California (CA).

• Region: Pacific coast
• Population: 39,029,342 (ranked 1st) (2022 estimate)
• Capital: Sacramento (pop. 528,001) (2022 estimate)
• Largest city: Los Angeles (pop. 3,822,238) (2022 estimate)
• Number of counties: 58
• State nickname: Golden State
• State motto: Eureka!
• State flag: Star above grizzly bear on white background above red stripe

California, the most populous and third largest state by land area, entered the Union on September 9, 1850, as the thirty-first state. Located on the West Coast, the Golden State is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west, on the north by Oregon, on the east by Arizona (across the Colorado River) and Nevada, and on the south by Mexico. California was part of the Spanish empire from the 1530s until the 1840s, when Anglo-American settlers revolted and briefly established the independent Republic of California. The 1849 gold rush brought immense waves of immigration to California and helped hasten statehood.

Since the early twentieth century, California has been the center of the world's entertainment industry, exporting movies around the world. Other major industries include technology, aerospace, manufacturing, and agriculture. The Santa Clara Valley is known as Silicon Valley because of the high concentration of electronics companies there. California is one of the world’s most popular tourist locations, due to the rich and varied cultural life of metropolises such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, and natural wonders such as the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the state's rugged coastline.

State Name: The name California reputedly comes from a sixteenth-century Spanish novel, Las Sergas de Esplandian (The Exploits of Esplandian). Written in 1510 by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, the romance describes a mythical island paradise filled with gold. Hernán Cortés, who explored the region in 1535, probably used this source to name the territory. California is nicknamed the "Golden State" because of the state's gold rush heritage, as well as the profusion of gold-colored wildflowers such the golden poppy (the state flower).

Capital: The state capital is Sacramento, in northern California. The city was founded in 1849 during the gold rush near the site of Sutter's Mill, a sawmill established by California pioneer Captain John Sutter.

Flag: The state flag, also known as the Bear Flag, recalls California's brief existence as an independent nation called the California Republic. The flag has a white background or union, with a red horizontal stripe at the bottom. In the middle of the flag is a grizzly bear. Underneath the bear are the words "California Republic." In the upper left is a red star. The flag was designed by William Todd, who took part in the June 1846 revolt against Mexico. The state legislature officially adopted the design in 1911.

Official Symbols

• Flower: Poppy
• Bird: California quail
• Tree: California redwood
• Animal: California grizzly bear
• Fish: Golden trout
• Song: "I Love You, California" by F. B. Silverwood and Alfred Frankenstein

State and National Historic Sites

• Cabrillo National Monument (Point Loma, south of San Diego)
• Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park (south of San Marcos Pass)
• Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site (Danville)
• Fort Ross State Historic Park (north of Jenner)
• Jack London State Historic Park (Glen Ellen)
• John Muir National Historic Site (Martinez)
• Old San Diego State Historic Park (San Diego)
• Port Chicago National Memorial (Port Chicago)
• San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park (San Francisco)
• San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park (near Escondido)
• Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park (Santa Cruz)
• Sutter's Fort State Historic Park (Sacramento)

DEMOGRAPHICS

• Population: 39,029,342 (ranked 1st) (2022 estimate)
• Population density: 253.7/sq mi (2020)
• Urban population: 94.2% (2020 estimate)
• Rural population: 5.8% (2020 estimate)
• Population under 18: 21.8% (2022 estimate)
• Population over 65: 15.8% (2022 estimate)
• White alone: 70.7% (2022 estimate)
• Black or African American alone: 6.5%
• Hispanic or Latino: 40.3%
• American Indian and Alaska Native alone: 1.7%
• Asian alone: 16.3%
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone: 0.5%
• Two or More Races: 4.3%
• Per capita income: $41,276 (ranked 10th)
• Unemployment: 4.2%

American Indian Tribes: In California, there were originally over one hundred Indigenous tribes, which have historically belonged to one of the following language groups: Athabaskan, Hokan, Penutian, Ritwan, Siouan, and Uto-Aztecan. There are currently 110 federally recognized American Indian tribes and bands living in California.

