Notable contributions to popular culture, for example in entertainment and sports, have their origins in California. The state also has made noteworthy contributions in the fields of communication, information, innovation, environmentalism, economics, and politics. It is the home of Hollywood, the oldest and one of the largest film industries in the world, which has had a profound influence upon global entertainment. It is considered the origin of the hippie counterculture, beach and car culture, and the personal computer, among other innovations. The San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles Area are widely seen as the centers of the global technology and film industries, respectively. California's economy is very diverse: 58% of it is based on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific, and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5% of the state's economy, California's agriculture industry has the highest output of any U.S. state. California's ports and harbors handle about a third of all U.S. imports, most originating in Pacific Rim international trade. (Full article...)
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.
The following are images from various California-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1Map of the route, Juan Bautista de Anza travelled in 1775–76 from Mexico to today's San Francisco via the Gila River corridor and the Yuma Crossing of the Colorado River. (from History of California)
Image 10The courtyard of Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, with California's oldest pepper tree (Schinus molle), planted in 1830, visible through the arch. (from History of California)
Image 28The Mojave and Sonoran deserts block easy land travel to California. The easiest way across was to use the Gila River corridor. (from History of California)
Image 30The stage routes from a Butterfield Overland Mail Company map. (from History of California)
Image 31National Historic Landmark commemorating and honoring Sir Francis Drake, Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeño, and Coast Miwok people at Point Reyes, California (from History of California)
Reagan was born in New York City. After her parents separated, she lived in Maryland with an aunt and uncle for six years. When her mother remarried in 1929, she moved to Chicago and later was adopted by her mother's second husband. As Nancy Davis, she was a Hollywood actress in the 1940s and 1950s, starring in films such as The Next Voice You Hear..., Night into Morning, and Donovan's Brain. In 1952, she married Ronald Reagan, who was then president of the Screen Actors Guild. He had two children from his previous marriage to Jane Wyman and he and Nancy had two children together. Nancy Reagan was the first lady of California when her husband was governor from 1967 to 1975, and she began to work with the Foster Grandparents Program. (Full article...)
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Warner in 1955
Jack Leonard Warner (born Jacob Warner; August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's career spanned some forty-five years, its duration surpassing that of any other of the seminal Hollywood studio moguls.
As co-head of production at Warner Bros. Studios, Warner worked with his brother, Sam Warner, to procure the technology for the film industry's first talking picture, The Jazz Singer (1927). After Sam's death, Jack clashed with his surviving older brothers, Harry and Albert Warner. He assumed exclusive control of the company in the 1950s when he secretly purchased his brothers' shares in the business after convincing them to participate in a joint sale of stocks. (Full article...)
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 August22, 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. In December 2013 the Diamondbacks traded Skaggs back to the Angels, and he served as the fifth member of the team's starting pitching rotation until an ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injury and subsequent Tommy John surgery derailed his season on July31, 2014. Despite his initial plans to begin pitching in the minor leagues by the end of the 2015 season, Skaggs did not start practicing again until the beginning of the 2016 season and returned to the Angels mound that July. Although he figured prominently in the Angels' rotation between 2017 and 2019, Skaggs continued missing large parts of each season because of injury. Through June 2019, he posted a career earned run average (ERA) of 4.41, recorded 476 strikeouts, and had a win–loss record of 28–38. (Full article...)
Nixon was born into a poor family of Quakers in a small town in Southern California. He graduated from Duke Law School in 1937, practiced law in California, then moved with his wife Pat to Washington in 1942 to work for the federal government. After active duty in the Naval Reserve during World War II, he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946. His work on the Alger Hiss Case established his reputation as a leading anti-Communist, which elevated him to national prominence, and in 1950, he was elected to the Senate. Nixon was the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party's presidential nominee in the 1952 election, and served for eight years as the vice president. He ran for president in 1960, narrowly lost to John F. Kennedy, then failed again in a 1962 race for governor of California, after which time it was widely believed that his political career was over. However, in 1968, he made another run for the presidency and was elected, narrowly defeating Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace in a close contest. (Full article...)
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Monroe spent most of her childhood in foster homes and an orphanage; she married at age sixteen. She was working in a factory during World War II when she met a photographer from the First Motion Picture Unit and began a successful pin-up modeling career, which led to short-lived film contracts with 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures. After a series of minor film roles, she signed a new contract with Fox in late 1950. Over the next two years, she became a popular actress with roles in several comedies, including As Young as You Feel and Monkey Business, and in the dramas Clash by Night and Don't Bother to Knock. She faced a scandal when it was revealed that she had posed for nude photographs prior to becoming a star, but the story did not damage her career and instead resulted in increased interest in her films. (Full article...)
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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Disney in 1990
Roy Edward DisneyKCSG (January 10, 1930 – December 16, 2009) was an American businessman. He was the longtime senior executive for the Walt Disney Company, which was founded by his father, Roy O. Disney, and his uncle, Walt Disney. At the time of his death, he held more than 16 million shares (about 1% of the company), and served as a consultant for the company, as director emeritus for the board of directors. During his tenure, he organized the ousting of two top Disney executives: Ron W. Miller in 1984 and Michael Eisner in 2005.
As the last member of the Disney family to be actively involved in the company, Disney was often compared to his uncle and to his father. In 2006, Forbes magazine estimated his personal fortune at $1.2 billion. (Full article...)
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Emperor Norton, c. 1871–72
Joshua Abraham Norton (February 4, 1818 – January 8, 1880), known as Emperor Norton, was a resident of San Francisco, California who, in 1859, proclaimed himself "Norton I., Emperor of the United States". In 1863, after Napoleon IIIinvaded Mexico, he took the secondary title of "Protector of Mexico".
Norton was born in England but spent most of his early life in South Africa. Leaving Cape Town, probably in late 1845, he arrived in Boston, via Liverpool, in March 1846 and San Francisco in late 1849. Nothing is known of his whereabouts or occupations in the intervening three-and-a-half years. (Full article...)
Maddow holds a bachelor's degree in public policy from Stanford University and a doctorate in political science from the University of Oxford and is the first openly lesbian anchor to host a major prime-time news program in the United States. Asked about her political views by the Valley Advocate, Maddow replied, "I'm undoubtedly a liberal, which means that I'm in almost total agreement with the Eisenhower-era Republican Party platform." (Full article...)
... that 54 years ago today, California television station KCFT-TV went off the air when General Electric showed up with a moving van, a locksmith, and a court order to repossess equipment?
... that the westernmost population of California fan palms is found on the slopes of Cerro Bola in Baja California, Mexico?
The Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) is a large white-headed gull that lives on the western coast of North America. It is a large gull, around 60 cm long with a white head and body, and gray wings. It has a yellow bill with a red subterminal spot (this is the small spot near the end of the bill that chicks peck in order to stimulate feeding).