Portal:California

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

Introduction

California (/ˌkælɪˈfɔːrnjəˌ -ni.ə/ ^ⓘ 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. San Francisco is the second-most densely populated major city in the country. 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...)

Selected article -

Black Flag performing at the Electric Ballroom in Camden 2019

Black Flag is an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. Initially called Panic, the band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter, and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band. They are widely considered to be one of the first hardcore punk bands, as well as one of the pioneers of post-hardcore. After breaking up in 1986, Black Flag reunited in 2003 and again in 2013. The second reunion lasted well over a year, during which they released their first studio album in nearly three decades, What The... (2013). The band announced their third reunion in January 2019.

Black Flag's sound mixed the raw simplicity of the Ramones with atonal guitar solos and, in later years, frequent tempo shifts. The lyrics were written mostly by Ginn, and like other punk bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Black Flag voiced an anti-authoritarian and nonconformist message, in songs punctuated with descriptions of social isolation, neurosis, poverty, and paranoia. These themes were explored further when Henry Rollins joined the band as lead singer in 1981. Most of the band's material was released on Ginn's independent record label SST Records. (Full article...)

More selected articles

General images -

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

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

Selected quote -

Selected biographies -

Image 1

Simpson in 1990

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 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 ninth person to walk on the Moon as commander of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. He is the only astronaut to fly on four different classes of spacecraft: Gemini, the Apollo command and service module, the Apollo Lunar Module and the Space Shuttle.

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

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 previously served as Governor of California from 1943 to 1953. 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 4

Jolie in 2022

Angelina Jolie (/dʒoʊˈliː/; 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 5
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 6

Maddow in 2018

Rachel Anne Maddow (/ˈmædoʊ/ , MAD-oh; born April 1, 1973) is an American television news program host and liberal political commentator. Maddow hosts The Rachel Maddow Show, a weekly television show on MSNBC, and serves as the cable network's special event co-anchor. Her syndicated talk radio program of the same name aired on Air America Radio from 2005 to 2010.

Maddow has received multiple Emmy Awards for her broadcasting work and in 2021 received a Grammy Award for the audiobook version of Blowout (2019). (Full article...)
Image 7

Seaborg in 1964

Glenn Theodore Seaborg (/ˈsiːbɔːrɡ/ 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 8

Hartman in character as Chick Hazard, Private Eye, circa 1978.

Philip Edward Hartman (né Hartmann; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States when he was ten years old. After graduating from California State University, Northridge with a degree in graphic arts, he designed album covers for bands including Poco and America. In 1975, Hartman joined the comedy group the Groundlings, where he helped Paul Reubens develop his character Pee-wee Herman. Hartman co-wrote the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure and made recurring appearances as Captain Carl on Reubens' show Pee-wee's Playhouse.

In 1986, Hartman joined the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a cast member, and stayed for eight seasons until 1994. Nicknamed "Glue" for his ability to hold the show together and help other cast members, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his SNL work in 1989. He also starred as Bill McNeal in the sitcom NewsRadio, voiced Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure on The Simpsons, and appeared in supporting roles in the films Houseguest, Sgt. Bilko, Jingle All the Way, and Small Soldiers. (Full article...)
Image 9

Official portrait, 2006

Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of State of California in 1970; Brown later served as Mayor of Oakland from 1999 to 2007 and Attorney General of California from 2007 to 2011. He was both the oldest and sixth-youngest governor of California due to the 28-year gap between his second and third terms. Upon completing his fourth term in office, Brown became the fourth longest-serving governor in U.S. history, serving 16 years and 5 days in office.

Born in San Francisco, he is the son of Bernice Layne Brown and Pat Brown, who was the 32nd Governor of California (1959–1967). After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, and Yale Law School, he practiced law and began his political career as a member of the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees (1969–1971). He was elected to serve as the 23rd Secretary of State of California from 1971 to 1975. At 36, Brown was elected to his first term as governor in 1974, making him the youngest California Governor in 111 years. In 1978, he won his second term. During his governorship, Brown ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976 and 1980. He declined to pursue a third term as governor in 1982, instead making an unsuccessful run for the United States Senate that same year, losing to San Diego Mayor and future Governor Pete Wilson. (Full article...)
Image 10

Schwarzenegger in 2019

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, filmmaker, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder known for his roles in high-profile action movies. He served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011 and was among Time's 100 most influential people in the world in 2004 and 2007.

