown
FORTRAN becomes the first high-level computer programming language.
Vietnam War begins, lasts 18 years

1958

USGS obtains title to 12 acres of adjacent land including part of Dibble General Hospital, and Sequoia High School properties
242 people working in Menlo Park (24 WMD, + 51 WRD + 155 GD + 12 AD)
USGS Library, in Bldg 1, had 35,000 volumes.
Laser invented by Townes & Schawlow

1959

Building 3 built, bringing USGS Topography specialists from Sacramento to the Menlo Center (USGS holds title to bldg) Main entrance to campus moved to 345 Middlefield and center flagpole driveway (Survey Lane) is built.
Public Inquiries Office (aka map sales) opens in Building 3
600 people work at USGS in Menlo Park
Bldg. dedication and open house draws 800 people
photogeologic map of the Moon, (NASA $ to USGS)
Dalrymple, Cox, and Doell, begin studies leading to development of paleomagnetic time scale
Barbie doll introduced by Mattel
Princess telephones in 5 colors go on sale. An all-transistor radio can fit into a shirt pocket. Xerox manufactures a plain paper copier.
Fidel Castro leads rebellion to become Premier of Cuba

1960

GSA purchases Building 1 & 2, USGS continues to occupy them. GSA suggests to USGS that title to Bldg 3 and other properties be transferred to GSA.Publications Division established
Howard Oliver begins planting rhododendrons on campus
(1960s) Studies of active faulting in California lead to rejection of two proposed nuclear reactor sites. These studies establish accepted principles of geologic site evaluation for future major engineering projects.
first weather satellite (Tiros I)
Bruce Heezen discovers the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
American nuclear submarine Triton completes first underwater circumnavigation of the world
Jacques Picard (France) and Lt. Don Walsh (US Navy) dive to record 35,800 feet in Pacific Ocean near Guam, in bathyscaphe "Trieste"
Nixon-Kennedy televised debates
Pilot Francis Gary Powers in U-2 spy plane shot down over Russia.
Bay of Pigs

1961

GSA leases and USGS moves its Library into Bldg 5, at 8 Homewood Place
Gene Shoemaker establishes Astrogeology Program in Menlo Park
The Pill goes on the market
The time-sharing computer is developed.
John F. Kennedy, President of United States

1962

GSA leases and USGS occupies (old) Building 4 at 333 Middlefield Road
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring will lead to ban on DDT and other pesticides.
Telstar, first international communication satellite, transmits an image.
Cuban Missle Crisis

1963

Audio casette tape, and the first portable music machines
Postal ZIP codes
President John F. Kennedy assassinated
Lyndon Johnson finishes JFK’s Presidential term
Martin Luther King Jr. delivers I have a Dream speech at from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

1964

900 people working at USGS in Menlo
USGS Mineral Resource geologists begin long-term mapping and assessment of mineral resource potential on designated U.S. Forest Service and BLM Wilderness Areas
Orthophoto map production begins in Menlo Park
Magnitude 9.2, Mar 27 “Good Friday” Earthquake, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Ford introduces the Mustang car. Sells for $2368
The Beatles first appearance on The Ed Sullivan TV Show
Lyndon Johnson elected as President
Cassius Clay beats Sonny Liston to win world heavyweight title

1965

GSA leases and USGS Water Resources scientists move into Building 6, at 110 Linfield Drive
Earthquake center established in response to 1964 Alaska earthquake
Packet-switching (basis of the Internet)
Vietnam War becomes first war to be televised.
Ford offers 8-track tape players on next year's model cars.
Ralph Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed attacks Detroit's auto industry.

1966

USGS leases space in the former Hiller Aviation Buildings on Willow Road. Earthquake, Marine Geology, and Water Resources scientists move in.
First survey of San Francisco Bay with the R/V Polaris, geophysical studies and bathymetric mapping
First academic conference on the San Andreas Fault
Parkfield, California, Mag 6 earthquake (one in a regularly occurring series)
Average house in Menlo Park sells for $40,000.
Average household income in Menlo Park is $12,540.
First whole-Earth view of weather by satellite
Star Trek begins 3-year run on NBC-TV
Cultural Revolution in China
Xerox sells the Telecopier, a fax machine.

