Welcome to the Portal:California. Such a lovely place.
California
State of California
Map of the United States with California highlighted
California is a state in the Western United States , lying on the American Pacific Coast . It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and a international border with the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. With 39 million residents across an area of 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2 ), it is the most populous U.S. state, the third-largest by area, and most populated subnational entity in North America . The Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas are the nation's second- and fifth-most populous urban regions , with 19 million and 10 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is the state's most populous city and the nation's second-most , after New York . California's capital , Sacramento , is located in the Central Valley .
Prior to European colonization , California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America . European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization by the Spanish Empire . The area became a part of Mexico in 1821, following its successful war for independence , but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War . The California Gold Rush started in 1848 and led to social and demographic changes, including depopulation of indigenous peoples in the California genocide . The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state in 1850 , as a free state , following the Compromise of 1850 .
California's economy is the largest of any US state, with a $3.6 trillion gross state product . It is the largest sub-national economy in the world. California's agricultural industry has the highest output of any U.S. state, and is led by its dairy , almonds , and grapes . With the busiest port in the country (Los Angeles ), California plays a pivotal role in the global supply chain, hauling in about 40% of goods imported to the US. 84% of residents 25 or older hold a high school degree , the lowest high school education rate of all 50 states . Despite a continuing exodus of businesses from Downtown San Francisco and Downtown Los Angeles , California retains one of the largest number of Fortune 500 companies. (Full article... )
In-N-Out Burgers , doing business as In-N-Out Burger , is an American regional chain of fast food restaurants with locations primarily in California and to a lesser extent the Southwest from Oregon to Texas. It was founded in Baldwin Park, California , in 1948 by Harry (1913–1976) and Esther Snyder (1920–2006). The chain is headquartered in Irvine, California , and has expanded outside Southern California into the rest of California, as well as into Arizona , Nevada , Utah , Texas , Oregon , Colorado , and Idaho , and is planning expansions into New Mexico and Tennessee . The current owner is Lynsi Snyder , the Snyders' only grandchild.
As the chain has expanded, it has opened several distribution centers in addition to its original Baldwin Park location. The new facilities, located in Lathrop, California ; Phoenix, Arizona ; Draper, Utah ; Dallas, Texas ; and Colorado Springs, Colorado will provide for potential future expansion into other parts of the country. (Full article... )
The following are images from various California-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 2 California's first State Capitol building in
San Jose , which served as the capital of California 1850–51. (from
History of California )
Image 4 The 1835
Manifiesto a la República Mejicana , by
José Figueroa , was the first book published in California (from
Culture of California )
Image 6 Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo , established in 1770, was the headquarters of the
Californian mission system from 1797 until 1833. (from
History of California )
Image 7 The American capture of
San Diego by the
USS Cyane in 1846 (from
History of California )
Image 9 "Independent Gold Hunter on His Way to California", c. 1850 (from
History of California )
Image 10 Junípero Serra conducting the first
mass in
Monterey Bay in 1770. (from
History of California )
Image 11 The Spanish founded
Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776, the third to be established of the
Californian missions . (from
History of California )
Image 12 Bilingual English-Spanish sign in the
Colorado Desert of
Southern California . (from
Culture of California )
Image 13 General
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo reviewing his troops in
Sonoma in 1846. (from
History of California )
Image 15 Portrait of a
Californio in traditional
vaquero clothing. Californios benefitted immensely by the establishment of the
ranchos of California , following the
Mexican secularization act of 1833 . (from
History of California )
Image 17 Mission Santa Barbara , founded in 1786, was the first mission to be established by
Fermín de Lasuén . (from
History of California )
Image 18 A Southern Pacific Train at
Arcade Depot , Los Angeles, 1891 (from
History of California )
Image 20 The railway station in
Sacramento in 1874. (from
History of California )
Image 22 Map of Spain's
Manila galleon trade routes, showing routes between the
Spanish East Indies and
Acapulco passing along the
coast of California . (from
History of California )
Image 23 Angustias de la Guerra played a crucial role in defending
women's property rights during the drafting of the Constitution of California. (from
History of California )
Image 24 Joaquín Murrieta , called the "
Robin Hood of California", was a notorious
outlaw during the
California Gold Rush . He served as inspiration for
Zorro , the famed Californian bandit-hero. (from
History of California )
Image 25 Depiction of the
Donner Party heading west on the
California Trail . (from
History of California )
Image 28 The 1562 map of the Americas, created by Spanish cartographer
Diego Gutiérrez , which applied
the name California for the first time. (from
History of California )
Image 29 The
Treaty of Cahuenga , signed at the
Campo de Cahuenga in 1847 by Californio general
Andrés Pico and American general
John C. Frémont , proclaimed a ceasefire under an American victory. The