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 widely regarded as one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, and has written many books and articles about it. The Arnold Sports Festival, considered the second-most important bodybuilding event after Mr. Olympia, is named after him. He appeared in the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron (1977). After retiring from bodybuilding, he gained worldwide fame as a Hollywood action star, with his breakthrough in the sword and sorcery epic Conan the Barbarian (1982), a box-office hit with a sequel in 1984. After playing the title character in the science fiction film The Terminator (1984), he starred in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and three other sequels. His other successful action films included Commando (1985), The Running Man (1987), Predator (1987), Total Recall (1990), and True Lies (1994), in addition to comedy films such as Twins (1988), Kindergarten Cop (1990) and Jingle All the Way (1996). He is the founder of the film production company Oak Productions. (Full article...)
Image 11

Picture of Stafford from the New York Sunday News, September 21, 1947

Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917 – July 16, 2008) was an American traditional pop singer, whose career spanned five decades from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Admired for the purity of her voice, she originally underwent classical training to become an opera singer before following a career in popular music, and by 1955 had achieved more worldwide record sales than any other female artist. Her 1952 song "You Belong to Me" topped the charts in the United States and United Kingdom, becoming the second single to top the UK Singles Chart, and the first by a female artist to do so.

Born in remote oil-rich Coalinga, California, near Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley, Stafford made her first musical appearance at age 12. While still at high school, she joined her two older sisters to form a vocal trio named the Stafford Sisters, who found moderate success on radio and in film. In 1938, while the sisters were part of the cast of Twentieth Century Fox's production of Alexander's Ragtime Band, Stafford met the future members of the Pied Pipers and became the group's lead singer. Bandleader Tommy Dorsey hired them in 1939 to perform vocals with his orchestra. From 1940 to 1942, the group often performed with Dorsey's new male singer, Frank Sinatra. (Full article...)
Image 12

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 13

Blanc in 1959

Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank /blæŋk/; 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 14

Adams c. 1950

Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advocating "pure" photography which favored sharp focus and the use of the full tonal range of a photograph. He and Fred Archer developed a system of image-making called the Zone System, a method of achieving a desired final print through a technical understanding of how the tonal range of an image is the result of choices made in exposure, negative development, and printing.

Adams was a life-long advocate for environmental conservation, and his photographic practice was deeply entwined with this advocacy. At age 14, he was given his first camera during his first visit to Yosemite National Park. He developed his early photographic work as a member of the Sierra Club. He was later contracted with the United States Department of the Interior to make photographs of national parks. For his work and his persistent advocacy, which helped expand the National Park system, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980. (Full article...)
Image 15

Stefani performing with No Doubt in 2015

Gwen Renée Stefani (/stəˈfɑːni/ stə-FAH-nee; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer and songwriter. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs", and "Don't Speak", from their 1995 breakthrough studio album Tragic Kingdom, as well as "Hey Baby" and "It's My Life" from later albums.

During the band's hiatus, Stefani embarked on a solo pop career in 2004 by releasing her debut studio album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Inspired by pop music from the 1980s, the album was a critical and commercial success. It spawned six singles, including "What You Waiting For?", "Rich Girl", "Hollaback Girl", and "Cool". "Hollaback Girl" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart while also becoming the first US download to sell one million copies. In 2006, Stefani released her second studio album, The Sweet Escape. Among the singles were "Wind It Up" and "The Sweet Escape", the latter of which was number three on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart of 2007. Her third solo album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like (2016), was her first solo album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Her fourth solo album and first full-length Christmas album, You Make It Feel Like Christmas, was released in 2017 and charted 19 tracks on Billboard's Holiday Digital Song Sales component chart in the United States. Stefani has released several singles with husband Blake Shelton, including "Nobody but You" (2020), which reached number 18 in the US. (Full article...)

Did you know -

... that Ward v. Flood was the legal basis for racially segregated education in California?
... that a Chinatown in the logging community of Sugar Pine was intentionally burned down by the Madera Sugar Pine Company in 1922?
... that David Burbank, a dentist, founded Burbank, California?
... that the Phoenixonian Institute was the first African-American high school in California?
... that the city of Palo Alto, California, is named after a big tree?
... that the westernmost population of California fan palms is found on the slopes of Cerro Bola in Baja California, Mexico?
... that the California State Assembly held a moment of silence over the death of fictional character Mrs. Landingham while in the midst of an energy crisis?
... that the founder of a California radio station "didn't want to do background music"?

Selected picture -

Sacramento, California

Credit: Fir0002

Sacramento is the capital of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. Located along the Sacramento River and just south of the American River's confluence in California's expansive Central Valley, it is the seventh most populous city in California with a 2007 estimated population of 467,343.