1967
Land exchange between Stanford University and USGS, no money changes hand. Stanford (SRI) gets Middlefield frontage in exchange for property at rear of USGS.
USGS develops bore-hole gravimeter, a benchmark in oil exploration techniques.
IBM introduces the floppy disk.
The Graduate movie

1968

Begin 36 years of continuous monitoring water quality and health of SF Bay on R/V Polaris
Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy assassinated
60 Minutes starts ticking at CBS.
Englebart ties together keyboard, keypad, mouse, windows, and more at SRI in Menlo Park.
Richard Nixon elected president of U.S.

1969

Apollo 11 moon rocks examined in Rock Magnetics Lab (Dalrymple & Doell)
Geologic assessment of Santa Barbara oil spill
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the Moon. Alan Collins remains in Lunar Orbiter
Santa Barbara oil spill
Summer of love, San Francisco

Earth Day established April 22
Liquid crystal watches go on market
Four students at Kent State University in Ohio slain by National Guardsmen

Inception of Geothermal Research Program
San Fernando earthquake M=6.6, Feb. 9, 1971, San Fernando, CA
Wang 1200 is the first word processor.
New York Times publishes "The Pentagon Papers."
Twenty-sixth Amendment to U.S. Constitution lowers voting age to 18.

Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources established, providing an international bridge between industry, academic, governmental, and non-governmental organizations throughout the Pacific region. Circum-Pacific Map Project begins in1974
Pocket calculator and Ms. Magazine debut
Sony sells a videotape system for the home, the Betamax.
Landsat I, "eye-in-the-sky" satellite, is launched.
The Xerox Alto, first computer with a mouse and a graphical interface.
Nixon visits communist China
Washington Post begins Watergate reporting that will bring down president Nixon

USGS rents space from City of Menlo Park on second floor of City Administration Building in Civic Center. (Conservation Division)
Sink hole at the USGS - Menlo Park Bldg. 3 parking lot turns into archaeological find
American space station "Skylab" is launched
The war in Vietnam ends and waves of refugee "boat people" begin;
Arab oil embargo: OPEC cartel doubles the price of crude petroleum
IBM's Selectric typewriter is now "self-correcting."
Secretariat wins Triple Crown of horse racing
Supreme Court rules on Roe v. Wade

1200 people in Menlo Park
Trans-Alaska Pipeline engineering and environmental studies, built to withstand Mag 8 EQ, and built above ground to avoid melting permafrost terrain.
Kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst participates in San Francisco bank robbery
Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth’s home run record
IBM develops the first mainframe computer allowing multiple tasks to be performed at the same time on a single machine
American president Nixon resigns under threat of impeachment
Gerald Ford completes Nixon’s presidential term
Barcodes on supermarket products

USGS hosted United Nations Geothermal Symposium in San Francisco
Publication of first assessment of U.S. geothermal resources
Birth of the home computer (various now-extinct manufacturers)
IBM portable computer, 50 lbs., cost $9,000 for 16K, $20,000 for 64K machines.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen start a company they call Micro-Soft.

GSA leases Buildings 7 & 8 from Shell Oil Co., and USGS earthquake folks move in
Last Pick & Hammer show in Menlo Park
Tangshan, China Earthquake, 240,000 people die
California drought
Mao Tse Tung dies and China is convulsed by political change
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak designed the Apple I.
Sony's Betamax and JVC's VHS battle for home market.
The United States celebrates its bicentennial
Jimmy Carter elected President of U.S.

Naval Petroleum Reserve studies in Alaska, transferred to USGS
mapping the Brooks Range, North Slope oil discoveries (Prudhoe Bay)
M 4.8 Willits, CA earthquake
California drought
First flight of the Space Shuttle
First commercial flight of supersonic Concorde between New York, Paris, and London
USA admits testing Neutron Bomb
Trans-Alaska Pipeline starts oil flowing from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez

GSA leases 2 buildings on Deer Creek Road in Palo Alto, USGS Marine geology and Water resources move in.
Nature to be Commanded published
Louise Brown born (first In Vitro Fertilization "Test Tube" baby)
Space Invaders, the first video game to reach mainstream public.
Jim Jones's followers commit mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana