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , signed a year later in 1848, officially ended the
Mexican–American War and formally ceded
Alta California to the United States. (from
History of California )
Image 32 Mission San Gabriel Arcángel , founded in 1771 by padres Pedro Benito Cambón and Ángel de la Somera. (from
History of California )
Image 34 The
University of California, Berkeley is the flagship school of the University of California system. (from
Culture of California )
Image 35 Map of the route taken by the
Anza Expedition of 1775–76, from the
Presidio of Tubac to
San Francisco Bay . (from
History of California )
Image 37 Mission San Francisco Solano , founded in 1823 by order of Governor
Luis Antonio Argüello , was the last Californian mission established. (from
History of California )
Image 38 California was often depicted as an island , due to the
Baja California peninsula , from the 16th to the 18th centuries, such as in this 1650 map by cartographer
Johannes Vingboons . (from
History of California )
Image 40 Forces raising the U.S. flag over the
Monterey Customhouse following their victory at the
Battle of Monterey (from
History of California )
Image 41 Founded by
Vicente Francisco de Sarría in 1817,
Mission San Rafael Arcángel , was the last mission founded during the Spanish period. (from
History of California )
Image 42 Depiction of the revolt of the
Mission Indians against padre
Luis Jayme at
Mission San Diego de Alcalá in 1775. (from
History of California )
Image 43 Advertisement for sailing to California, c. 1850. (from
History of California )
Image 45 Between 1846 and 1873, U.S. government agents waged an extermination campaign against
Indigenous Californians , known as the
California genocide , resulting in as many as 100,000 deaths. (from
History of California )
Image 48 In-N-Out burgers (from
Culture of California )
Image 49 Portrait of an "
assimilated "
Maidu man in
Sacramento , 1867. (from
History of California )
Image 55 San Francisco harbor,
c. 1850 –51. (from
History of California )
Image 56 Francis Drake 's 1579 landing in "
New Albion " (modern-day
Point Reyes ); engraving by
Theodor De Bry , 1590. (from
History of California )
Image 58 Map of the
Butterfield Overland Mail routes through California, c. 1858. (from
History of California )
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see, But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot If you ain't got the do re mi
Image 3 Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024) was an American
football player, actor, and media personality who played in the
National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the
Buffalo Bills . Simpson is regarded as one of the greatest
running backs of all time, but his professional success was overshadowed by
his trial and controversial acquittal for the murders of his former wife
Nicole Brown and her friend
Ron Goldman in 1994.
Simpson played
college football for the
USC Trojans , where he won the
Heisman Trophy as a senior, and was selected
first overall by the Bills in the
1969 NFL/AFL draft . During his nine seasons with the Bills, he received five consecutive
Pro Bowl and first-team
All-Pro selections from 1972 to 1976. He also led the league in
rushing yards four times, in rushing
touchdowns twice, and in points scored in 1975. Simpson became the first NFL player to rush for more than
2,000 yards in a season, earning him
NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP), and is the only NFL player to do so in a 14-game
regular season . He holds the record for the single-season yards-per-game average at 143.1. After retiring with the
San Francisco 49ers in 1979, he acted in film and television, became a
sportscaster , and was a spokesman for a wide variety of products and companies, notably
Hertz . He was inducted to the
College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and the
Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. (
Full article... )
Image 4 Linus Carl Pauling FRS (
PAW -ling; February 28, 1901 – August 19, 1994) was an American
chemist ,
biochemist ,
chemical engineer ,
peace activist , author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific topics.
New Scientist called him one of the 20 greatest scientists of all time. For his scientific work, Pauling was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954. For his peace activism, he was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1962. He is one of five people to have
won more than one Nobel Prize (the others being
Marie Curie ,
John Bardeen ,
Frederick Sanger , and
Karl Barry Sharpless ). Of these, he is the only person to have been awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes, and one of two people to be awarded Nobel Prizes in different fields, the other being
Marie Curie .
Pauling was one of the founders of the fields of
quantum chemistry and
molecular biology . His contributions to the theory of the chemical bond include the concept of
orbital hybridisation and the first accurate scale of
electronegativities of the elements. Pauling also worked on the structures of biological molecules, and showed the importance of the
alpha helix and
beta sheet in
protein secondary structure . Pauling's approach combined methods and results from
X-ray crystallography ,
molecular model building, and quantum chemistry. His discoveries inspired the work of
Rosalind Franklin ,
James Watson ,
Francis Crick , and
Maurice Wilkins on the structure of DNA, which in turn made it possible for geneticists to crack the DNA code of all organisms. (
Full article... )
Image 5 John Whiteside Parsons (born
Marvel Whiteside Parsons ; October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952) was an American
rocket engineer ,
chemist , and
Thelemite occultist . Associated with the
California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Parsons was one of the principal founders of both the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the
Aerojet Engineering Corporation . He invented the first
rocket engine to use a
castable ,
composite rocket propellant , and pioneered the advancement of both
liquid-fuel and
solid-fuel rockets.
