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 (/ˌkælɪˈfɔːrniə/) 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 almost 40 million residents across an area of 163,696 square miles (423,970 km²), it is the largest state by population and third-largest by area.

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. It organized itself and was admitted as the 31st state in 1850 as a free state, following the Compromise of 1850. It never had the status of territory.

The economy of California is the largest of any U.S. state, with an estimated 2024 gross state product of $4.172 trillion as of Q4 2024. It is the world's largest sub-national economy and if it were an independent country, it would be the fourth-largest economy in the world (putting it, as of 2025, behind Germany and ahead of Japan) 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. Hollywood in Los Angeles is the center of the U.S. film industry and one of the oldest and one of the largest film industries in the world; profoundly influencing global entertainment since the 1920s. The San Francisco Bay's Silicon Valley is the center of the global technology industry. (Full article...)

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Old Kellogg stable at Cal Poly Pomona

The California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, commonly known as Cal Poly Pomona is a public, nationally-ranked, coeducational university, and one of the 23 general campuses of the California State University system. The main campus sits on 1,438 acres (582 ha) of a suburban district in the western corner of Pomona, California a city within Los Angeles County. This figure includes a 53 acre ranch in Santa Paula, California donated in 1978. Founded in 1938 as the Voorhis Unit, Cal Poly Pomona is known for taking a learn-by-doing philosophy in several areas of the educational spectrum.

As a polytechnic university, Cal Poly Pomona maintains strong science and engineering departments. The university's engineering program. Cal Poly Pomona is a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and a "University of Excellence" according to the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. (Full article...)

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

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

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If you want to surf, move to Hawaii. If you like to shop, move to New York. If you like acting and Hollywood, move to California. But if you like college football, move to Texas.

— Ricky Williams

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Image 1

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 U.S. House speaker and the first woman to lead a major political party in either chamber of Congress, heading the House Democrats from 2003 to 2023. A member of the House since 1987, Pelosi represents California's 11th congressional district, which includes most of San Francisco. She is the dean of California's congressional delegation.

The daughter of congressman Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., Pelosi was born and raised in Baltimore. She graduated from Trinity College, Washington, in 1962 and married businessman Paul Pelosi the next year. They moved to New York City before settling down in San Francisco with their children. Focused on raising her family, Pelosi entered politics in the 1960s as a volunteer for the Democratic Party. After years of party work, rising to chair the state party, she was first elected to Congress in a 1987 special election. 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. (Full article...)
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Walter Francis O'Malley (October 9, 1903 – August 9, 1979) was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1979. In 1958, as owner of the Dodgers, he brought major league baseball to the West Coast, moving the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles despite the Dodgers being the second most profitable team in baseball from 1946 to 1956, and coordinating the move of the New York Giants to San Francisco at a time when there were no teams west of Kansas City, Missouri. In 2008, O'Malley was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for his contributions to and influence on the game of baseball.

O'Malley's father, Edwin Joseph O'Malley, was politically connected. Walter, a University of Pennsylvania salutatorian, went on to obtain a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), and he used the combination of his family connections, his personal contacts, and both his educational and vocational skills to rise to prominence. First, he became an entrepreneur involved in public works contracting, and then he became an executive with the Dodgers. He progressed from being a team lawyer to being both the Dodgers' owner and president, and he eventually made the business decision to relocate the Dodgers franchise. Although he moved the franchise, O'Malley is known as a businessman whose major philosophy was stability through loyalty to and from his employees. (Full article...)
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Manson's 1968 mugshot

Charles Milles Manson (né Maddox; November 12, 1934 – November 19, 2017) was an American criminal, cult leader, and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some cult members committed a series of at least nine murders at four locations in July and August 1969. In 1971, Manson was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the deaths of seven people, including the film actress Sharon Tate. The prosecution contended that, while Manson never directly ordered the murders, his ideology constituted an overt act of conspiracy.

Before the murders, Manson had spent more than half of his life in correctional institutions. While gathering his cult following, he was a singer-songwriter on the fringe of the Los Angeles music industry, chiefly through a chance association with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, who introduced Manson to record producer Terry Melcher. In 1968, the Beach Boys recorded Manson's song "Cease to Exist", renamed "Never Learn Not to Love" as a single B-side, but Manson was uncredited. Afterward, he attempted to secure a record contract through Melcher, but was unsuccessful. (Full article...)
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Murray M Chotiner (October 4, 1909 – January 30, 1974) was an American political strategist, attorney, government official, and close associate and friend of President Richard Nixon during much of the 37th President's political career. He served as campaign manager for the future president's successful runs for the United States Senate in 1950 and for the vice presidency in 1952, and managed the campaigns of other California Republicans. He was active in each of Nixon's two successful runs for the White House in low-profile positions.

