Portal:California

Introduction Welcome to the Portal:California. Such a lovely place. California State State of California Flag Seal Map of the United States with California highlighted 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, after New York City. San Francisco is the second-most densely populated major city in the country, after New York City. Los Angeles County is the country's most populous county, and San Bernardino County is the nation's largest county by area. Sacramento is the state's capital city. Prior to European colonization, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America, and the indigenous peoples of California constituted the highest Native American population density north of what is now Mexico. European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization of California by the Spanish Empire. In 1804, it was included in Alta California province within the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821, following its successful war for independence, but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. The California Gold Rush started in 1848 and led to dramatic social and demographic changes, including the depopulation of indigenous peoples in the California genocide. The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850, as a free state, following the Compromise of 1850. (Full article...) Selected article - Redwood grove shrouded in fog The Redwood National and State Parks are located in the United States, along the Pacific Ocean coast of northern California. The parks consist of a combined area of 131,983 acres (534.12 km2) and they protect 45% of all remaining coast redwood old-growth forests. These tree]s are the tallest and one of the most massive tree species on Earth. In addition, the parks preserve other indigenous flora, fauna, grassland prairie, cultural resources, portions of rivers and other streams, and 37 miles (60 km) of pristine coastline. In 1850, old-growth redwood forest covered more than 2,000,000 acres (8,100 km2) of the California coast. The northern portion of that area, originally inhabited by Native Americans, attracted many lumbermen and others turned gold miners when a minor gold rush brought them to the region. After many decades of unobstructed clear-cut logging, serious efforts toward conservation began. Redwood National Park was created in 1968, by which time nearly 90% of the original redwood trees had been logged. The ecosystem of the RNSP preserves a number of threatened animal species such as the Brown pelican, Tidewater goby, Bald eagle, Chinook salmon, Northern spotted owl, and the Steller sea lion. In recognition of the rare ecosystem and cultural history found in the parks, the United Nations has designated them a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve. (Full article...) More selected articles General images - The following are images from various California-related articles on Wikipedia. The Vallecitos stop of the Butterfield Overland Mail, in Julian, California. (from History of California) The University of California, Berkeley is the flagship school of the University of California system. (from Culture of California) Balthazar, Inhabitant of Northern California, an 1818 portrait of a Miwok man by artist Mikhail Tikhanov. (from History of California) Francis Drake's 1579 landing in "New Albion" (modern-day Point Reyes); engraving by Theodor De Bry, 1590. (from History of California) Concord Coach no. 251 in Wells Fargo livery in Old Town San Diego. (from History of California) 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) 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 character. (from History of California) The Spanish founded Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776, the third to be established of the Californian missions. (from History of California) The 1835 Manifiesto a la República Mejicana, by José Figueroa, was the first book published in California (from Culture of California) 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) Forces raising the U.S. flag over the Monterey Customhouse following their victory at the Battle of Monterey (from History of California) Mission Santa Barbara, founded in 1786, was the first mission to be established by Fermín de Lasuén. (from History of California) 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) Portrait of an "assimilated" Maidu man in Sacramento, 1867. (from History of California) Bodega y Quadra led a 1775 expedition along the coast of California into the Pacific Northwest. (from History of California) Gaspar de Portolá served as the first Governor of the Californias and led the famed Portolá expedition of 1769-70. (from History of California) General 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) Pacheco Adobe, built 1835 by Salvio Pacheco on Rancho Monte del Diablo. (from History of California) Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, founded in 1771 by padres Pedro Benito Cambón and Ángel de la Somera. (from History of California) Advertisement for sailing to California, c. 1850. (from History of California) Depiction of the Donner Party heading west on the California Trail. (from History of California) 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) Depiction of the California hide trade. (from History of California) While 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) The American capture of San Diego by the USS Cyane in 1846 (from History of California) Flag of Company A (The California 100) during the U.S. Civil War. (from History of California) General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo reviewing his troops in Sonoma in 1846. (from History of California) The Petaluma Adobe, built by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo in 1836 on Rancho Petaluma. (from History of California) 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) 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) California's first State Capitol building in San Jose, which served as the capital of California 1850–51. (from History of California) Presidio of San Francisco, founded by José Joaquín Moraga in 1776. (from History of California) The Battle of San Pasqual in 1846. (from History of California) Map of the Butterfield Overland Mail routes through California, c. 1858. (from History of California) Dividing the Light (2007), a skyspace by James Turrell at Pomona College (from Culture of California) In-N-Out burgers (from Culture of California) 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) Stanford University Oval (from Culture of California) San Francisco harbor, c. 1850–51. (from History of California) SS 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) The railway station in Sacramento in 1874. (from History of California) Junípero Serra conducting the first mass in Monterey Bay in 1770. (from History of California) 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) A Southern Pacific Train at Arcade Depot, Los Angeles, 1891 (from History of California) 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) 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) Mission San Francisco Solano, founded in 1823 by order of Governor Luis Antonio Argüello, was the last Californian mission established. (from History of California) "Independent Gold Hunter on His Way to California", c. 1850 (from History of California) Manuel Domínguez built Domínguez Adobe on Rancho San Pedro in 1826. (from History of California) Depiction of the revolt of the Mission Indians against padre Luis Jayme at Mission San Diego de Alcalá in 1775. (from History of California) The Battle of Río San Gabriel, in 1847, was a decisive victory for the American campaign in Alta California. (from History of California) Goldfields in the Sierra Nevada and Shasta Cascade. (from History of California) Poppies, Antelope Valley, a California Impressionist painting by Benjamin Chambers Brown (from Culture of California) Presidio of Santa Barbara. (from Culture of California) The Getty Villa (from Culture of California) The 1846 Bear Flag Revolt declared the California Republic and prefaced the American conquest of California. (from History of California) Juan Bautista de Anza led the 1774-76 Anza Expeditions. (from History of California) The colonial coat of arms of the Californias, granted by Antonio de Mendoza, the first Viceroy of New Spain. (from History of California) Selected quote - Selected biographies - Norman Clyde in the Sierra Nevada in 1931 Norman Clyde (April 8, 1885 – December 23, 1972) was a mountaineer, mountain guide, freelance writer, nature photographer, and self-trained naturalist. He is well known for achieving over 130 first ascents, many in California's Sierra Nevada and Montana's Glacier National Park. He also set a speed climbing record on California's Mount Shasta in 1923. The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley has 1467 articles written by Clyde in its archives. (Full article...) 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. 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...) 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. Some of the 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 without a credit to Manson. Afterward, Manson attempted to secure a record contract through Melcher, but was unsuccessful. (Full article...) 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...) Milk in June 1978 Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in New York, where he acknowledged his homosexuality as an adolescent, but chose to pursue sexual relationships with secrecy and discretion well into his adult years. His experience in the counterculture of the 1960s caused him to shed many of his conservative views about individual freedom and the expression of sexuality. Milk moved to San Francisco in 1972 and opened a camera store. Although he had been restless, holding an assortment of jobs and changing addresses frequently, he settled in the Castro, a neighborhood that at the time was experiencing a mass immigration of gay men and lesbians. He was compelled to run for city supervisor in 1973, though he encountered resistance from the existing gay political establishment. His campaign was compared to theater; he was brash, outspoken, animated, and outrageous, earning media attention and votes, although not enough to be elected. He campaigned again in the next two supervisor elections, dubbing himself the "Mayor of Castro Street". Voters responded enough to warrant his running for the California State Assembly as well. Taking advantage of his growing popularity, he led the gay political movement in fierce battles against anti-gay initiatives. Milk was elected city supervisor in 1977 after San Francisco reorganized its election procedures to choose representatives from neighborhoods rather than through city-wide ballots. (Full article...) Gyllenhaal