Born in Los Angeles, Parsons was raised by a wealthy family on
Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena, California. Inspired by
science fiction literature , he developed an interest in rocketry in his childhood and in 1928 began
amateur rocket experiments with school friend
Edward Forman . He dropped out of
Pasadena Junior College and
Stanford University due to financial difficulties during the
Great Depression , and in 1934 he united with Forman and graduate
Frank Malina to form the Caltech-affiliated
Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory (GALCIT) Rocket Research Group, supported by GALCIT chairman
Theodore von Kármán . In 1939 the GALCIT Group gained funding from the
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to work on
Jet-Assisted Take Off (JATO) for the U.S. military. After the U.S. entered World War II, they founded Aerojet in 1942 to develop and sell JATO technology; the GALCIT Group became JPL in 1943. (
Full article... )
Image 6 Marilyn Monroe (; born
Norma Jeane Mortenson ; June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "
blonde bombshell " characters, she became one of the most popular
sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as well as an emblem of the era's
sexual revolution . She was a top-billed actress for a decade, and her films grossed $200 million (equivalent to $2 billion in 2023) by the time of
her death in 1962. Long after her death, Monroe remains a
pop culture icon . In 1999, the
American Film Institute ranked her as
the sixth-greatest female screen legend from the Golden Age of Hollywood .
Born and raised in Los Angeles County, Monroe spent most of her childhood in a total of twelve foster homes and an orphanage before marrying
James Dougherty at age sixteen. She was working in a factory during
World War II when she met a photographer from the
First Motion Picture Unit and began a successful
pin-up modeling career, which led to short-lived film contracts with
20th Century Fox and
Columbia Pictures . After a series of minor film roles, she signed a new contract with Fox in late 1950. Over the next two years, she became a popular actress with roles in several comedies, including
As Young as You Feel and
Monkey Business , and in the dramas
Clash by Night and
Don't Bother to Knock . Monroe faced a scandal when it was revealed that she had posed for nude photographs prior to becoming a star, but the story did not damage her career and instead resulted in increased interest in her films. (
Full article... )
Image 8 Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (;
Italian: [diˈkaːprjo] ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for
his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of
numerous accolades , including an
Academy Award , a
British Academy Film Award , and three
Golden Globe Awards . As of 2019,
[update] his films have grossed over $7.2 billion worldwide, and he has been placed eight times in annual rankings of
the world's highest-paid actors .
Born in Los Angeles, DiCaprio began his career in the late 1980s by appearing in television commercials. In the early 1990s, he had recurring roles in various television shows, such as the sitcom
Parenthood , and had his first major film part as author
Tobias Wolff in
This Boy's Life (1993). He received critical acclaim and his first
Academy Award and
Golden Globe Award nominations for his performance as a developmentally disabled boy in
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). DiCaprio achieved international stardom with the
star-crossed romances
Romeo + Juliet (1996) and
Titanic (1997). After the latter became the
highest-grossing film in the world at the time, he reduced his workload for a few years. In an attempt to shed his image of a romantic hero, DiCaprio sought roles in other genres, including the 2002 crime dramas
Catch Me If You Can and
Gangs of New York ; the latter marked the first of his
many successful collaborations with director
Martin Scorsese . (
Full article... )
Image 9 Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers (born October 1, 1989), known professionally as
Brie Larson , is an American actress. Known for her supporting roles in comedies as a teenager, she has since expanded to leading roles in
independent films and
blockbusters . She has received
various accolades , including an
Academy Award , a
Golden Globe Award , and a
Primetime Emmy Award .
Time magazine named her one of the
100 most influential people in the world in 2019.
At age six, Larson was the youngest student admitted to a training program at the
American Conservatory Theater , and she began her acting career in 1998 with a
comedy sketch on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno . She appeared as a regular in the 2001 sitcom
Raising Dad and briefly dabbled with a music career, releasing the album
Finally Out of P.E. in 2005. She subsequently had supporting roles in the comedy films
Hoot (2006),
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), and
21 Jump Street (2012), and appeared as a sardonic teenager in the television series
United States of Tara (2009–2011). (
Full article... )
Image 11 Roy Edward Disney KCSG (January 10, 1930 – December 16, 2009) was an American businessman. He was the longtime senior executive for
the Walt Disney Company , which was founded by his uncle,
Walt Disney , and his father,
Roy O. Disney . At the time of his death, he held more than 16 million shares (about 1% of the company), and served as a consultant for the company, as well as director emeritus for the board of directors. During his tenure, he organized ousting of the company's top two executives:
Ron W. Miller in 1984 and
Michael Eisner in 2005.
