By: History.com Editors

2006

649-day tree sit-in at the University of California, Berkeley begins

History.com Editors

Published: October 26, 2023

Last Updated: March 02, 2025

On December 2, 2006, four students at the University of California, Berkeley, inhabit the treetops of an oak grove on campus to protest the university’s plans to demolish over an acre of the forest to build a new athletic center, kicking off an epic 21-month standoff. It was one of the longest tree sit-ins in history.

Tree sit-ins are a form of civil disobedience in which protestors physically occupy a tree to prevent it from being cut down, often for long periods of time. At its peak, the Berkeley protest saw over a dozen people living on the limbs of the grove’s oak and redwood trees; volunteers and others brought them food, water and supplies.

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In addition to the unbudging tree-sitters, the university faced pushback from the Sierra Club and the California Native Plant Society, and was sued by three parties, including the Berkeley City Council, over the project’s proximity to the dangerous Hayward Fault. According to one conservation analyst, the grove provided sustenance for more than 300 animal species, including deer, squirrels, woodpeckers and moths.

A 2007 injunction by an Alameda County judge paused plans to cut down the grove, but, by July 2008, the court ruled in the university’s favor, prompting campus police to begin arresting protestors and clean out their redwood encampments. While the case was appealed, a state appeals court in September 2008 refused to block construction, allowing the university to chop down the entire grove in the following three days. Within a week, the remaining four tree-sitters were coaxed into climbing down from one of the last two redwood trees still standing by the stadium, and were subsequently arrested.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on December 2nd

1776

George Washington arrives at the banks of the Delaware

As related in a letter dated the following day, General George Washington writes to Congress from his headquarters in Trenton, New Jersey, to report that he had transported much of the Continental Army’s stores and baggage across the Delaware River to Pennsylvania on December 2, 1776. His famous crossing of the Delaware would come less than one month later.

1777

Philadelphia midwife overhears British plans to attack Washington’s army

Legend has it that on the night of December 2, 1777, Philadelphia housewife and midwife Lydia Darragh single-handedly saves the lives of General George Washington and his Continental Army when she overhears the British planning a surprise attack on Washington’s army for the following day.

1804

Napoleon crowned emperor

In Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned Napoleon I, the first Frenchman to hold the title of emperor in a thousand years. Pope Pius VII handed Napoleon the crown that the 35-year-old conqueror of Europe placed on his own head.

The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon by Jacques Louis David

1823

Monroe Doctrine declared

During his annual address to Congress, President James Monroe proclaims a new U.S. foreign policy initiative that becomes known as the “Monroe Doctrine.” Primarily the work of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the Monroe Doctrine forbade European interference in the American hemisphere but also asserted U.S. neutrality in regard to future European conflicts.

1859

Abolitionist John Brown is hanged

Militant abolitionist John Brown is executed on charges of treason, murder and insurrection on December 2, 1859.

1942

Physicist Enrico Fermi produces the first nuclear chain reaction

Enrico Fermi, the Italian-born Nobel Prize-winning physicist, directs and controls the first nuclear chain reaction in his laboratory beneath the bleachers of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago, ushering in the nuclear age. Upon successful completion of the experiment, a coded message was transmitted to President Roosevelt: “The Italian navigator has landed in the new world.”

1954

Joseph McCarthy condemned by Senate

The U.S. Senate votes 65 to 22 to condemn Senator Joseph R. McCarthy for conduct unbecoming of a senator. The condemnation, which was equivalent to a censure, related to McCarthy’s controversial investigation of suspected communists in the U.S. government, military and civilian society.

1961

Fidel Castro declares himself a Marxist-Leninist

Following a year of severely strained relations between the United States and Cuba, Cuban leader Fidel Castro openly declares that he is a Marxist-Leninist. The announcement sealed the bitter Cold War animosity between the two nations.

1970

Environmental Protection Agency opens

On December 2, 1970, a new federal agency opens its doors. Created in response to the dawning realization that human activity can have major effects on the planet, the Environmental Protection Agency heralded a new age of government action on behalf of the environment.

1971

The United Arab Emirates is formed

On December 2, 1971, the United Arab Emirates is formed. The union of six small Gulf kingdoms—to which a seventh was soon added—created a small state with an outsized role in the global economy.

1972

The Temptations earn their final #1 hit with “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”

On December 2, 1972, the Temptations earn the last of their four chart-topping hits when “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone” reaches #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1991

William Kennedy Smith’s rape trial begins

Opening testimony takes place in the highly publicized rape trial of William Kennedy Smith, a nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of Jean Kennedy Smith, the president’s sister and a former ambassador to Ireland. Smith, then a 30-year-old medical student at Georgetown University, was accused of sexually assaulting a 29-year-old Florida woman in the early hours of March 30, 1991, at the Kennedy family’s Palm Beach compound.

1997

“Good Will Hunting” premieres

On December 2, 1997, Good Will Hunting, a movie that will earn childhood friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damon a Best Screenplay Oscar and propel them to Hollywood stardom, premieres in Los Angeles.

1999

Researchers unravel the genetic code of an entire human chromosome

On December 2, 1999, in the journal Nature, scientists announce that they have sequenced the DNA of a human chromosome for the first time. The genetic sequence of chromosome 22 is one of the first major findings of the Human Genome Project, an international scientific effort to decode the instructions for life hidden in our cells.

2001

Enron files for bankruptcy

On December 2, 2001, the Enron Corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a New York court, sparking one of the largest corporate scandals in U.S. history.

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Citation Information

Article title
649-day tree sit-in at the University of California, Berkeley begins
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 22, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
March 02, 2025
Original Published Date
October 26, 2023

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