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 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 Portrait of an "
assimilated "
Maidu man in
Sacramento , 1867. (from
History of California )
Image 3 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 5 Depiction of the
Donner Party heading west on the
California Trail . (from
History of California )
Image 6 Mission San Gabriel Arcángel , founded in 1771 by padres Pedro Benito Cambón and Ángel de la Somera. (from
History of California )
Image 8 Map of the
Butterfield Overland Mail routes through California, c. 1858. (from
History of California )
Image 10 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 12 Advertisement for sailing to California, c. 1850. (from
History of California )
Image 14 Francis Drake 's 1579 landing in "
New Albion " (modern-day
Point Reyes ); engraving by
Theodor De Bry , 1590. (from
History of California )
Image 15 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 18 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 20 Mission Santa Barbara , founded in 1786, was the first mission to be established by
Fermín de Lasuén . (from
History of California )
Image 21 San Francisco harbor,
c. 1850 –51. (from
History of California )
Image 23 Junípero Serra conducting the first
mass in
Monterey Bay in 1770. (from
History of California )
Image 24 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 25 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 29 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 33 A Southern Pacific Train at
Arcade Depot , Los Angeles, 1891 (from
History of California )
Image 34 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 35 In-N-Out burgers (from
Culture of California )
Image 37 "Independent Gold Hunter on His Way to California", c. 1850 (from
History of California )
Image 39 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 40 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 42 The railway station in
Sacramento in 1874. (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 45 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 46 California's first State Capitol building in
San Jose , which served as the capital of California 1850–51. (from
History of California )
Image 47 Bilingual English-Spanish sign in the
Colorado Desert of
Southern California . (from
Culture of California )
Image 48 The 1835
Manifiesto a la República Mejicana , by
José Figueroa , was the first book published in California (from
Culture of California )
Image 49 Forces raising the U.S. flag over the
Monterey Customhouse following their victory at the
Battle of Monterey (from
History of California )
Image 52 The
University of California, Berkeley is the flagship school of the University of California system. (from
Culture of California )
Image 53 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 54 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 55 General
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo reviewing his troops in
Sonoma in 1846. (from
History of California )
Image 59 The American capture of
San Diego by the
USS Cyane in 1846 (from
History of California )
As one went to Europe to see the living past, so one must visit Southern California to observe the future.
Image 1 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 2 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 3 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 5 James Robert Baker (October 18, 1947 – November 5, 1997) was an
American author of sharply satirical, predominantly gay-themed
transgressional fiction . A native Californian, his work is set almost entirely in
Southern California . After graduating from
UCLA , he began his career as a screenwriter, but became disillusioned and started writing novels instead. Though he garnered fame for his books
Fuel-Injected Dreams and
Boy Wonder , after the controversy surrounding publication of his novel,
Tim and Pete , he faced increasing difficulty having his work published. According to his
life partner , this was a contributing factor in his suicide.
Baker's work has achieved cult status in the years since his death, and two additional novels have been posthumously published. First-edition copies of his earlier works have become collector's items. His novel
Testosterone was adapted to a
film of the same name , though it was not a financial success. Two other books have been optioned for films, but they have not been produced. (
Full article... )
Image 6 Publicity photo of Anna May Wong from Stars of the Photoplay , 1930
Wong Liu Tsong (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961), known professionally as
Anna May Wong , was an American actress, considered the first
Chinese American film star in
Hollywood , as well as the first Chinese American actress to gain international recognition. Her varied career spanned
silent film , sound film, television, stage, and radio.
Born in Los Angeles to second-generation
Taishanese Chinese American parents, Wong became engrossed with films and decided at the age of 11 that she would become an actress. Her first role was as an extra in the movie
The Red Lantern (1919). During the silent film era, she acted in
The Toll of the Sea (1922), one of the first films made in color, and in
Douglas Fairbanks '
The Thief of Bagdad (1924). Wong became a fashion icon and had achieved international stardom in 1924. Wong had been one of the first to embrace the
flapper look. In 1934, the Mayfair Mannequin Society of New York voted her the "world's best dressed woman." In the 1920s and 1930s, Wong was acclaimed as one of the top fashion icons. (
Full article... )
Image 7 Melvin Jerome Blanc (born
Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the
Golden Age of Radio , he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy radio programs, including those of
Jack Benny ,
Abbott and Costello ,
Burns and Allen ,
The Great Gildersleeve ,
Judy Canova , and his own
short-lived sitcom .