During the Spanish era, the authorities used missions established by the Jesuits, Franciscans, and other orders to colonize the region and maintain control over the local American Indians, who became known as "Mission Indians." The missionaries tried to evangelize them but also extensively exploited their labor. When Mexico became independent of Spain in the early 1800s, it placed the missions under government control. In 1848, Mexico ceded California to the United States, following the US victory in the Mexican War. This opened up the territory to American settlement—a process hastened by the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in that year. California's American Indians found themselves confined to increasingly restricted reservations. During the Civil War and afterward, the US Army units were posted in California to keep the peace. US-tribal relations began improving in the early 1900s as American Indians gained US citizenship and were restored to many ancestral lands.

ENVIRONMENT AND GEOGRAPHY

• Total area: 163,650.7 sq mi (ranked 3rd)
• Land area: 155,812.8 sq mi (95.2% of total area)
• Water area: 7,837.9 sq mi (4.8% of total area)
• Shoreline: 3,427 miles
• National parks: 28
• Highest point: Mount Whitney (14,494 feet)
• Lowest point: Death Valley (-282 feet)
• Highest temperature: 134° F (Greenland Ranch, July 10, 1913)
• Lowest temperature: -45° F (Boca, January 20, 1937)

Topography: California's terrain is very mountainous. Low mountains rise along the Pacific coast (the Coast Ranges), while the high Sierra Nevada range soars along the eastern border. Between the two lies the Central Valley region. The Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers flow through this valley. Northern California is covered with forests and hills, while to the south are the arid plains of the Mojave Desert. The entire state is subject to earthquakes, because of friction along the San Andreas Fault.

Major Lakes

• Antelope Lake
• Bethany Reservoir
• Frenchman Lake
• Jackson Meadow Reservoir
• Lake Oroville
• Lake Pillsbury
• Lake Tahoe
• Little Grass Valley Reservoir
• New Hogan Lake
• Prosser Reservoir
• San Luis Reservoir
• Sugar Pine Reservoir

Major Rivers

• American River
• Big Sur River
• King River
• Klamath River
• Little Truckee River
• Merced River
• Sacramento River
• Trinity River
• Truckee River
• Tuolumne River
• Yuba River

State and National Parks: California has 280 state parks. These include natural recreation areas such as Big Basin Redwoods State Historic Park in Santa Cruz County. They also include historic sites such as William Randolph Hearst's San Simeon mansion and the gold rush town of Columbia in Tuolumne County. There are also twenty-eight national parks. These include Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego, marking the site of the first European exploration of the US West Coast, and the Presidio of San Francisco (in service as a military post from 1776 to 1994, under the flags of Spain, Mexico, and the United States).

Natural Resources: California has immense natural resources, in mineral wealth, timber, commercial fishing, and its rich soil. Important resources and products include cement, bentonite (clay), sand, gravel, gemstones, and stone. Other important resources include petroleum and natural gas.

Plants and Animals: Despite the state's large human population, California has a large and varied wildlife population. These include large mammals such as the black bear, grizzly bear, mountain lion, and bighorn sheep, as well as smaller mammals such as the mountain beaver, raccoon, and wolverine. Birds include numerous predators, including the turkey vulture, the golden eagle, and the American kestrel, as well as songbirds such as the varieties of hummingbirds, wrens, and warblers.

California contains many tree species, among the most notable of which are the giant redwoods. Evergreens are common, as are trees such as the mistletoe, maple, and California buckeye.

Climate: California's climate varies widely, depending on the state's topography. Northern California is typically wetter than southern California. Northern California, especially inland, has an alpine climate. The coastal climate is generally Mediterranean, though parts of Northern California can receive over one hundred inches of rain each year.

