Portal:California

California
California
State
	State of California
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	Map of the United States with California highlighted

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Welcome to the Portal:California. Such a lovely place.

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California (/ˌkælɪˈfɔːrnjə/) is a state in the Western United States that lies on the Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. With over 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 the most populated subnational entity in North America.

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 tribes. 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.

The economy of California is the largest of any U.S. state, with an estimated 2024 gross state product of $4.132 trillion as of Q3 2024. It is the world's largest sub-national economy; by most estimations, if it were a country on its own, it would be the fifth-largest economy in the world (putting it, as of 2025, behind Japan and ahead of India) when ranked by nominal GDP. The state's agricultural industry also leads the nation in agricultural output, led by its production of 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. Notable contributions to popular culture, ranging from entertainment, sports, music, and fashion, have their origins in California. California is the home of Hollywood, the oldest and one of the largest film industries in the world, profoundly influencing global entertainment. The San Francisco Bay's Silicon Valley and the Greater Los Angeles area are seen as the centers of the global technology and U.S. film industries, respectively. (Full article...)

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Downtown skyline from the Marin Headlands

San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, financial, and cultural center within Northern California, United States. With a population of 827,526 residents as of 2024, San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the U.S.; with a land area of 46.9 square miles (121 square kilometers) at the upper end of the San Francisco Peninsula, it is the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county. Among U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income and sixth by aggregate income as of 2023. San Francisco anchors the 13th-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S., with almost 4.6 million residents in 2023. The larger San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area, the fifth-largest urban region in the U.S., had a 2023 estimated population of over nine million.

Prior to European settlement, the modern city proper was inhabited by the Yelamu. On June 29, 1776, settlers from New Spain established the Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate, and the Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away, both named for Francis of Assisi. The California gold rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time. In 1856, San Francisco became a consolidated city-county. After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, it was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama–Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II, it was a major port of embarkation for naval service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater. After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, significant immigration, liberalizing attitudes, the rise of the beatnik and hippie countercultures, the sexual revolution, opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement, cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various California-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The Vallecitos stop of the Butterfield Overland Mail, in Julian, California. (from History of California)
Image 2The 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 3SS California (1848), the first paddle steamer to steam between Panama City and San Francisco, as part of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. (from History of California)
Image 4Presidio of San Francisco, founded by José Joaquín Moraga in 1776. (from History of California)
Image 5The Getty Villa (from Culture of California)
Image 6Map 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 7Mission San Francisco Solano, founded in 1823 by order of Governor Luis Antonio Argüello, was the last Californian mission established. (from History of California)
Image 8Concord Coach no. 251 in Wells Fargo livery in Old Town San Diego. (from History of California)
Image 9California 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 10Poppies, Antelope Valley, a California Impressionist painting by Benjamin Chambers Brown (from Culture of California)
Image 11The University of California, Berkeley is the flagship school of the University of California system. (from Culture of California)
Image 12Advertisement for sailing to California, c. 1850. (from History of California)
Image 13The 1846 Bear Flag Revolt declared the California Republic and prefaced the American conquest of California. (from History of California)
Image 14Joaquín 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 15Stanford University Oval (from Culture of California)
Image 16Pacheco Adobe, built 1835 by Salvio Pacheco on Rancho Monte del Diablo. (from History of California)
Image 17California's first State Capitol building in San Jose, which served as the capital of California 1850–51. (from History of California)
Image 18Portrait 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 19Forces raising the U.S. flag over the Monterey Customhouse following their victory at the Battle of Monterey (from History of California)
Image 20In-N-Out burgers (from Culture of California)
Image 21Map 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 22Founded 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 23The 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 24The Petaluma Adobe, built by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo in 1836 on Rancho Petaluma. (from History of California)
Image 25Depiction of the 1755 revolt of the Mission Indians against padre Luis Jayme at Mission San Diego de Alcalá. (from History of California)
Image 26The American capture of San Diego by the USS Cyane in 1846 (from History of California)
Image 27The 1835 Manifiesto a la República Mejicana, by José Figueroa, was the first book published in California (from Culture of California)
Image 28Balthazar, Inhabitant of Northern California, an 1818 portrait of a Miwok man by artist Mikhail Tikhanov. (from History of California)
Image 29Depiction of the Donner Party heading west on the California Trail. (from History of California)
Image 30Flag of Company A (The California 100) during the U.S. Civil War. (from History of California)
Image 31San Francisco harbor, c. 1850–51. (from History of California)
Image 32Francis Drake's 1579 landing in "New Albion" (modern-day Point Reyes); engraving by Theodor De Bry, 1590. (from History of California)
Image 33A Southern Pacific Train at Arcade Depot, Los Angeles, 1891 (from History of California)
Image 34The Battle of Río San Gabriel, in 1847, was a decisive victory for the American campaign in Alta California. (from History of California)
Image 35Between 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 36The Spanish founded Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776, the third to be established of the Californian missions. (from History of California)
Image 37Mission Santa Barbara, founded in 1786, was the first mission to be established by Fermín de Lasuén. (from History of California)
Image 38General Richard Barnes Mason was the longest serving U.S. Military Governor of California (1847–1849), overseeing California's transition into statehood. (from History of California)
Image 39Map of the Butterfield Overland Mail routes through California, c. 1858. (from History of California)
Image 40The railway station in Sacramento in 1874. (from History of California)
Image 41Juan Bautista de Anza led the 1774-76 Anza Expeditions. (from History of California)
Image 42The colonial coat of arms of the Californias, granted by Antonio de Mendoza, the first Viceroy of New Spain. (from History of California)
Image 43The Battle of San Pasqual in 1846. (from History of California)
Image 44Goldfields in the Sierra Nevada and Shasta Cascade. (from History of California)
Image 45General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo reviewing his troops in Sonoma in 1846. (from History of California)
Image 46Dividing the Light (2007), a skyspace by James Turrell at Pomona College (from Culture of California)
Image 47"Independent Gold Hunter on His Way to California", c. 1850 (from History of California)
Image 48Gaspar de Portolá served as the first Governor of the Californias and led the famed Portolá expedition of 1769-70. (from History of California)
Image 49Bodega y Quadra led a 1775 expedition along the coast of California into the Pacific Northwest. (from History of California)
Image 50Angustias 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 51Bilingual English-Spanish sign in the Colorado Desert of Southern California. (from Culture of California)
Image 52While slavery was abolished in California by Mexican authorities in 1829, the first California State Legislature under U.S. statehood passed the 1850 Indian Indenture Act, which allowed for the forced labor of indigenous Californians by Americans. (from History of California)
Image 53Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, founded in 1771 by padres Pedro Benito Cambón and Ángel de la Somera. (from History of California)
Image 54Manuel Domínguez built Domínguez Adobe on Rancho San Pedro in 1826. (from History of California)
Image 55Depiction of the California hide trade. (from History of California)
Image 56Mission 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 57Presidio of Santa Barbara. (from Culture of California)
Image 58Portrait of an "assimilated" Maidu man in Sacramento, 1867. (from History of California)
Image 59Junípero Serra conducting the first mass in Monterey Bay in 1770. (from History of California)