USGS celebrates its Centennial.
Open House held in Menlo Park, former Director Vince McKelvey comes to speak, and U.S. Navy band entertains crowd.
~ 2000 people working in Menlo Park in more than 20 buildings (includes MARFAC, Deer Creek, SF-PIO, and downtown Menlo Park offices in addition to main campus)
Earthquake retrofitting of Buildings 1 & 2 begins. Building 2 folks need to move out and go to the old Cubberly High School Buildings in Palo Alto.
Graphical User Interface developed at XEROX PARC (led to Macintosh, Windows)
nuclear leak at Three Mile Island
Sony Walkman tape player starts a fad.
Seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Publications Division eliminated
National Mapping Division (new name for Topographic Division)
David Johnston killed in Mount St. Helens eruption
Alaska Branch headquarters moves from Menlo Park to Anchorage
Mount St. Helens erupts May 18
Four strong earthquakes (magnitude 6) and major uplift of the caldera floor, usher in a series of earthquake swarms below Long Valley Caldera
Ronald Reagan is elected President of the United States
CNN, 24-hour news channel, begins reports.
3M Post-it notes invented
John Lennon of the Beatles shot dead in New York City
Smallpox eradicated.

Landslide studies, ALERT real-time rainfall monitoring and landslide warning system initiated
Compact Disks hit the market
MTV, a music video channel, goes on cable 24/7.
The IBM PC.
Microsoft releases the MSDOS 1.0 operating system.
AIDS is first identified

USGS Conservation Division and parts of Marine geology transferred to newly created Minerals Management Service (MMS)
Building 3A constructed as a records storage annex for mapping Division
Water Resources California District office begins consolidation, moves from Menlo Park to Sacramento (about 50 people)
After initial public denial and anger over volcanic hazards warnings in the Mammoth Lakes region (Long Valley Caldera), local authorities and USGS work for the next few years to develop well-received color-coded warning scheme for volcanic hazard conditions.
Earthquake swarms continue at Long Valley Caldera
Huge storms trigger more than 18,000 landslides in SF Bay Area
Debute of Late Night with David Letterman
Equal Rights Amendment fails ratification

USGS Marine Facility (MarFac) at Port of Redwood City flooded
Parkfield earthquake prediction experiment announced
GLORIA side-scan sonar mapping of the EEZ begins
El Niño floods in Bay Area
Coalinga Earthquake
U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) established
Audio music cassettes outsell LP records.
AT&T forced to break up: 7 Baby Bells are born.
Sally K. Ride, 32, first U.S. woman astronaut in space

~ 1900 people working in Menlo Park
Open House to celebrate 25th anniversary of Mapping & Bldg 3 in Menlo Park.
USGS builds new MarFac downstream at Port of Redwood City
R/V S.P. Lee completes pole to pole exploration of Pacific Ocean. Search for energy and mineral resources dubbed “Operation Deep Sweep,” includes humanitarian stop in Tonga
Hurricane devastates Tonga
Apple Macintosh and IBM PC AT are introduced.
National Geographic puts a hologram on its cover.

Astrogeology Branch consolidates in Flagstaff, moves all records, and some personnel

USGS Western Region Center Master Plan completed. Recommends construction of new lab/office building, and release of leased properties.
~1700 people working in Menlo Park
Open House attracts 7500 visitors
Nevado del Ruiz volcanic eruption, Colombia
Mexico City Earthquake M=8.1, Sept. 19, 1985, Mexico City
Desktop publishing becomes familiar.
U.S. household ownership of VCRs rises rapidly to 20%.
Microsoft releases Windows 1.0 operating system.

DOI requests and is denied title to Bldgs 1 & 2.
Prototype Digital Orthophoto Quadrangle (DOQ) production system developed in Menlo Park
Asian clam (Potamocorbula amurensis) arrives in SF Bay
Laser printers start to replace dot matrix and daisy wheel printers.
Space Shuttle Challenger explodes
Halley's comet returns.
Nuclear accident at Soviet Union's Chernobyl power station

GeoKids, the USGS cooperative Daycare Center established
Modernize old telephone system, move to Rolm Phones with voice mail. Eliminate pegboard-style switchboard in Bldg 1.
Prozac hits the market
National Science Foundation starts NSFNET; it will replace ARPANET.
Oliver North, Jr., testifies before Congress about secret Iran-Contra operations

~1400 people working in Menlo Park,
Open House and GeoHazards Conference attracts more than 8000
Controversial opening of mineral resource offices in Tucson, Spokane, Reno
Expected earthquake in Parkfield doesn’t happen
CDs now outsell vinyl records.
"Hacker" and "Worm" enter the Internet lexicon. First data crime reported.
Internet T1 backbone completed; soon proves inadequate for traffic surge.
George Bush elected president of U.S.