Chotiner was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; his father moved the family to California and then abandoned his wife and children. Murray Chotiner attended UCLA, and graduated from the Southwestern School of Law. He practiced law in Los Angeles, and branched out into public relations. Involving himself in Republican politics, he played an active part in several political campaigns and made an unsuccessful run for the California State Assembly in 1938. (Full article...)
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Chastain in 2025

Jessica Michelle Chastain (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in projects with feminist themes, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, two Tony Awards and two British Academy Film Awards. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012.

Chastain developed an interest in acting from an early age and made her professional stage debut in 1998 as Shakespeare's Juliet. After studying acting at the Juilliard School, she worked on television and stage. After making her film debut at age 31 in the drama Jolene (2008), Chastain had her breakthrough in 2011 with six film releases, including the dramas Take Shelter (2011) and The Tree of Life (2011). She received Academy Award nominations for playing an aspiring socialite in the period drama The Help (2011) and a CIA analyst in the thriller Zero Dark Thirty (2012). (Full article...)
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Lawrence in 1939

Ernest Orlando Lawrence (August 8, 1901 – August 27, 1958) was an American accelerator physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939 for his invention of the cyclotron. He is known for his work on uranium-isotope separation for the Manhattan Project, as well as for founding the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

A graduate of the University of South Dakota and University of Minnesota, Lawrence obtained a PhD in physics at Yale in 1925. In 1928, he was hired as an associate professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, becoming the youngest full professor there two years later. In its library one evening, Lawrence was intrigued by a diagram of an accelerator that produced high-energy particles. He contemplated how it could be made compact, and came up with an idea for a circular accelerating chamber between the poles of an electromagnet. The result was the first cyclotron. (Full article...)
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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...)
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Eastwood in 2010

Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series Rawhide, Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy of spaghetti Westerns during the mid-1960s and as antihero cop Harry Callahan in the five Dirty Harry films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These roles, among others, have made Eastwood an enduring cultural icon of masculinity. Elected in 1986, Eastwood served for two years as the mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

Eastwood's greatest commercial successes are the adventure comedy Every Which Way but Loose (1978) and its action comedy sequel Any Which Way You Can (1980). Other popular Eastwood films include the Westerns Hang 'Em High (1968), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and Pale Rider (1985), the action-war film Where Eagles Dare (1968), the prison film Escape from Alcatraz (1979), the war film Heartbreak Ridge (1986), the action film In the Line of Fire (1993), and the romantic drama The Bridges of Madison County (1995). More recent works include Gran Torino (2008), The Mule (2018), and Cry Macho (2021). Since 1967, Eastwood's company Malpaso Productions has produced all but four of his American films. (Full article...)
Image 9

Self-Portrait, 1902

Xavier Timoteo Martínez (February 7, 1869 – January 13, 1943) was a Mexican-born American artist active in California the late 19th and early 20th century. He was a well-known bohemian figure in San Francisco, the East Bay, and the Monterey Peninsula and one of the co-founders of two California artists' organizations and an art gallery. He painted in a tonalist style and also produced monotypes, etchings, and silverpoint. (Full article...)
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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...)
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Monroe in 1953

Marilyn Monroe (/ˈmærəlɪn mənˈroʊ/ MARR-ə-lin mən-ROH; 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 2024) by her death in 1962.

Born in Los Angeles, Monroe spent most of her childhood in foster homes and an orphanage before marrying James Dougherty at the age of 16. 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 roles as a freelancer, she began a longer contract with Fox in 1951, becoming 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 fame, but the story resulted in increased interest in her films. (Full article...)
Image 12

Abdul at GalaxyCon Raleigh in 2023

Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographer for the Laker Girls, where she was discovered by the Jacksons. After choreographing music videos for Janet Jackson, Abdul became a choreographer at the height of the music video era and soon thereafter she was signed to Virgin Records. Her debut studio album Forever Your Girl (1988) became one of the most successful debut albums at that time, selling seven million copies in the United States and setting a record for the most number-one singles from a debut album on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: "Straight Up", "Forever Your Girl", "Cold Hearted", and "Opposites Attract". Her second album Spellbound (1991) scored her two more chart-toppers – "Rush Rush" and "The Promise of a New Day". With six number-one singles on Hot 100, Abdul tied Diana Ross for the third-most chart-toppers among female solo artists at the time. As of 2025, Abdul places seventh along with Diana Ross and Lady Gaga for the most number-one singles by female artists in the U.S. to date.