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I move between San Francisco and Paris [...] I have a wonderful beach house in California.

— Danielle Steel

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Image 1

Bergen in 2025

Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won 5 Primetime Emmy Awards and 2 Golden Globe Awards as the title character on Murphy Brown (1988–98, 2018). She is also known for her role as Shirley Schmidt on the ABC drama Boston Legal (2005–08). 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 2

Young in 2002

John Watts Young (September 24, 1930 – January 5, 2018) was an American astronaut, naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer. He became the 9th person to walk on the Moon as commander of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972.

Before becoming an astronaut, Young received his Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and joined the U.S. Navy. After serving at sea during the Korean War he became a naval aviator and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. As a test pilot, he set several world time-to-climb records. Young retired from the Navy in 1976 with the rank of captain. (Full article...)
Image 3

Muir c. 1902

John Muir (/mjʊər/ MURE; April 21, 1838 – December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States.

His books, letters and essays describing his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada, have been read by millions. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley and Sequoia National Park, and his example has served as an inspiration for the preservation of many other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he co-founded, is a prominent American conservation organization. In his later life, Muir devoted most of his time to his wife and the preservation of the Western forests. As part of the campaign to make Yosemite a national park, Muir published two landmark articles on wilderness preservation in The Century Magazine, "The Treasures of the Yosemite" and "Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park"; this helped support the push for US Congress to pass a bill in 1890 establishing Yosemite National Park. The spiritual quality and enthusiasm toward nature expressed in his writings has inspired readers, including presidents and congressmen, to take action to help preserve large nature areas. (Full article...)
Image 4

Skaggs with the Angels in 2019

Tyler Wayne Skaggs (July 13, 1991 – July 1, 2019) was an American left-handed professional baseball starting pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Angels from 2012 until his death in 2019.

