Welcome to the Portal:California. Such a lovely place.
California
State of California
Map of the United States with California highlighted
California ( KAL -ih-FORN -yə, -FOR -nee-ə ) 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 the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. With over 38.9 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2 ), it is the most populous U.S. state, the third-largest U.S. state by area, and the most populated subnational entity in North America .
The Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas in California are the nation's second- and fifth-most populous urban regions respectively. Greater Los Angeles has over 18.7 million residents and the San Francisco Bay Area has over 9.6 million residents. Los Angeles is the state's most populous city and the nation's second-most populous city , after New York City . San Francisco is the second-most densely populated major city in the country, after New York City. Los Angeles County is the country's most populous county , and San Bernardino County is the nation's largest county by area . Sacramento is the state's capital city .
Prior to European colonization , California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America , and the indigenous peoples of California constituted the highest Native American population density north of what is now Mexico . European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization of California by the Spanish Empire . In 1804, it was included in Alta California province within the Viceroyalty of New Spain . 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 dramatic social and demographic changes, including the depopulation of indigenous peoples in the California genocide . The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850 , as a free state , following the Compromise of 1850 . (Full article... )
The Wilshire frontage of the Ebell of Los Angeles
The
Ebell of Los Angeles is a women's club housed in a complex in the
Mid-City section of
Los Angeles that includes a clubhouse building and the renowned 1,270-seat Wilshire Ebell Theatre. The complex has been owned and operated since 1927 by the Ebell of Los Angeles women's club, which was formed in Los Angeles in 1894. Since 1927, the Wilshire Ebell Theatre has hosted musical performances and lectures by world leaders and top artists. Among other events, the Ebell was the site of aviator
Amelia Earhart 's last public appearance before attempting the 1937 around-the-world flight during which she disappeared, and the place where
Judy Garland was discovered while performing as Baby Frances Gumm in the 1930s.
Ebell of Los Angeles was formed as a women's club in 1894, based on the principles and teachings of Adrian Ebell , a pioneer in women's education and organizing women's societies in the late 19th century. The minutes of the first meeting of Ebell of Los Angeles identify its purpose "to interest women in the study of all branches of literature, art and science and the advancement of women in every branch of culture." The club adopted as its motto, "I will find a way or make one -- I serve." (Full article... )
The following are images from various California-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 2 Francis Drake 's 1579 landing in "
New Albion " (modern-day
Point Reyes ); engraving by
Theodor De Bry , 1590. (from
History of California )
Image 3 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 4 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 5 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 6 Forces raising the U.S. flag over the
Monterey Customhouse following their victory at the
Battle of Monterey (from
History of California )
Image 10 "Independent Gold Hunter on His Way to California", c. 1850 (from
History of California )
Image 11 Mission Santa Barbara , founded in 1786, was the first mission to be established by
Fermín de Lasuén . (from
History of California )
Image 13 The
University of California, Berkeley is the flagship school of the University of California system. (from
Culture of California )
Image 14 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 19 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 20 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 22 Mission San Gabriel Arcángel , founded in 1771 by padres Pedro Benito Cambón and Ángel de la Somera. (from
History of California )
Image 23 The American capture of
San Diego by the
USS Cyane in 1846 (from
History of California )
Image 25 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 27 In-N-Out burgers (from
Culture of California )
Image 28 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 29 Portrait of an "
assimilated "
Maidu man in
Sacramento , 1867. (from
History of California )
Image 30 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 31 California's first State Capitol building in
San Jose , which served as the capital of California 1850–51. (from
History of California )
Image 33 Depiction of the
Donner Party heading west on the
California Trail . (from
History of California )
Image 34 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 38 San Francisco harbor,
c. 1850 –51. (from
History of California )
Image 39 Advertisement for sailing to California, c. 1850. (from
History of California )
Image 42 Map of the
Butterfield Overland Mail routes through California, c. 1858. (from
History of California )
Image 43 The Spanish founded
Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776, the third to be established of the
Californian missions . (from
History of California )
Image 44 The 1835
Manifiesto a la República Mejicana , by
José Figueroa , was the first book published in California (from
Culture of California )
Image 46 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 47 General
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo reviewing his troops in
Sonoma in 1846. (from
History of California )
Image 49 The railway station in
Sacramento in 1874. (from
History of California )
Image 52 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 54 A Southern Pacific Train at
Arcade Depot , Los Angeles, 1891 (from
History of California )
Image 56 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 57 Junípero Serra conducting the first
mass in
Monterey Bay in 1770. (from
History of California )
They say California's the big burrito; Texas is a big taco right now. We want to follow that through. Florida is a big tamale.