USGS vacates leased Bldg 4, and consolidates into existing government-owned space on campus
Rep. Tom Lantos holds Congressional hearing in Bldg. 3 to address USGS disciplinary action against Howard Wilshire
USGS Public Inquiries Office (PIO) and National Cartographic Information Center (NCIC) combine to form the Earth Science Information Center (ESIC) (aka map sales)
USGS survives Loma Prieta EQ (no structural damage, but very messy in Bldgs 7 & 8
Sonar mapping the Gulf of the Farallones, searching for radioactive waste barrels
Loma Prieta Earthquake M=6.9, Oct. 17, 1989, Loma Prieta (SF Bay Area)
Exxon Valdez runs aground and spills 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound, AK
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Tiananmen Square massacre in China

Public Lecture Series inaugurated, begins uninterrupted 14-year run, attracting an audience of 100 - 200 people each month
Tim Berners-Lee originates World Wide Web at CERN in Europe.
South Africa frees Nelson Mandela, imprisoned 27 1/2 years
Hubble Space Telescope launched
Cold War ends

USGS transfers title to Bldg 3 and all remaining land (12 acres) to GSA, in return for GSA pledging to bldg a new Bldg 15, for which we will not only pay part of its construction, but then we will rent it back from them when it’s finished.
~1200 people working in Menlo Park.
Open House attracts approx. 18,000 visitors
USGS begins construction of new Rock Processing Facility, calls it the (new) Bldg. 4. (USGS funded and managed construction)
Finish mapping US at 1:24,000 scale (7.5 minute Quads)
Full-scale DOQ production begins in Menlo Park
Pinatubo Prediction....
Pinatubo Volcano erupts in the Philippines
Internet browser developed (spawns World Wide Web)
Persian Gulf War
Internet made available for commercial use.
Soviet Union breaks up

Archaeological studies done prior to GeoKids building construction, Various artifacts found
Chinese mitten crab arrives in SF Bay
M=7.3, June 28, 1992, Landers, CA
Text-based browser opens World Wide Web for general usage.
Johnny Carson hosted NBC's "Tonight Show" for the last time after 30 years
Bill Clinton elected U.S. president

After surviving in trailers and other temporary homes, GeoKids moves into their new prefab building 13.
Rock processing labs move into new Bldg 4
GSA receives Congressional authorization to build Bldgs 15 & 16.
Bldg. 9A demolished for new parking lot
Mosaic, the first popular browser with a Graphical User Interface for the world wide web, distrinuted free. 2 million people using it after a year.
Global Positioning Satellite
Intel develops the Pentium chip.

~1200 people working in Menlo Park
Open House attracts more than 20,000 visitors
Rock Magnetics Laboratory (aka Tar-paper shack) (Building 9B, left over from Dibble Hospital) listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Studies of oil-like residues collected from Alaska shorelines reveal they didn’t all result from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, but instead are remains of a storage tank rupture caused by the 1964 earthquake
Northridge earthquake M=6.9, Jan. 17, 1994, Northridge, CA
After 25 years, U.S. government privatizes Internet management.
Banner ads appear on Internet websites.
Internet mass marketing brings "spamming" into the lexicon.
Newt Gingrich named House Speaker
Apartheid ends in South Africa.

Feb 17, Congressional Field hearing in Menlo Park re proposed elimination of USGS
~1000 employees in Menlo Park
Geologic Division Reduction in Force (RIF) and reorganization (158 laid off, 62 demoted or reassigned)
Paleontological reference collection moved to UC Berkeley
3-week furlough for federal employees in November
Kobe Earthquake M=6.7, Jan. 17, 1995, Kobe, Japan
Congressional “Contract with America” proposes to abolish USGS
Budget impasse shuts down federal Government for 3 weeks at end of fiscal year
O.J. Simpson trial
Timothy McVeigh's car bomb blows up Oklahoma City federal building

Buildings 15 & 16 (McKelvey & Paleomagnetics Buildings) finished and occupied. Bldg 15 has decorative brass leaves inlayed in hallway floors to commemorate huge heritage oak and bay trees removed for construction.
Bldgs. 5 & 6, and part of the Deer Creek Bldgs. were vacated.
“Temporary” Buildings 9B (aka the tar-paper shack), and 14 trailers (9D), were vacated, demolished, and paved over for a new parking lot.
BRD joins the USGS, but no staff stationed in Menlo Park
10-year USGS Strategic Plan developed
More than 100,000 World Wide Web sites, and growing fast.
America Online has 5,000,000 subscribers.
Ella Fitzgerald (1918–1996)
Bill Clinton & Al Gore re-elected