A native of Woodland Hills, California, and a graduate of Santa Monica High School, Skaggs was a supplemental first-round selection for the Angels in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. He was traded to the Diamondbacks the following year as part of an exchange for pitcher Dan Haren and rose through Arizona's farm system. After two consecutive appearances at the All-Star Futures Game in 2011 and 2012, Skaggs made his major league debut on August 22, 2012, against the Miami Marlins. He remained with the Diamondbacks through the end of the season, but was optioned to the minor leagues in 2013. (Full article...)
Image 5

Official portrait, 1972

Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon (née Ryan; March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974 as the wife of President Richard Nixon. She also served as the second lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961 when her husband was vice president.

Born in Ely, Nevada, she grew up with her two brothers in Artesia, California, graduating from Excelsior Union High School in Norwalk, California in 1929. She attended Fullerton Junior College and later the University of Southern California. She paid for her schooling by working multiple jobs, including pharmacy manager, typist, radiographer, and retail clerk. In 1940, she married lawyer Richard Nixon and they had two daughters, Tricia and Julie. Dubbed the "Nixon team", Richard and Pat Nixon campaigned together in his successful congressional campaigns of 1946 and 1948. Richard Nixon was elected vice president in 1952 alongside General Dwight D. Eisenhower, whereupon Pat became second lady. Pat Nixon did much to add substance to the role, insisting on visiting schools, orphanages, hospitals, and village markets as she undertook many missions of goodwill across the world. (Full article...)
Image 6

Schwarzenegger in 2019

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (/ˈʃwɔːrtsənɛɡər/ SHWORT-sə-neg-ər, Austrian German: [ˈarnɔlt ˈaːlɔʏs ˈʃvartsn̩ˌɛɡɐ] ; born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. He served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011.

Schwarzenegger began lifting weights at age 15 and won the Mr. Universe title aged 20, and subsequently the Mr. Olympia title seven times. He is tied with Phil Heath for the joint-second number of all-time Mr. Olympia wins, behind Ronnie Coleman and Lee Haney, who are joint-first with eight wins each. Nicknamed the "Austrian Oak" in his bodybuilding days, he is regarded as one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time. He has written books and articles about bodybuilding, including the autobiographical Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder (1977) and The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding (1998). The Arnold Sports Festival, the second-most prestigious bodybuilding event after Mr. Olympia, is named after him. He appeared in the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron (1977), which set him on his way to a career in films. (Full article...)
Image 7

Horace Jeremiah "Jerry" Voorhis (April 6, 1901 – September 11, 1984) was an American politician and educator from California who served five terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1937 to 1947. A Democrat, he represented the 12th congressional district in Los Angeles County. He was the first political opponent of Richard M. Nixon, who defeated Voorhis for re-election in 1946 in a campaign cited as an example of Nixon's use of red-baiting during his political rise.

Voorhis was born in Kansas, but the family relocated frequently in his childhood. He earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University (where he was elected to the academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa) and a master's degree in education from Claremont Graduate School. In 1928, he founded the Voorhis School for Boys and became its headmaster. He retained the post into his congressional career. (Full article...)
Image 8
Ruth E. Norman (born Ruth Nields; August 18, 1900 – July 12, 1993), also known as Uriel, was an American religious leader who co-founded the Unarius Academy of Science, based in Southern California. Raised in California, Norman received little education and worked from an early age in a variety of jobs. In the 1940s, she developed an interest in psychic phenomena and past-life regression. These pursuits led to her introduction to Ernest Norman, a self-described psychic, in 1954. He engaged in channeling, past-life regression, and attempts at communication with extraterrestrials. She married Ernest, her fourth husband, in the mid-1950s. Together they published several books about his revelations and formed Unarius, an organization which later became known as the Unarius Academy of Science, to popularize his teachings. The couple discussed numerous details about their alleged past lives and spiritual visits to other planets, forming a mythology from these accounts.

After Ernest died in 1971, Ruth succeeded him as their group's leader and primary channeler. She subsequently began publishing accounts of her experiences and revelations. In early 1974, she predicted that a space fleet of benevolent extraterrestrials, the Space Brothers, would land on Earth later that year, which led the Unarius Academy to purchase a property to serve as the landing site. After the extraterrestrials failed to appear, Norman said that trauma she had suffered in a past life had caused her to make an inaccurate prediction. Undaunted, she rented a building for Unarius' meetings and sought publicity for the movement, claiming to have united the Earth with an interplanetary confederation. She revised the Space Brothers' expected landing date several times, before finally settling on 2001. Her health declined in the late 1980s, prompting her students to try to heal her with rituals of past-life regression. Despite predicting that she would live to see the extraterrestrials land, Norman died in 1993. Unarius has continued to operate after her death, and formed a board of directors. Since the 2000s, leaders have concentrated on individual transformation leading to spiritual change in humankind. (Full article...)
Image 9