Image 2 Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th
president of the United States , serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the
Republican Party , he previously served as a
representative and
senator from
California and as the 36th
vice president from 1953 to 1961 under President
Dwight D. Eisenhower .
His presidency saw the reduction of U.S. involvement in the
Vietnam War ,
détente with the
Soviet Union and
China , the
Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the establishment of the
Environmental Protection Agency and
Occupational Safety and Health Administration . Nixon's second term ended early when he became the only U.S. president to
resign from office, as a result of the
Watergate scandal .
Nixon was born into a poor family of
Quakers in a small town in
Southern California . He graduated from
Duke Law School in 1937, practiced law in California, and then moved with his wife
Pat to
Washington, D.C. , in 1942 to work for the
federal government . After serving active duty in the
Naval Reserve during
World War II , he was elected to the
House of Representatives in
1946 . His work on the
Alger Hiss case established his reputation as a leading
anti-communist , which elevated him to national prominence. In
1950 , he was elected to the
Senate . Nixon was the running mate of Eisenhower, the Republican Party's presidential nominee in the
1952 election , and served for eight years as vice president. He narrowly lost the
1960 presidential election to the
Democratic Party nominee
John F. Kennedy ; after his loss in the
1962 race for governor of California, he announced his retirement from political life. However, in
1968 , he made another run for the presidency and defeated the Democratic incumbent vice president
Hubert Humphrey . (
Full article... )
Image 3 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 4 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 5 J. Robert Oppenheimer (born
Julius Robert Oppenheimer ;
OP -ən-hy-mər; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American
theoretical physicist . He was director of the
Manhattan Project 's
Los Alamos Laboratory during
World War II and is often called the "father of the
atomic bomb ".
Born in New York City, Oppenheimer earned a
bachelor of arts degree in chemistry from
Harvard University in 1925 and a
doctorate in physics from the
University of Göttingen in Germany in 1927, where he studied under
Max Born . After research at other institutions, he joined the physics department at the
University of California, Berkeley , where he became a full professor in 1936. He made significant contributions to theoretical physics, including achievements in
quantum mechanics and
nuclear physics such as the
Born–Oppenheimer approximation for molecular
wave functions , work on the theory of
electrons and
positrons , the
Oppenheimer–Phillips process in
nuclear fusion , and early work on
quantum tunneling . With his students, he also made contributions to the theory of
neutron stars and
black holes ,
quantum field theory , and the interactions of
cosmic rays . (
Full article... )
Image 6 Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024) was an American
football player and actor who played in the
National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the
Buffalo Bills . Regarded as one of the greatest
running backs of all time, 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. He 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. (
Full article... )
Image 7 Randy Shilts (August 8, 1951 – February 17, 1994) was an American journalist and author. After studying journalism at the
University of Oregon , Shilts began working as a
reporter for both
The Advocate and the
San Francisco Chronicle , as well as for
San Francisco Bay Area television stations. In the 1980s, he was noted for being the first openly gay reporter for the
San Francisco Chronicle .
His first book,
The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk , was a biography of LGBT activist
Harvey Milk . His second book,
And the Band Played On , chronicled the history of the
AIDS epidemic . Despite some controversy surrounding the book in the LGBT community, Shilts was praised for his meticulous documentation of an epidemic that was little-understood at the time. It was later made into an
HBO film of the same name in 1993. His final book,
Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the US Military from Vietnam to the Persian Gulf , examined discrimination against
lesbians and gays in the military . (
Full article... )
Image 8 Joshua Abraham Norton (February 4, 1818 – January 8, 1880) was a resident of San Francisco, California, who in 1859
proclaimed himself "Norton I., Emperor of the United States" , commonly known as
Emperor Norton . In 1863, after
Napoleon III invaded Mexico , he took the secondary title of "Protector of Mexico".
For the first few years after arriving in San Francisco in 1849, Norton made a successful living as a commodities trader and
real estate speculator . However, he was
financially ruined following a failed bid to corner the rice market during a shortage prompted by a famine in
China . He bought a shipload of
Peruvian rice at 12 cents per pound (26 ¢/kg), but more Peruvian ships arrived in port, causing the price to drop sharply to three cents per pound (6.6 ¢/kg). He then lost a protracted lawsuit in which he tried to void his rice contract, and his local prominence faded. (
Full article... )
Image 9 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 11 Glenn Theodore Seaborg (
SEE -borg; April 19, 1912 – February 25, 1999) was an American chemist whose involvement in the
synthesis , discovery and investigation of ten
transuranium elements earned him a share of the 1951
Nobel Prize in Chemistry . His work in this area also led to his development of the
actinide concept and the arrangement of the
actinide series in the
periodic table of the elements .