However, he became known worldwide for his work in the
Golden Age of American Animation as the voices of
Bugs Bunny ,
Daffy Duck ,
Tweety ,
Sylvester the Cat ,
Yosemite Sam ,
Foghorn Leghorn , the
Tasmanian Devil , and numerous other characters from the
Looney Tunes and
Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoons . Blanc also voiced the
Looney Tunes characters
Porky Pig and
Elmer Fudd after replacing their original performers
Joe Dougherty and
Arthur Q. Bryan , respectively, although he occasionally voiced Elmer during Bryan's lifetime as well. He later voiced characters for
Hanna-Barbera 's television cartoons, including
Barney Rubble and
Dino on
The Flintstones ,
Mr. Spacely on
The Jetsons ,
Secret Squirrel on
The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show , the title character of
Speed Buggy , and Captain Caveman on
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels and
The Flintstone Kids . (
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 10 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 Monroe in a publicity photo for Photoplay magazine in 1953
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, Monroe spent most of her childhood in a total of 12 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 12 Thelma Catherine "
Pat "
Nixon (
née Ryan ; March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was the
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 what is now
Cerritos, 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 of Second Lady, insisting on visiting schools, orphanages, hospitals, and village markets as she undertook many missions of goodwill across the world. (
Full article... )
Image 13 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 14 Francis Ford Coppola (
KOH -pəl-ə,
Italian: [ˈkɔppola] ; born 7 April 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the leading figures of the
New Hollywood film movement of the 1960s and 1970s and is widely considered one of the greatest directors of all time.
Coppola is the recipient of five
Academy Awards , six
Golden Globe Awards , two
Palmes d'Or , and a
British Academy Film Award (BAFTA).
After directing
The Rain People in 1969, Coppola co-wrote
Patton (1970), which earned him the
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay along with
Edmund H. North . Coppola's reputation as a filmmaker was cemented with the release of
The Godfather (1972), which revolutionized the
gangster genre of filmmaking, receiving strong commercial and critical reception.
The Godfather won three Academy Awards:
Best Picture ,
Best Actor and
Best Adapted Screenplay (shared with
Mario Puzo ).
The Godfather Part II (1974) became the first sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Highly regarded by critics, the film earned Coppola two more Academy Awards, for Best Adapted Screenplay and
Best Director , making him the second director (after
Billy Wilder ) to win these three awards for the same film. (
Full article... )
Image 15 Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as
Katy Perry , is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is known for her influence on modern
pop music and her
camp style, being dubbed the "
Queen of Camp " by
Vogue and
Rolling Stone . At 16, Perry released a
gospel record titled
Katy Hudson (2001) under
Red Hill Records , which was commercially unsuccessful. She moved to Los Angeles at 17 to venture into
secular music, and later adopted the stage name "Katy Perry" from her mother's maiden name. She recorded an album while signed to
Columbia Records , but was dropped before signing to
Capitol Records .
Perry rose to fame with
One of the Boys (2008), a
pop rock record containing her debut single "
I Kissed a Girl " and follow-up single "
Hot n Cold ", which reached number one and three on the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100 respectively. The
disco -influenced pop album
Teenage Dream (2010) spawned five U.S. number one singles—"
California Gurls ", "
Teenage Dream ", "
Firework ", "
E.T. ", and "
Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) "— the only album by a female singer to do so. A reissue of the album titled
Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection (2012) subsequently produced the U.S. number one single "
Part of Me ". Her empowerment-themed album
Prism (2013) had two U.S. number one singles, "
Roar " and "
Dark Horse ". Both their respective music videos made Perry the first artist to have multiple videos reach one billion views on
Vevo and
YouTube . The
electropop album
Witness (2017) featured themes of feminism and a political subtext, while
Smile (2020) was influenced by motherhood and her mental health journey. Afterwards, she embarked on her Las Vegas
concert residency titled
Play (2021–2023), receiving critical acclaim and commercial success. (
Full article... )
... that Cephas L. Bard , the first American physician in Ventura, California , was also the first person to die in the hospital he built there?
... that Project Carryall proposed the detonation of 23 nuclear devices in California to build a road?
... that Sonia Levitin was inspired to write Boom Town after reading about a California girl who baked $11,000 worth of pies during the Gold Rush ?
... that Steve Bennett 's write-in candidacy for election to the Ventura city council was endorsed by Patagonia, Inc. ?
... that an attempt by six employees of a California TV station to remain on the air by working unpaid lasted just three days?
... that Jack Mitchell and his heiress wife Lolita transformed El Mirador into "one of the most fabulous estates in Montecito ", complete with a dairy, a zoo, and a floating tea pavilion on a lake?
... that American football linebacker Segun Olubi grew up in New Jersey, Minnesota, Arizona, England, and California, and attended four different colleges in Idaho, California, and Arkansas?
... that the founder of a California TV station opted not to name it for himself because the call sign would have sounded like "cough"?
An aerial view of Redwood City Port
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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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