Gyllenhaal in 2019

Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal (/ˈdʒɪlənhɔːl/ JIL-ən-hawl, Swedish: [ˈjʏ̂lːɛnˌhɑːl]; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor who has worked on screen and stage for over thirty years. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of film director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and the younger brother of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He began acting as a child, making his debut in City Slickers (1991), followed by roles in his father's films A Dangerous Woman (1993) and Homegrown (1998). His breakthrough roles were as Homer Hickam in the biopic October Sky (1999) and a troubled teenager in the thriller Donnie Darko (2001). Gyllenhaal expanded to big-budget films with a starring role in the 2004 disaster film The Day After Tomorrow.

Gyllenhaal played Jack Twist in Ang Lee's 2005 romantic drama Brokeback Mountain, for which he won a BAFTA Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. His career progressed with starring roles in the thriller Zodiac (2007), the romantic comedy Love & Other Drugs (2010), and the science fiction film Source Code (2011). Further acclaim came with his roles in Denis Villeneuve's thrillers Prisoners (2013) and Enemy (2013), and he received nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performances as a manipulative journalist in Nightcrawler (2014) and a troubled writer in Nocturnal Animals (2016). His highest-grossing release came with the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), in which he portrayed Mysterio. After playing a supporting role in the drama Wildlife (2018), Gyllenhaal starred in action or thriller projects, including the films The Guilty (2021), Ambulance (2022) and Road House (2024), as well as the series Presumed Innocent (2024). (Full article...)
Image 10

Oppenheimer in 1944

J. Robert Oppenheimer (born Julius Robert Oppenheimer /ˈɒpənhaɪmər/ OP-ən-hy-mər; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist who served as the director of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. He is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in overseeing the development of the first nuclear weapons.

Born in New York City, Oppenheimer obtained a degree in chemistry from Harvard University in 1925 and a doctorate in physics from the University of Göttingen in Germany in 1927, studying under Max Born. After research at other institutions, he joined the physics faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was made a full professor in 1936. Oppenheimer made significant contributions to physics in the fields of quantum mechanics and nuclear physics, including the Born–Oppenheimer approximation for molecular wave functions; work on the theory of positrons, quantum electrodynamics, and quantum field theory; and the Oppenheimer–Phillips process in nuclear fusion. With his students, he also made major contributions to astrophysics, including the theory of cosmic ray showers, and the theory of neutron stars and black holes. (Full article...)
Image 11

Official portrait, 2019

Nancy Patricia Pelosi (/pəˈloʊsi/ pə-LOH-see; née D'Alesandro; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first woman elected as U.S. House Speaker and the first woman to lead a major political party in either chamber of Congress, leading the House Democrats from 2003 to 2023. A member of the House since 1987, Pelosi currently represents California's 11th congressional district, which includes most of San Francisco. She is the dean of California's congressional delegation.

Pelosi was born and raised in Baltimore, and is the daughter of mayor and congressman Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. She graduated from Trinity College, Washington, in 1962 and married businessman Paul Pelosi the next year; the two had met while both were students. They moved to New York City before settling down in San Francisco with their children. Focused on raising her family, Pelosi stepped into politics as a volunteer for the Democratic Party in the 1960s. After years of party work, rising to chair the state party, she was first elected to Congress in a 1987 special election and is now in her 20th term. Pelosi steadily rose through the ranks of the House Democratic Caucus to be elected House minority whip in 2001 and elevated to House minority leader a year later, becoming the first woman to hold each of those positions in either chamber of Congress. (Full article...)
Image 12

Snoop Dogg in 2023

Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr. (/ˈbroʊdɪs/ BROH-dis; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time. Known for his signature drawled lyrics—which often use melodic rhyming, repetition, word play, laconic phrases, syncopation and alliteration—his music often addresses the lifestyle and culture of the West Coast and social issues such as gun violence and
stability for the youth. His initial fame dates back to 1992 following his guest appearance on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, "Deep Cover", and later on Dre's debut album, The Chronic that same year. Snoop Dogg has since sold over 23 million albums in the United States, and 35 million albums worldwide. His accolades include an American Music Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and 17 Grammy Award nominations.

Produced entirely by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg's debut studio album, Doggystyle (1993) was released by Death Row Records and debuted atop the Billboard 200. Selling 806,000 copies in its first week, the album received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) the following year and spawned the Billboard Hot 100-top ten singles "What's My Name?" and "Gin and Juice". He was the lead performer on Death Row's soundtrack album for the 1994 short film Murder Was the Case, wherein Snoop Dogg made his acting debut. He has since appeared in other films and popular media. His second album, Tha Doggfather (1996), debuted atop the chart and received double platinum certification. (Full article...)
Image 13

Major Burnham in his British Army uniform in 1901

Major Frederick Russell Burnham DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to the British Army in colonial Africa, and for teaching woodcraft to Robert Baden-Powell in Rhodesia. Burnham helped inspire the founding of the international Scouting Movement.