EDUCATION AND CULTURE

Major Colleges and Universities

• American Jewish University (Los Angeles)
• California Institute of Technology (Pasadena)
• California State University (twenty-three campuses statewide)
• Chapman University (Orange)
• Fielding Graduate University (Santa Barbara)
• Golden Gate University (San Francisco)
• Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles)
• Mills College (Oakland)
• Pepperdine University (Malibu)
• San Diego State University (San Diego)
• San Jose State University (San Jose)
• Southern California Institute of Architecture (Los Angeles)
• St. John's Seminary College (Camarillo)
• Stanford University (Stanford)
• Thomas Aquinas College (Santa Paula)
• Thomas Jefferson School of Law (San Diego)
• University of California (ten campuses statewide)
• University of the Pacific (Stockton)
• University of Redlands (Redlands)
• University of San Diego (San Diego)
• University of San Francisco (San Francisco)
• University of Southern California (Los Angeles)
• University of West Los Angeles (Inglewood)
• Whittier College (Whittier)

Major Museums

• California Science Center (Los Angeles)
• California State Railroad Museum (Sacramento)
• Crocker Art Museum (Sacramento)
• De Young Museum (San Francisco)
• Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens (San Marino)
• J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles)
• La Brea Tar Pits (Los Angeles)
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles)
• Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (Los Angeles)
• Norton Simon Museum (Pasadena)
• San Diego Natural History Museum (San Diego)
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco)
• Southwest Museum (Los Angeles)

Major Libraries

• Bancroft Library, University of California (Berkeley)
• Braun Research Library, Southwest Museum (Los Angeles)
• California State Library (Sacramento)
• Huntington Library (San Marino)
• Henry Miller Library (Big Sur)
• Hoover Institution Library and Archives, Stanford University (Stanford)
• J. Porter Shaw Library, San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park (San Francisco)
• Louis B. Mayer Library, American Film Institute (Hollywood)
• Los Angeles Public Library (Los Angeles)
• Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Beverly Hills)

Media

California is one of the world's largest media markets, headquarters of the American motion picture industry, known as Hollywood, as well as many television production companies. The state has numerous dailies, large and small, as well as many dozen weeklies. The largest and most prominent daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Sacramento Bee, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Francisco Examiner.

ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

• Gross domestic product (in millions $USD): 3,598,102.7 (ranked 1st) (2022)
• GDP percent change: 0.4%

Major Industries: California is one of the world's largest economies and among the largest of all the states. Major industries include finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing; professional and business services; government; information; educational services, health care, and social assistance; film and television production, agriculture and food processing, electronics and computer equipment, and tourism. California is also a major agricultural state, the nation's leader in fruits, vegetables, dairy, and wine. Tourism is another major industry, focusing on the world entertainment capital of Hollywood, theme parks such as Disneyland, and natural wonders such as the Sierra Nevada Mountains and national forests.

Tourism: California is one of the world's largest tourist destinations, with tens of millions of visitors each year. Domestic US travel constitutes much of this total, and Californians themselves are major supporters of the travel industry, making millions of in-state trips each year. In 2022, travel-related spending in the state was an estimated $134.4 billion, generating $11.9 billion in tax revenue and supporting about 1.09 million jobs. In 2022, California tourism had yet to return to 2019 levels after taking a hit due to the global coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic but was on the rebound; tourists spent $67.6 billion in the state that year, an increase of 25.7 percent over the 2021 amount.

Popular tourist attractions include amusement parks such as Disneyland in Anaheim; film industry sites in Hollywood, professional sports, world-class orchestras and art museums; and the state's great natural beauty.

Energy Production: California is a producer of petroleum; in terms of crude oil, the state was the seventh-largest state producer in 2021. The state had the third largest crude oil refining capacity in the nation in January of that year. Despite being the most populous state in the nation, California's total energy demand was second in the United States behind that of Texas in 2020, according to the US Energy Information Administration. However, in 2021, California ranked forty-eighth nationally in terms of per capita energy consumption because of its mild climate and energy-efficiency programs.

Agriculture: In 2022, California had the nation's largest agricultural production in terms of cash receipts. Agricultural production and total cash receipts were valued at $55.9 billion in 2022, and agricultural exports amounted to $22.5 billion in 2021, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. In terms of value, the state’s leading agricultural commodities in 2022 were, in descending order, dairy and dairy products, grapes, cattle and calves, almonds, lettuce, strawberries, pistachios, broilers, tomatoes, and carrots.

