The jacuzzi. The dog park. The polygraph machine. Single-family zoning. The term “Asian American.” Indigenous Peoples’ Day. And much, much more.
by Zac Farber Sept. 15, 2026 (Berkeleyside.org)
Berkeley is famous for being a hotbed of innovative ideas and the sort of way-out-there utopian schemes that, every once in a while, change the world.
READ MORE
Our big list of famous Berkeley people
From J. Robert Oppenheimer to Chiura Obata. Alice Waters to Alice Walker. Rita Moreno to the Unabomber. Athletes, activists, architects, artists. Here’s our roundup of over 150 major figures from the city’s past and present.
You likely won’t be shocked by the protest-era social movements that are included in this list of the city’s famous firsts, innovations and inventions. But Berkeley’s history of groundbreaking thinking is not limited to any one time period. From wetsuits to the canned fruit cocktail, a surprising array of phenomena trace their origins to our fair city.
This list is not meant to be comprehensive, and in some cases, of course, the concept of “first” is a bit squishy and up for debate. But the list is intended as an entry point into the rich history of Berkeley.
If there’s another famous first you think we missed, please email editors@berkeleyside.org.
Invented (more or less) in Berkeley
- The Free Speech Movement.
- The farm-to-table dining movement.
- The cyclotron and the nuclear age.
- The sanctuary city movement.
- Curb cuts in sidewalks for wheelchairs.
- The disability rights movement.
- The term “Asian American.”
- Ethnic studies.
- The jacuzzi.
- The dog park.
- Curbside recycling.
- Peet’s Coffee, where Starbucks’ founders learned their craft.
- Clif Bar and PowerBar.
- Noah’s Bagels.
- The canned fruit cocktail.
- The polygraph machine.
- Modern policing (first police officers on bikes, first police officers on motorcycles, first police officers in patrol cars, first radio communications between police officers, first blood and fiber analysis for crime solving, first police school on laws of evidence).
- Single-family zoning.
- Voluntarily integrating schools.
- Indigenous Peoples Day.
- Bisexual Pride Day.
- Domestic partnership benefits for same-sex couples.
- Students for Justice in Palestine.
- Competitive high school mountain biking.
- CRISPR, allowing scientists to rewrite DNA.
- The test to detect cancer-causing chemicals.
- The lawnmower grass-catching pan.
- Taxing soda.
- Banning styrofoam, smoking in restaurants, disposable plastic foodware in restaurants, natural gas in new buildings, junk food at checkout aisles, and livestock farming.
- The coin-operated newspaper vending machine.
- Bullwinkle (moose friend of Rocky).
- The website Hot or Not.
- The Sims.
- The AT-AT Imperial Walker from the original “Star Wars” movies.
- Listener-supported radio.
- Vitamin E.
- Wetsuits.
Related stories
How Berkeley started the modern sanctuary movement
February 23, 2025
Jacuzzi brothers’ whirlpool invention bubbled up from their Berkeley machine shop in early 1900s
September 4, 2023
Berkeley’s Center for Independent Living, which launched the disability rights movement, turns 50
October 24, 2022
…We rely on your support
We know that most readers don’t get to the end of the article. But you did! To support our in-depth, rock-solid reporting, please consider making a donation to our nonprofit newsroom today. We rely on our readers — particularly the ones who read the whole story!