Major remodel/modernization of Bldg 3. (Employees in Casa Mills, Bldgs 5 & 6, and trailers as swing space.)
GSA begins condemnation process for Bldg 7 & 8 after disagreement with landlord over rent increase.
Remaining people from Deer Creek moved to main campus, Deer Creek lease expires.
~800 employees in Menlo Park
Open House attracts more than 20,000 visitors
New USGS Visual Identity created (new logo and motto)
Secretary of Interior, Bruce Babbitt proposes closure of Menlo Park Center
USGS scientist Hank Moore leads NASA science team for Sojourner Rover on Mars.
Cooperative agreement with Microsoft Corp. to deliver USGS DOQs through their Terraserver web site
Huge floods in California central valley
Dolly the sheep: first mammal cloned from an adult cell
America Online has 5,000,000 subscribers.
DVDs go on sale.
Streaming audio and video are available on the Web.
Tiger Woods breaks multiple records in Masters golf tournament
Hale-Bopp comet
Hong Kong returns to Chinese rule
Princess Diana dies
Mother Teresa dies

GSA and USGS reach 10-year rent cap agreement
Reoccupy Building 3 after GSA’s modernization
El Niño
100-year floods in Bay Area
News breaks of Clinton-Lewinsky affair.
Justice Department sues Microsoft for monopolistic practices.
Apple introduces the iMac computer.
Europeans agree on single currency, the euro
Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski, sentenced to four life terms
U.S. budget surplus largest in three decades
House impeaches President Clinton

vacate leased Bldgs. 7 & 8.
Building 3A converted from warehouse to office space to accommodate Earthquakes Hazards team
Bldg. 11 converted from wet laboratory space to Earthquake telemetry control center.
Bldg. 20 built (Central Services Bldg., housing a cafe
the credit union, telecommunications, and GSA)
new Western Regional Director appointed with duty station in Seattle, WA
M=7.4, August 3, 1999, Izmit, Turkey
Ten million Web servers throughout the world.
Joe DiMaggio dies at age 84
Students go on shooting spree in Columbine High School, killing 15, including themselves
NASA accidentally loses $125 million spacecraft as it orbits Mars

Earthquake Hazards Team dedicates Bldg3A as the Robert E. Wallace Earthquake Center.
~750 employees in Menlo Park
Open House attracts 15,000 visitors
Y2K computer glitch fizzles, world doesn’t end
The dot.com industry crashes.
NEAR spacecraft becomes first to orbit an asteroid
Wary investors cause stock plunge; beginning of the end of the Internet stock boom
Human genome deciphered

Bldg. 2 modernization completed by GSA
M=6.8, Earthquake, February 28, 2001, Nisqually (Seattle, WA)
George W. Bush is sworn in as 43rd president
September 11 terrorist attacks, Twin Towers, New York
Anthrax scare grips the nation
Average American adult watches 4 hours of TV daily.
Enron Corp., one of world's largest energy companies, files bankruptcy

Bldg 1 modernization complete
Vacate bldg 6: lease expires
BASIS + ,accounting system implemented
Magnitude 7.9 earthquake, Denali Fault, Alaska, Nov. 3
War in Afghanistan
Jimmy Carter awarded Nobel Peace Prize

Vacate bldg 5, GSA lease expires
Open House attracts 12,000 visitors
San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) pilot drill hole
Updated Bay Area earthquake probabilities report released
M=6.5, Earthquake ,December 22, 2003, San Simeon, CA (2 deaths)
Competitive sourcing rears its head in all federal Civil Service jobs
War with Iraq
Average home price in Menlo Park $764,919.
median annual income in Menlo Park $100,000.
Space shuttle Columbia explodes, killing all 7 astronauts
White House announces huge deficits expected to top $200 billion

125th anniversary of USGS
50th anniversary in Menlo Park (600 employees in Menlo Park)
USGS topo maps cost $6.50
USGS scientist Mike Carr leads NASA science Team for Spirit Rover on Mars
Spirit Rover lands on Mars: sends back “postcards,” black-and-white and color images of the planet.
Second rover, Opportunity, lands on Mars

Highlights of USGS history in Menlo Park —a timeline, 1954 - 2004

Color key to items in timeline:

Highlights of USGS history in Menlo Park —a timeline,
1954 - 2004