Airports: California has one of the world's most extensive air-travel systems, with numerous facilities for international as well as domestic travel. International airports include Fresno Yosemite, Los Angeles (LAX), Oakland, Palm Springs, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco International Airports.

Seaports: California has some of the busiest ports in the world, including San Diego, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco. These ports handle millions of tons of goods each year.

GOVERNMENT

• Governor: Gavin Newsom (Democrat)
• Present constitution date: 1879
• Electoral votes: 54
• Number of counties: 58
• Violent crime rate: 442 (per 100,000 residents)
• Death penalty: Yes, but on March 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered an official moratorium on executions. In January 2022, Newsom announced the death penalty would be dismantled by 2024.

Constitution: California adopted its first constitution in 1849, just prior to statehood. The present constitution was adopted in 1879. Notable features include provisions for the recall of public officials, referendum, and public initiative.

Branches of Government

Executive: California's governor, elected to a four-year term, is the state's chief executive officer. Duties and powers include the proposal, vetoing, and passage of legislation; oversight of the state's executive branch; and pardoning criminals. The lieutenant governor, also elected for four years, acts as governor in case of the incumbent's removal, death, or disability. The lieutenant governor serves as president of the state senate, voting to break ties, and also serves on a number of state boards. The other constitutional officers are the secretary of state, controller, treasurer, attorney general, insurance commissioner, and superintendent of public instruction.

Legislative: California's bicameral legislature is composed of the forty-member Senate and eighty-member Assembly. Each state senator represents more than 931,000 Californians, and each state representative has more than 465,000 constituents.

Judicial: The seven-member State Supreme Court is California's highest court, serving as the court of final appeal and hearing constitutional cases. Its membership includes a chief justice and six associate justices, all of whom are appointed by the governor to twelve-year terms. Justices must be confirmed by the public in the next general election and also run for re-election when their terms expire. The intermediate Courts of Appeals are divided into six judicial districts (with the Fourth District Court of Appeals further subdivided into three divisions, for San Diego, Riverside, and Santa Ana, respectively). The Superior Courts serve as the state's courts of general jurisdiction.

HISTORY

1535 Hernan Cortes lands at Santa Cruz Bay in present-day Baja California. He names the region California, probably after a Spanish romance written in 1510 by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo.

1542 Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo lands on Catalina Island, off the coast of present-day Los Angeles. This marks the first European exploration of Upper California (Alta California), location of the present-day US state.

1579 English sea captain Francis Drake, on his voyage around the world, sails his ship the Golden Hind along the California coast around present-day San Francisco. The crew stays several weeks at the site, which they call Nova Albion (New England).

1697 The Spanish viceroy of Mexico grants permission to the Jesuits (Society of Jesus) to colonize in California. The Jesuits begin building mission church in Lower California (Baja California).

1768 The Jesuits are expelled from Baja California, as part of the Spanish Crown's crackdown on the order. The Franciscan order is given charge of the mission churches.

1769 Separate Spanish expeditions establish a fort (presidio) at San Diego and are the first Europeans to find the entrance to San Francisco Bay.

1769–1823 Spanish Franciscans establish twenty-one mission churches in central and southern California. From the Spanish authorities, the friars receive jurisdiction over the local native population. The friars teach the so-called Mission Indians but also force them to work on the land controlled by the friars. The first mission is built at San Diego, on July 16, 1769; the final one is built at San Francisco Solano on July 4, 1823.

1770 Gaspar de Portolá establishes a fort at Monterey.

1776 San Francisco is founded as a mission known as Mission Dolores, with an accompanying presidio. A community known as Yerba Buena later grows up near the mission.

1781 The pueblo (town) of Los Angeles is founded by Felipe de Neve, the governor of Spanish California. There are forty-four settlers, of whom half are children and most are non-Spaniards. The community's official name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula (The town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the Porciuncula River).

1796 American ships begin trading with Spanish California.

1808 Spanish soldier Gabriel Moraga from Mission San Jose leads an expedition into the Sacramento Valley. He and his men are the first Europeans to enter that part of the country. Moraga discovers the Sacramento and American Rivers.