As the last member of the
Disney family to be actively involved in the company, Disney was often compared to his uncle and to his father. In 2006,
Forbes magazine estimated his personal fortune at $1.2 billion. (
Full article... )
Image 12 Wally Bill Hedrick (1928 – December 17, 2003) was a seminal American
artist in the 1950s California counterculture, gallerist, and educator who came to prominence in the early 1960s. Hedrick's contributions to art include pioneering artworks in psychedelic light art, mechanical kinetic sculpture, junk/assemblage sculpture, Pop Art, and (California) Funk Art. Later in his life, he was a recognized forerunner in Happenings, Conceptual Art,
Bad Painting , Neo-Expressionism, and image appropriation. Hedrick was also a key figure in the first important public manifestation of the
Beat Generation when he helped to organize the
Six Gallery Reading , and created the first artistic denunciation of American foreign policy in Vietnam. Wally Hedrick was known as an “idea artist” long before the label “conceptual art” entered the art world, and experimented with innovative use of language in art, at times resorting to puns. (
Full article... )
Image 13 Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as the 30th
governor of California from 1943 to 1953 and as the 14th
Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The
Warren Court presided over a major shift in American
constitutional jurisprudence , which has been recognized by many as a "
Constitutional Revolution " in the
liberal direction, with Warren writing the majority opinions in landmark cases such as
Brown v. Board of Education (1954),
Reynolds v. Sims (1964),
Miranda v. Arizona (1966), and
Loving v. Virginia (1967). Warren also led the
Warren Commission , a
presidential commission that investigated the 1963
assassination of President John F. Kennedy . He served as
Governor of California from 1943 to 1953, and is the last chief justice to have served in an elected office before nomination to the Supreme Court. Warren is generally considered to be one of the most influential Supreme Court justices and political leaders in the
history of the United States .
Warren was born in 1891 in
Los Angeles and was raised in
Bakersfield, California . After graduating from the
University of California, Berkeley, School of Law , he began a legal career in
Oakland . He was hired as a deputy district attorney for
Alameda County in 1920 and was appointed district attorney in 1925. He emerged as a leader of the state
Republican Party and won election as the
Attorney General of California in 1938. In that position he supported, and was a firm proponent of the
forced removal and internment of over 100,000
Japanese Americans during
World War II . In the
1942 California gubernatorial election , Warren defeated incumbent
Democratic governor
Culbert Olson . As the 30th Governor of California, Warren presided over a period of major growth—for the state as well as the nation. Serving from 1943 to 1953, Warren is the only governor of California to be elected for three consecutive terms. (
Full article... )
Image 14 Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as
Dr. Dre , is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and
CEO of
Aftermath Entertainment and
Beats Electronics , and co-founded and was the president of
Death Row Records . Dre began his career as a member of the
World Class Wreckin' Cru in 1984, and later found fame with the
gangsta rap group
N.W.A . The group popularized explicit lyrics in
hip hop to detail the violence of street life. During the early 1990s, Dre was credited as a key figure in the crafting and popularization of
West Coast G-funk , a subgenre of hip hop characterized by a
synthesizer foundation and slow, heavy production.
Released as Death Row's first major project, Dr. Dre's solo debut studio album,
The Chronic (1992) made him one of the best-selling American music artists of 1993. It earned him a
Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance with the single "
Let Me Ride ", as well as several accolades for the single "
Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang " (featuring Snoop Dogg). That year, he produced Death Row labelmate
Snoop Doggy Dogg 's debut album
Doggystyle , and mentored producers such as his stepbrother
Warren G (leading to the multi-platinum debut
Regulate... G Funk Era in 1994) and Snoop Dogg's cousin
Daz Dillinger (leading to the double-platinum debut
Dogg Food by
Tha Dogg Pound in 1995), as he would mentor other producers including
Mel-Man and
Scott Storch . In 1996, Dre left Death Row Records to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment; his compilation album,
Dr. Dre Presents: The Aftermath (1996) and second studio album,
2001 (1999) followed thereafter. (
Full article... )
Barker Dam
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Nicknames: The Golden State
Capital: Sacramento
Total area: 163,696 mi2
Land: 156,002 mi2
Water: 7,694 mi2
Highest elevation: 14,505 ft (Mount Whitney )
Population 39,250,017 (2016 est)
Admission to the Union: September 9, 1850 (31st )
State symbols:
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