in 2019 Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal (/ˈdʒɪlənhɔːl/ JIL-ən-hawl, Swedish: [ˈjʏ̂lːɛnˌhɑːl]; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and the younger brother of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He began acting as a child, making his acting debut in City Slickers (1991), followed by roles in his father's films A Dangerous Woman (1993) and Homegrown (1998). His breakthrough roles were as Homer Hickam in October Sky (1999) and as a psychologically troubled teenager in Donnie Darko (2001). Gyllenhaal starred in the 2004 science fiction disaster film The Day After Tomorrow. He played Jack Twist in Ang Lee's 2005 romantic drama Brokeback Mountain, for which Gyllenhaal won a BAFTA Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. His career progressed with starring roles in the thriller Zodiac (2007), the romantic comedy Love & Other Drugs (2010), and the science fiction film Source Code (2011). Further acclaim came with his roles in Denis Villeneuve's thrillers Prisoners (2013) and Enemy (2013), and he received nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performances as a manipulative journalist in Nightcrawler (2014) and a troubled writer in Nocturnal Animals (2016). His highest-grossing release came with the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), in which he portrayed Quentin Beck / Mysterio. He has since starred in Wildlife (2018), Velvet Buzzsaw (2019), The Guilty (2021), and Ambulance (2022). (Full article...) Major Burnham in his British Army uniform in 1901 Frederick Russell Burnham DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to the British Army in colonial Africa, and for teaching woodcraft to Robert Baden-Powell in Rhodesia. Burnham helped inspire the founding of the international Scouting Movement. Burnham was born on a Dakota Sioux Indian reservation in Minnesota, in the small village of Tivoli near the city of Mankato; there he learned the ways of American Indians as a boy. By the age of 14, he was supporting himself in California, while also learning scouting from some of the last of the cowboys and frontiersmen of the American Southwest. Burnham had little formal education, never finishing high school. After moving to the Arizona Territory in the early 1880s, he was drawn into the Pleasant Valley War, a feud between families of ranchers and sheepherders. He escaped and later worked as a civilian tracker for the United States Army in the Apache Wars. Feeling the need for new adventures, Burnham took his family to southern Africa in 1893, seeing Cecil Rhodes's Cape to Cairo Railway project as the next undeveloped frontier. (Full article...) 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...) Wally Bill Hedrick (1928 – December 17, 2003) was a seminal American artist in the 1950s California counterculture, gallerist, and educator who came to prominence in the early 1960s. Hedrick's contributions to art include pioneering artworks in psychedelic light art, mechanical kinetic sculpture, junk/assemblage sculpture, Pop Art, and (California) Funk Art. Later in his life, he was a recognized forerunner in Happenings, Conceptual Art, Bad Painting, Neo-Expressionism, and image appropriation. Hedrick was also a key figure in the first important public manifestation of the Beat Generation when he helped to organize the Six Gallery Reading, and created the first artistic denunciation of American foreign policy in Vietnam. Wally Hedrick was known as an “idea artist” long before the label “conceptual art” entered the art world, and experimented with innovative use of language in art, at times resorting to puns. (Full article...) London in 1903 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...) 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...) Norton, c. 1871–72 Joshua Abraham Norton (February 4, 1818 – January 8, 1880) was a resident of San Francisco, California, who in 1859 proclaimed himself "Norton I., Emperor of the United States", commonly known as Emperor Norton. In 1863, after Napoleon III invaded Mexico, he took the secondary title of "Protector of Mexico". For the first few years after arriving in San Francisco in 1849, Norton made a successful living as a commodities trader and real estate speculator. However, he was financially ruined following a failed bid to corner the rice market during a shortage prompted by a famine in China. He bought a shipload of Peruvian rice at 12 cents per pound (26 ¢/kg), but more Peruvian ships arrived in port, causing the price to drop sharply to three cents per pound (6.6 ¢/kg). He then lost a protracted lawsuit in which he tried to void his rice contract, and his local prominence faded. (Full article...) Muir c. 1902 John Muir (/mjʊər/ MURE; April 21, 1838 – December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States. His books, letters and essays describing his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada, have been read by millions. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley and Sequoia National Park, and his example has served as an inspiration for the preservation of many other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he co-founded, is a prominent American conservation organization. In his later life, Muir devoted most of his time to his wife and the preservation of the Western forests. As part of the campaign to make Yosemite a national park, Muir published two landmark articles on wilderness preservation in The Century Magazine, "The Treasures of the Yosemite" and "Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park"; this helped support the push for US Congress to pass a bill in 1890 establishing Yosemite National Park. The spiritual quality and enthusiasm toward nature expressed in his writings has inspired readers, including presidents and congressmen, to take action to help preserve large nature areas. (Full article...) Barbera in 1993 Joseph Roland Barbera (/ˈbɑːrbərə/ BAR-bər-ə; Italian: [barˈbɛːra]; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator and cartoonist, best known as the co-founder of the animation studio Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian immigrants in New York City, Barbera joined Van Beuren Studios in 1927 and subsequently Terrytoons in 1929. In 1937, he moved to California, and while working at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Barbera met William Hanna. The two men began a collaboration that was at first best known for producing Tom and Jerry. (Full article...) Hanna in 1977 William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator, voice actor, and occasional musician who is best known for co-creating Tom and Jerry and providing the vocal effects for the series' title characters. Alongside Joseph Barbera, he also founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera. Hanna joined the Harman and Ising animation studio in 1930 and steadily gained skill and prominence while working on cartoons such as Captain and the Kids. In 1937, while working at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Hanna met Joseph Barbera. In 1957, they co-founded Hanna-Barbera, which became the most successful television animation studio in the business, creating or producing programs such as The Flintstones, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, The Smurfs, and Yogi Bear. In 1967, Hanna-Barbera was sold to Taft Broadcasting for $12 million, but Hanna and Barbera remained heads of the company until 1991. At that time, the studio was sold to Turner Broadcasting System, which in turn was merged with Time Warner in 1996; Hanna and Barbera stayed on as advisors. (Full article...) Did you know - ... that in the early 1990s, several TV stations in Northern California experimented with moving prime time up an hour? ... that due to business closures across California during the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the exotic dancers at Jumbo's Clown Room created the Cyber Clown Girls show so they could continue working? ... that some California schoolchildren build dioramas when learning about their state's Spanish missions? ... that the founder of a California radio station "didn't want to do background music"? ... that aircraft helping to fight the Poe Fire in northern California in September 2001 were grounded by the FAA following the September 11 attacks? ... that staff of a California public TV station were unaware it was broadcasting in color until a viewer called to compliment their color signal? ... that after losing his job at KBIF when his father was convicted on tax-withholding crimes, future California politician Jim Patterson bought Fresno's KIRV and turned it into a Christian radio station? ... that Bull Island was farmed by the Money family for over 100 years before being turned into a wildlife preserve? Selected picture - The Tower Bridge of Sacramento 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 - San Francisco at Sunset The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 14th most populous city in the United States, with a 2007 estimated population of 764,976. One of the most densely populated major American cities, San Francisco is part of the much larger San Francisco Bay Area, which is home to approximately 7.2 million people. 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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 Jozo Tomasevich Featured portals Portal:California Portal:California roads 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 (31st) 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 Related WikiProjects Related WikiProjects Main Project California Sub-projects Southern California • Los Angeles • San Francisco Bay Area • Santa Barbara County • California State Highways • California County Routes • University of California • California State University Subportals Related portals Things you can do Things you can do Create Requested California Articles Help assess articles supported by WikiProject California Help suggest content for usage in this portal by using the archive links to obtain instructions Write California-related topics if you see a redlink which is worthy of an article Cleanup and expand stub-class articles relating to California Associated Wikimedia The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject: Commons Free media repository Wikibooks Free textbooks and manuals Wikidata Free knowledge base Wikinews Free-content news Wikiquote Collection of quotations Wikisource Free-content library Wikiversity Free learning tools Wikivoyage Free travel guide Wiktionary Dictionary and thesaurus More portals Discover Wikipedia using portals List of all portals The arts portal Biography portal Current events portal Geography portal History portal Mathematics portal Science portal Society portal Technology portal Random portal WikiProject Portals Shortcuts to this page: P:CALIFORNIA • P:CAL