1812 Traders from the Russian American Company establish Fort Ross, about eighty miles north of modern-day San Francisco. This move increases tensions with neighboring Spanish California.

1820s Boston merchant ships begin to visit the California coast, trading furs and other items with the local Indians as well as the Spanish missions.

1821 Mexico wins its independence from Spain.

1822 California becomes part of Mexico, with territorial status.

1824 Russia withdraws from California, as part of a boundary agreement with Spain.

1833–34 The Mexican government secularizes, or takes control of, the Franciscan missions throughout California.

1833 About twenty thousand American Indians in the Sacramento Valley die in an epidemic.

1835 Los Angeles replaces Monterey as the Mexican territorial capital of California. That same year, Boston native Richard Henry Dana visits Los Angeles as a sailor aboard the trading ship Pilgrim. He later describes his experiences in the book Two Years before the Mast.

1837 Mexico strengthens its hold over California by establishing territorial courts. President Andrew Jackson offers Mexico $3.5 million to sell California to the United States, but the offer is not accepted.

1839 Captain John Augustus Sutter, a Swiss immigrant, establishes the community of New Helvetia in the Sacramento Valley. He constructs a fortification known as Sutter's Fort.

1846–48 The United States fights the Mexican War. The Bear Flag Revolt takes place on June 14, when American settlers (including US Army officer John C. Fremont) rebel against Mexican rule and seize Sonoma, the Mexican headquarters in northern California. They proclaim the Republic of California, with William B. Ide as president.

Occupying the northern Californian city of Monterey, the US Navy claims the territory for the United States, in part to prevent British seizure. US forces capture Mexico City, and Mexico is forced to capitulate. On January 30, 1847, the town of Yerba Buena is renamed San Francisco by order of the Navy officer in charge.

Under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (signed February 2, 1848), Mexico cedes California as well as the territory now comprising the states of Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.

1846–47 The Donner Party is trapped by bad winter weather in the Sierra Nevada range and is reduced to cannibalism to survive. Remnants of the party are rescued in spring 1847 by parties from Sutter's Fort.

1848 The California gold rush begins when gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill, on the American River near the site of present-day Sacramento. John Sutter, the Swiss immigrant who owns the mill, tries to keep the discovery secret, but soon thousands of gold seekers are rushing westward.

1849 California holds a constitutional convention in Monterey. Voters approve the constitution, which declares that California will be a free state rather than a slave state.

1850 California enters the Union on September 9, as the thirty-first state.

1850s–70s Large numbers of Chinese immigrate to California to work as laborers in the mines, on the railroads, and in the cities. Initially, most of the immigrants are men, a fact that hinders the development of stable Chinese American communities. White Californians see the Chinese immigrants as an economic and cultural threat and regularly attack them. Major race riots break out in the 1870s in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

1854 Sacramento becomes the permanent state capital.

1860–61 The Pony Express operates from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento. The first rider leaves St. Joseph on April 4, 1860, reaching Sacramento less than ten days later. The company ceases operations at the end of October 1861, not long after the transcontinental telegraph begins functioning.

1861–65 The American Civil War. Over fifteen thousand Californians serve in the Union forces during the war. The regiments raised in the state see service in the West and Southwest. Californians also make up eight companies of the First Regiment, Washington Territory Infantry Volunteers. California soldiers' main contribution to the Union cause is to maintain US control over the Western lands and prevent a Confederate advance from Texas. The state's gold mines are also an important source of currency for the Union war chest.

1861 The Central Pacific Railroad is incorporated, by four men known as the Big Four: Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, Collis Potter Huntington, and Leland Stanford.

1865 Loyola University is founded in Los Angeles as Saint Vincent's College. On October 8, the city of San Francisco is rocked by a powerful earthquake.

1868 The United States and China sign the Burlingame Treaty, which guarantees free immigration between the two nations. Despite this, violence against Chinese immigrants continues in California.

1869 The Transcontinental Railroad is completed, connecting California with the East Coast.

1870s Southern California begins its rise as a favorite vacation spot, while San Francisco becomes one of the nation's largest cities.