Seaborg spent most of his career as an educator and research scientist at the
University of California, Berkeley , serving as a professor, and, between 1958 and 1961, as the university's second chancellor. He advised ten US presidents—from
Harry S. Truman to
Bill Clinton —on nuclear policy and was Chairman of the
United States Atomic Energy Commission from 1961 to 1971, where he pushed for commercial
nuclear energy and the peaceful applications of nuclear science. Throughout his career, Seaborg worked for arms control. He was a signatory to the
Franck Report and contributed to the
Limited Test Ban Treaty , the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty . He was a well-known advocate of science education and federal funding for pure research. Toward the end of the
Eisenhower administration , he was the principal author of the Seaborg Report on academic science, and, as a member of President
Ronald Reagan 's
National Commission on Excellence in Education , he was a key contributor to its 1983 report "
A Nation at Risk ". (
Full article... )
Image 12 Angelina Jolie (; born
Angelina Jolie Voight ; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of
numerous accolades , including an
Academy Award and three
Golden Globe Awards , she has been named Hollywood's highest-paid actress multiple times.
Jolie made her screen debut as a child alongside her father,
Jon Voight , in
Lookin' to Get Out (1982). Her film career began in earnest a decade later with the low-budget production
Cyborg 2 (1993), followed by her first leading role in
Hackers (1995). After starring in the biographical television films
George Wallace (1997) and
Gia (1998), Jolie won the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a sociopath in the 1999 drama
Girl, Interrupted . Her portrayal of the
titular heroine in
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) established her as a household name. Her fame continued with roles in the action films
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005),
Wanted (2008), and
Salt (2010). She also received acclaim for her performances in the dramas
A Mighty Heart (2007) and
Changeling (2008), the latter earning her a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Actress . Her other commercial successes include the fantasy film
Maleficent (2014), its
2019 sequel , and the superhero film
Eternals (2021). She played a voice role in the
Kung Fu Panda animated film series from 2008 to 2016. Jolie has directed and written the war dramas
In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011),
Unbroken (2014), and
First They Killed My Father (2017). (
Full article... )
Image 13 John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as
Jack London , was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.
London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of
animal rights ,
workers’ rights and
socialism . London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his
dystopian novel The Iron Heel , his non-fiction
exposé The People of the Abyss ,
War of the Classes , and
Before Adam . (
Full article... )
Image 14 Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five
Primetime Emmy Awards and two
Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the
CBS sitcom
Murphy Brown (1988–1998, 2018). She is also known for her role as
Shirley Schmidt on the
ABC drama
Boston Legal (2005–2008). In films, Bergen was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for
Starting Over (1979) and for the
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for
Gandhi (1982).
Bergen began her career as a fashion model and appeared on the cover of
Vogue before she made her screen debut in the film
The Group (1966). She starred in
The Sand Pebbles (1966),
Soldier Blue (1970),
Carnal Knowledge (1971), and
The Wind and the Lion (1975). She made her
Broadway debut in the 1984 play
Hurlyburly and starred in the revivals of
The Best Man (2012) and
Love Letters (2014). From 2002 to 2004, she appeared in three episodes of the
HBO series
Sex and the City . Her other film roles include
Miss Congeniality (2000),
Sweet Home Alabama (2002),
The Women (2008),
Bride Wars (2009),
Book Club (2018) and
Let Them All Talk (2020). (
Full article... )
Image 15 Paul Norton "
Pete "
McCloskey Jr. (September 29, 1927 – May 8, 2024) was an American politician who represented
San Mateo County, California , as a
Republican in the
U.S. House of Representatives from 1967 to 1983.
Born in
Loma Linda, California , McCloskey pursued a legal career in
Palo Alto, California , after graduating from
Stanford Law School . He served in the
Korean War as a member of the
United States Marine Corps . For his service, he was awarded the
Navy Cross and the
Silver Star . He won election to the House of Representatives in 1967, defeating
Shirley Temple in the Republican primary. He co-authored the 1973
Endangered Species Act . He unsuccessfully challenged President
Richard Nixon in the
1972 Republican primaries on an anti-
Vietnam War platform and was the first member of Congress to publicly call for President Nixon's resignation after the
Saturday Night Massacre . (
Full article... )
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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:
Things you can do