Selected panorama -

The Sutter Buttes, also known as the Marysville Buttes or Histum Yani (Maidu), are a small circular complex of eroded volcanic lava domes which rise above the flat plains of the California Central Valley, United States. The highest peak, South Butte, reaches about 2,130 feet (650 m) above sea level. The Buttes are located just outside of Yuba City, California in the Sacramento Valley, the northern part of Central Valley.

Topics

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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Featured articles

1946 California's 12th congressional district election
1950 United States Senate election in California
2007 USC Trojans football team
2008 Orange Bowl
Accolade (company)
Nick Adenhart
Aliso Creek (Orange County)
Amador Valley High School
Amanita ocreata
Maya Angelou
Back to the Future
Bale Out
Ann Bannon
Joseph Barbera
John Barrymore
Blade Runner
Caroline Brady (philologist)
Avery Brundage
Cactus wren
California Chrome
California Diamond Jubilee half dollar
California Pacific International Exposition half dollar
California condor
California gold rush
Californium
Calutron
Carolwood Pacific Railroad
Casablanca (film)
Chains of Love (TV series)
Charlie Chaplin
Jessica Chastain
Checkers speech
Murray Chotiner
Colorado River
Cougar
Cutthroat trout
Death Valley National Park
Leonardo DiCaprio
Die Hard
Walt Disney
Disneyland Railroad
Donner Party
Dookie
Dubnium
Kirsten Dunst
Henry Edwards (entomologist)
Eisenhower dollar
The Empire Strikes Back
Fantasy Book
Flight Unlimited II
Flower Drum Song
Geology of the Lassen volcanic area
Greed (1924 film)
Jake Gyllenhaal
Winfield Scott Hancock
William Hanna
Phil Hartman
Heidi Game
Hurricane Linda (1997)
Interstate 8
Illustrated Daily News
JC's Girls
Janet Jackson
Michael Jackson
Jaws (film)
Angelina Jolie
Ted Kaczynski
Kalākaua coinage
Otto Klemperer
Kona Lanes
Sandy Koufax
Franklin Knight Lane
Brie Larson
Ursula K. Le Guin
Liberty Head double eagle
Mantra-Rock Dance
Manzanar
Billy Martin
Metallica
Bob Meusel
Harvey Milk
Mono–Inyo Craters
Monroe Doctrine Centennial half dollar
Marilyn Monroe
Pierre Monteux
Mulholland Drive (film)
Nihonium
Pat Nixon
Richard Nixon
No Way Out (2004)
Christopher Nolan
Ruth Norman
Oganesson
Gerard K. O'Neill
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Orel Hershiser's scoreless innings streak
Panama–Pacific commemorative coins
Jack Parsons
George S. Patton
Katy Perry
Brad Pitt
Plutonium
Pomona College
Port Chicago disaster
R U Professional
Rainbow trout
Ronald Reagan
Redwood National and State Parks
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Sally Ride
Rockstar San Diego
Hurricane Rosa (2018)
Elias Abraham Rosenberg
Bill Russell
Saline Valley salt tram
San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge half dollar
Santa María de Óvila
Mark Satin
Schmerber v. California
Seacology
Temple Sinai (Oakland, California)
Sisters at Heart
Tyler Skaggs
Ozzie Smith
Jo Stafford
Stanford Memorial Church
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Gwen Stefani
Edward Teller
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Thatgamecompany
Thomcord
Tool (band)
Toys for Bob
Tropic Thunder
United States v. Wong Kim Ark
Jerry Voorhis
Jack L. Warner
History of the Yosemite area
John Young (astronaut)
Farran Zerbe
Zodiac (film)