Abdul was one of the original judges on the television series American Idol from 2002 to 2009, and has since appeared as a judge on The X Factor, Live to Dance, So You Think You Can Dance, and The Masked Dancer. She received choreography credits in numerous films, including Can't Buy Me Love (1987), The Running Man (1987), Coming to America (1988), Action Jackson (1988), The Doors (1991), Jerry Maguire (1996), and American Beauty (1999). She received 17 MTV Video Music Award nominations, winning five, as well as receiving the Grammy Award for Best Music Video for "Opposites Attract" in 1991. She received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography twice for her work on The Tracey Ullman Show, and her own performance at the American Music Awards in 1990. Abdul was honored with her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and is the first entertainer to be honored with the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards' Hall of Fame Award. (Full article...)
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Jolie in 2024

Angelina Jolie (/dʒoʊˈliː/ joh-LEE; born Angelina Jolie Voight, /ˈvɔɪt/, June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony 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 television films George Wallace (1997) and Gia (1998), Jolie won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1999 drama Girl, Interrupted. Her portrayal of the titular heroine in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) established her as a leading lady. Jolie's success continued with roles in the action films Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Wanted (2008), and Salt (2010), as well as in the fantasy film Maleficent (2014) and its 2019 sequel. She also had voice roles in the animated films Shark Tale (2004) and Kung Fu Panda franchise (2008–2016), and gained praise for her dramatic performances in A Mighty Heart (2007), Changeling (2008), which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and Maria (2024). (Full article...)
Image 14

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.

Blanc 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 15

Parsons in 1941

John Whiteside Parsons (born Marvel Whiteside Parsons; October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952) was an American rocket engineer, chemist, and Thelemite occultist. Parsons was one of the principal founders of both the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Aerojet. He invented the first rocket engine to use a castable, composite rocket propellant, and pioneered the advancement of both liquid-fuel and solid-fuel rockets.

Parsons was raised in Pasadena, California. He began amateur rocket experiments with school friend Edward Forman in 1928. Parsons was admitted to Stanford University but left before graduating due to financial hardship during the Great Depression. In 1934, Parsons, Forman, and Frank Malina formed the Caltech-affiliated Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory (GALCIT) Rocket Research Group, with support by GALCIT chairman Theodore von Kármán. The group worked on Jet-Assisted Take Off (JATO) for the U.S. military, and founded Aerojet in 1942 to develop and sell JATO technology during World War II. The GALCIT Rocket Research Group became JPL in 1943. (Full article...)

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... that Cypress College basketball coach Don Johnson, who was an All-American at UCLA, developed two players with minimal experience who later played for his alma mater and set records in the NBA?
... that the opening day of a California TV station was affected by a strike when workers refused to cross a two-man picket line?
... that country music singer Buck Owens bought a bankrupt TV station in California from his sister?
... that some California schoolchildren build dioramas when learning about their state's Spanish missions?
... 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 the studios of a California TV station were converted back into a movie theater after it went out of business?
... that on July 11, 2022, millions of dollars worth of jewelry was stolen from the back of a truck while one driver was getting food at a California truck stop and the other one was asleep in the cab?
... that a California TV station wondered whether it had the "World's Longest Pregnancy"?

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Nine Sisters

Credit: Basar

The Nine Sisters or the Morros are a chain of nine volcanic peaks and hills between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo, California. They are popular with photographers and rock climbers. Their volcanic origin makes them of significant geological interest, and they also support a wide variety of plant, animal, and bird life.

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Credit: Victorrocha

Industry (or City of Industry) is a city in the San Gabriel Valley section of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It was incorporated June 18, 1957. The population was 777 at the 2000 census. The city was incorporated to prevent surrounding cities from annexing industrial land for tax revenue.

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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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