Burnham was born on a Dakota Sioux Indian reservation in Minnesota, in the small village of Tivoli near the city of Mankato; there he learned the ways of American Indians as a boy. By the age of 14, he was supporting himself in California, while also learning scouting from some of the last of the cowboys and frontiersmen of the American Southwest. Burnham had little formal education, never finishing high school. After moving to the Arizona Territory in the early 1880s, he was drawn into the Pleasant Valley War, a feud between families of ranchers and sheepherders. He escaped and later worked as a civilian tracker for the United States Army in the Apache Wars. Feeling the need for new adventures, Burnham took his family to southern Africa in 1893, seeing Cecil Rhodes's Cape to Cairo Railway project as the next undeveloped frontier. (Full article...)
Image 14

Norman Clyde in the Sierra Nevada in 1931

Norman Clyde (April 8, 1885 – December 23, 1972) was a mountaineer, mountain guide, freelance writer, nature photographer, and self-trained naturalist. He is well known for achieving over 130 first ascents, many in California's Sierra Nevada and Montana's Glacier National Park. He also set a speed climbing record on California's Mount Shasta in 1923.
The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley has 1467 articles written by Clyde in its archives. (Full article...)
Image 15

Warren as chief justice

Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney and politician 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...)

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... that staff of a California public TV station were unaware it was broadcasting in color until a viewer called to compliment their color signal?
... that a California TV station wondered whether it had the "World's Longest Pregnancy"?
... that Richmond station includes a "rather disquieting" artwork by William Mitchell?
... that in 1858, when 400 Black Americans experiencing discrimination in California resettled on Vancouver Island, clergyman Edward Cridge integrated Christ Church to welcome them?
... that Frank Ocean's song "American Wedding" was pulled from streaming platforms because of its unauthorized use of "Hotel California"?
... that the founder of a California TV station opted not to name it for himself because the call sign would have sounded like "cough"?
... that an attempt by six employees of a California TV station to remain on the air by working unpaid lasted just three days?
... that the opening day of a California TV station was affected by a strike when workers refused to cross a two-man picket line?

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Salt Point State Park

Credit: Dawn Endico

Salt Point State Park is a state park located in Sonoma County, California, United States. The park covers 6,000 acres (24 km²) on the coast of Northern California with 20 miles (32 km) of hiking trails and over six miles of a rough rocky coast line including Salt Point which protrudes into the Pacific Ocean.

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Credit: Jawed

Skyline Boulevard stretches through the Santa Cruz Mountains, here near Palo Alto, California.

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Government of California

List of California state agencies • Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments • California Attorney General • California State Board of Education • CDF Aviation Management Program • CalPERS • California Air Resources Board • California Commission for Economic Development • California Department of Boating and Waterways • California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection • California Department of Insurance • California Insurance Commissioner election, 2006 • California Legislative Analyst's Office • California Military Department • California Public Utilities Commission • California Speaks • California State Lands Commission • California State Lottery • California executive branch • CaliforniaVolunteers • California State Capitol • List of California District Attorneys • Districts in California • State of California enterprise IT systems • Department of Fair Employment and Housing • California Geological Survey • Governor of California • 11-99 Foundation • California Institute for Regenerative Medicine • California Insurance Commissioner • Joint Powers Authority • Local Agency Formation Commission • Secretary of State of California • List of law enforcement agencies in California • California State Controller • California State Police • California Department of Transportation • California State Treasurer • Westlands Water District

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State facts

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 (31^st)

State symbols:

Insect: California Dogface Butterfly
Bird: California Valley Quail
Fossil: Saber-toothed cat
Dance: West Coast Swing
Colors: Blue & Gold
Animal: California Grizzly Bear
Flower: California Poppy
Gem: Benitoite
Rock: Serpentine
Fish: California Golden Trout
Songs: I Love You, California
Tree: California Redwood
Mineral: Gold

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Related WikiProjects

Main Project

California

Sub-projects

Southern California • Los Angeles • San Francisco Bay Area • Santa Barbara County • California State Highways • California County Routes • University of California • California State University

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Things you can do

Create Requested California Articles
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Write California-related topics if you see a redlink which is worthy of an article
Cleanup and expand stub-class articles relating to California