Featured lists

1984 Summer Olympics medal table
1st Academy Awards
51st Academy Awards
52nd Academy Awards
53rd Academy Awards
54th Academy Awards
56th Academy Awards
58th Academy Awards
59th Academy Awards
60th Academy Awards
61st Academy Awards
62nd Academy Awards
63rd Academy Awards
64th Academy Awards
65th Academy Awards
66th Academy Awards
67th Academy Awards
68th Academy Awards
69th Academy Awards
70th Academy Awards
71st Academy Awards
72nd Academy Awards
73rd Academy Awards
74th Academy Awards
75th Academy Awards
76th Academy Awards
77th Academy Awards
78th Academy Awards
79th Academy Awards
80th Academy Awards
81st Academy Awards
82nd Academy Awards
83rd Academy Awards
84th Academy Awards
85th Academy Awards
86th Academy Awards
87th Academy Awards
88th Academy Awards
89th Academy Awards
90th Academy Awards
91st Academy Awards
92nd Academy Awards
93rd Academy Awards
94th Academy Awards
95th Academy Awards
List of California hurricanes
List of governors of California
Leo Carrillo on stage and screen
List of Crystal Dynamics video games
List of international goals scored by Landon Donovan
List of mergers and acquisitions by Gen Digital
List of Golden State Warriors head coaches
List of acquisitions by Juniper Networks
List of municipalities in California
List of tallest buildings in San Diego
List of 1960 Winter Olympics medal winners
List of Arrested Development episodes
List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations
List of Caltrain stations
List of Chevron Championship winners
List of Las Vegas Raiders head coaches
List of Los Angeles Chargers head coaches
List of Los Angeles Clippers seasons
List of Los Angeles Metro Rail stations
List of Muni Metro stations
List of Oakland Athletics team records
List of Sacramento Regional Transit light rail stations
List of San Diego Padres team records
List of San Francisco 49ers head coaches
List of San Francisco Giants Opening Day starting pitchers
List of San Francisco Giants first-round draft picks
List of San Francisco Giants managers
List of San Francisco Municipal Railway lines
List of San Jose Sharks players
List of VTA light rail stations
List of acquisitions by Adobe
List of acquisitions by Cisco
List of acquisitions by Electronic Arts
List of acquisitions by eBay
List of cities and towns in the San Francisco Bay Area
List of mergers and acquisitions by Apple
List of mergers and acquisitions by Yahoo!
List of tallest buildings in Los Angeles
List of tallest buildings in Oakland, California
List of tallest buildings in San Francisco
Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame
List of Los Angeles Angels first-round draft picks
List of Los Angeles Dodgers first-round draft picks
List of Los Angeles Lakers seasons
Mayor of San Diego
Mayor of San Francisco
List of mergers and acquisitions by Alphabet
List of milestone home runs by Barry Bonds
List of Oakland Athletics first-round draft picks
List of Pomona College people
72nd Primetime Emmy Awards
List of San Diego Padres first-round draft picks

