On November 12, 1602, the first Christian religious service of record in Alta California was conducted by Friar Antonio de la Ascensión, a member of Vizcaíno's expedition, to celebrate the feast day of San Diego. Arriving on his flagship San Diego, Vizcaíno surveyed the harbor and what are now Mission Bay and Point Loma and named the area for the Catholic Saint Didacus, a Spaniard more commonly known as San Diego de Alcalá. In November 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno was sent to map the California coast. Sailing his flagship San Salvador from Navidad, New Spain, Cabrillo claimed the bay for the Spanish Empire in 1542, and named the site "San Miguel". The first European to visit the region was explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, sailing under the flag of Castile but possibly born in Portugal. San Diego's namesake is the 15th-century Spanish saint Didacus of Alcalá. The city's primary airport, San Diego International Airport, is the busiest single- runway airport in the world. The primary border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, the San Ysidro Port of Entry, is the busiest international land border crossing in the world outside of Asia ( fourth-busiest overall). The city is the economic center of the San Diego–Tijuana conurbation, the second most populous transborder metropolitan area in the western hemisphere (after Detroit–Windsor), home to an estimated 4,922,723 people as of 2012. San Diego's main economic engines are military and defense-related activities, tourism, international trade, research, and manufacturing. California became part of the United States in 1848 following the Mexican–American War and was admitted to the union as a state in 1850. In 1821, San Diego became part of the newly declared Mexican Empire, which reformed as the First Mexican Republic two years later. The Presidio and Mission San Diego de Alcalá, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area for Spain, forming the basis for the settlement of Alta California 200 years later. Historically home to the Kumeyaay people, San Diego is frequently referred to as the "Birthplace of California", as it was the first site visited and settled by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. The city is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches and parks, long association with the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center. The city is the county seat of San Diego County, the fifth most populous county in the United States, with 3,338,330 estimated residents as of 2019. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, San Diego is the eighth most populous city in the United States and second most populous in California (after Los Angeles). state of California on the coast of the Pacific Ocean and immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. San Diego ( / ˌ s æ n d i ˈ eɪ ɡ oʊ/ SAN dee- AY-goh, Spanish: Spanish for ' Saint Didacus') is a major city in the U.S. Only 1.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean, RUNWAY is the social hub of Playa Vista with its state-of-the-art cinema, unique restaurants and bars, beauty and fitness venues retail shops and everyday conveniences such as grocery and drug stores, banks, coffee cafes.and now the cutest little candle shop you've ever seen! And Hughes’ private runway has new life as RUNWAY, Playa Vista’s lively central district. RUNWAY at Playa Vista is the centerpiece of Playa Vista, the first new community in West Los Angeles in 50 years and wildly popular today as a place to live and work. Once known as the land where Howard Hughes built his aerospace empire, Playa Vista is now the land of tech empires - Facebook, YouTube, Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Belkin to name a few. We're so excited to announce our newest retail location at RUNWAY in Playa Vista, CA is now open just in time for the holidays! Book a Seat at The Candle Bar (Open Every Day īook a Candle Making Class (Limited Dates/Times)