A-Class articles

1st Filipino Infantry Regiment

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Featured pictures

File:1967 Mantra-Rock Dance Avalon poster.jpg
File:2010 mavericks competition.jpg
File:20070616 Chris Young visits Wrigley (4)-edit3.jpg
File:Acorn woodpecker holding a nut in its beak-0225.jpg
File:Agassiz statue Mwc00715.jpg
File:Albert Bierstadt - Among the Sierra Nevada, California - Google Art Project.jpg
File:Albino Alligator 2008.jpg
File:Alcatraz03182006.jpg
File:Alice Park - Records of the National Woman's Party.jpg
File:Amboy (California, USA), Hist. Route 66 -- 2012 -- 1.jpg
File:Ansel Adams and camera.jpg
File:Beulah Ream Allen receiving the Medal of Freedom (1945).jpg
File:Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), Corte Madera.jpg
File:Boats on Lake Oroville during the 2021 drought.jpg
File:Bodie ghost town.jpg
File:Border USA Mexico.jpg
File:Brown pelican in flight (Bodega Bay).jpg
File:Burned mobile home neighborhood in California edit.jpg
File:Buteo jamaicensis in flight at Llano Seco-1520.jpg
File:CA-84 Woodside April 2023 002.jpg
File:CA Ground Squirrel on rock.jpg
File:CID Array.jpg
File:Cable Car No. 1 and Alcatraz Island.jpg
File:California island Vinckeboons5.jpg
File:California sea lion in La Jolla (70568).jpg
File:California state coat of arms (illustrated, 1876).jpg
File:CampanileMtTamalpiasSunset-original.jpg
File:Cervus canadensis nannodes at Tomales Point.jpg
File:Chemerinsky during Hyatt III sketch.jpg
File:Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889.jpg
File:Crystal Mountains CA02.jpg
File:Cynthia Woodhead 1980 - Restoration.jpg
File:Deathvalleysky nps big.jpg
File:Devastation in San Bruno.jpg
File:Donner Lake as seen from Donner Pass.jpg
File:Double-crested cormorant at Sutro Baths-6460.jpg
File:Dungeness crab face closeup.jpg
File:EdwardTeller1958 fewer smudges.jpg
File:Egretta thula at Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds.jpg
File:Elephant seals fighting.jpg
File:Eureka Inn, Entrance Hall.jpg
File:European starling at Bodega Head-1209.jpg
File:Fort Baker and Angel Island.jpg
File:Fort Mason Center and Downtown San Francisco.jpg
File:GGB reflection in raindrops.jpg
File:GREIDER Carol 2014 - Less vignetting.jpg
File:Gateway Generating Station rectified.jpg
File:Giant Marbles in Joshua Tree National Park.jpg
File:GoldenGateBridge BakerBeach MC.jpg
File:Grauman's Chinese Theatre, by Carol Highsmith fixed & straightened.jpg
File:Greater Yellowlegs2.jpg
File:Greater white-fronted goose in flight-1045.jpg
File:Gull ca usa.jpg
File:Hawk eating prey.jpg
File:Heinrich Berann NPS Panorama of Yosemite without labels.jpg
File:Hotel Del c1900b.jpg
File:Igor Stravinsky LOC 32392u.jpg
File:Jane Russell in The Outlaw.jpg
File:JetBlue292Landing.jpg
File:Jfader dryden.jpg
File:JohnShea.jpg
File:Joshua tree keys view pano more vertical.jpg
File:Juvenile pelecanus occidentalis in flight.jpg
File:Kobe Bryant 7144 adjusted.jpg
File:LAPD Bell 206 Jetranger.jpg
File:LagunaBeachCA photo D Ramey Logan.JPG
File:Lange-MigrantMother02.jpg
File:Langechildren2.jpg
File:Lansdowne Herakles Getty Museum.jpg
File:Line scan photo of nine car BART C1 train in 2017.jpg
File:Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.jpg
File:Los Angeles Pollution.jpg
File:Los angeles from getty panorama.jpg
File:LutraCanadensis fullres.jpg
File:Male northern pintail at Llano Seco.jpg
File:Male wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) strutting.jpg
File:Map of Cathedral Peak Granodiorite.svg
File:Marilyn Monroe photo pose Seven Year Itch.jpg
File:Mary Pickford cph.3c17995u.jpg
File:McClure Tunnel west.jpg
File:Mission Santa Clara.jpg
File:Mono lake tufa.JPG
File:Mudpot at Lassen Volcanic National Park in August 2019.webm
File:NPG 2010 112 Lucia Chamberlain by Zaida Ben-Yusuf.jpg
File:Official Portrait of President Reagan 1981.jpg
File:Oppenheimer (cropped).jpg
File:Palace of Fine Arts (16794p).jpg
File:Parlos Verdes Light House Aug 2012.JPG
File:Pelecanus erythrorhynchos at Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds.jpg
File:Photograph of Members of the Mochida Family Awaiting Evacuation - NARA - 537505 - Restoration.jpg
File:Pigeon Point Lighthouse (2016).jpg
File:Pioneertown california saloon and bath house.jpg
File:Point Arena Lighthouse, Mendocino County.jpg
File:Point Reyes Lighthouse (April 2012).jpg
File:Post-and-Grant-Avenue-Look.jpg
File:Pyrosoma atlanticum (12256).jpg
File:Randy's donuts1 edit1.jpg
File:RiP2013 GreenDay Mike Dirnt 0002.JPG
File:Ronald Reagan with cowboy hat 12-0071M edit.jpg
File:Rosalind Goodrich Bates (1931).jpg
File:Russian chapel at Fort Ross (2016).jpg
File:Sacramento,-California---State-Capitol.jpg
File:Sally Ride (1984).jpg
File:San Francisco City Hall as seen from 100 Van Ness at dusk (wide).jpg
File:San Francisco International Airport at night.jpg
File:San Francisco in ruin edit2.jpg
File:San gorgonio pass wind farm california pano.jpg
File:SanFrancisco1851a.jpg
File:SanFranciscoharbor1851c sharp.jpg
File:Sea otter nursing02.jpg
File:Seaborg in lab - restoration.jpg
File:Sfearthquake3b.jpg
File:Sharon Tate Valley of the Dolls 1967 - Restoration.jpg
File:Shasta dam under construction new edit.jpg
File:Sonoma chipmunk at Samuel P. Taylor State Park.jpg
File:Spanish shawl.JPG
File:Steve Jobs and Macintosh computer, January 1984, by Bernard Gotfryd - edited.jpg
File:Strip photo of San Francisco Cable Car 10.jpg
File:Surfer in california 2.JPG
File:Tower Bridge Sacramento edit.jpg
File:Tracy Caldwell Dyson in Cupola ISS.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-Oakland-2248-1870-10-388-B.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-Petaluma-2193-1870-100-209-A.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-San Francisco-1741-1870-5-6758-B.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-San Francisco-1741-1870-20-2772-C.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-San Francisco-1741-1870-50-1616-A.jpg
File:USA Lassen NP Kings Creek CA edit3.jpg
File:Vernal Falls Rainbow.jpg
File:Victor Adam after Louis Choris - Vue du Presidio san Francisco, 1822.jpg
File:Vineyards of Napa Valley panorama.jpg
File:Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, CA, jjron 22.03.2012.jpg
File:Waxman during Hyatt III sketch.jpg
File:World War II woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, California 1942.jpg

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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California

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