1874 The State Capitol building is completed in Sacramento.

1879 California adopts its second state constitution.

1881 The Los Angeles Times begins publication. The paper's original name is the Los Angeles Daily Times. That same year, California founds the State Normal School, a teacher-training institution that develops into the University of California at Los Angeles.

1882 Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act to keep Chinese immigrants out of the United States.

1884Helen Hunt Jackson publishes Ramona, a historical novel about the early California missions. She bases the book on her 1880 visit to Los Angeles. The book brings much attention to southern California.

1887 William Randolph Hearst, twenty-three-year-old son of mining millionaire George Hearst, begins running his father's San Francisco Examiner newspaper.

1890 The city of Pasadena holds the first Tournament of Roses Parade. The first Tournament of Roses football game is played in 1902 between the University of Michigan and Stanford University, ending in a lopsided 49–0 victory for Michigan.

1891 The later California Institute of Technology is founded by Amos G. Throop as the Throop Polytechnic Institute of Pasadena.

1892 Congress passes the Geary Act, which renews the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. The law is again renewed in 1902.

1903 Publisher William Randolph Hearst, who has become known for his sensational style of journalism, establishes the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper. The paper later becomes the LA Herald-Examiner in 1962.

1906 On April 18, San Francisco is struck by the Great Earthquake of 1906. Thousands of people are killed, both by the earthquake itself and by the fire which followed. Damage is estimated at as much as $500 million (in 1906 dollars).

1908In the Sultan's Power, produced by Francis Boggs, is the first movie made completely in Los Angeles.

1911 The first transcontinental airplane flight is made by C. P. Rodgers, who flies from New York to Pasadena. California voters approve an amendment to the state constitution, giving women the right to vote.

1912 Republican Governor Hiram W. Johnson runs as Theodore Roosevelt's vice-presidential candidate, on the Bull Moose (Progressive Party) ticket.

1914 The US motion picture industry, originally centered on the East Coast around New York City, settles permanently in southern California. This is due in part to the success of D. W. Griffith's racist Civil War epic, The Birth of a Nation.

1914–18 World War I. When the United States enters the war in 1917, Hollywood film stars such as Douglas Fairbanks contribute to the nation’s war effort by seeking to raise support for war bonds. California provides much agricultural produce and munitions to the war effort.

1916 Donald Douglas founds the Douglas Aircraft company in the Los Angeles area. Governor Hiram Johnson is elected to the US Senate as a Republican.

1919 The University of California, Southern Branch (the future UCLA) is established from the State Normal School.

1923 Faith healer and radio evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson establishes the Angelus Temple in Los Angeles. The structure is one of the nation's first megachurches. That same year, a real-estate developer erects the now-famous Hollywood (originally "Hollywoodland") sign in the hills behind Los Angeles.

1932 The tenth modern Olympic Games take place in Los Angeles.

1933 The San Francisco Ballet is established. The federal government establishes a prison on Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay.

1934 Novelist Upton Sinclair, a Socialist, runs unsuccessfully for governor.

1937 The Golden Gate Bridge is completed across San Francisco Bay.

1938 William Hewlett and David Packard, students at Stanford University, found the electronics firm Hewlett-Packard out of a Palo Alto garage. They originally manufacture measuring equipment, eventually expand into computing. This marks the beginning of the Santa Clara Valley's transformation into Silicon Valley, the heart of an immense electronics industry.

1941–45 World War II. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941), the Roosevelt administration orders the West Coast's Japanese American population to move to internment camps inland. Over one hundred thousand persons are relocated. California industry and agriculture play a major role in equipping and feeding America's armed forces. In particular, the state's factories and shipyards turn out hundreds of ships and aircraft. The movie industry also strongly supports the war, making strongly patriotic movies. Many male stars go into uniform. Some make training films, while others (such as Clark Gable, who became an aviator) fight on the front lines. In 1945, the United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco by representatives of dozens of nations.

1947 As the Cold War heats up, Congress begins investigating the motion picture industry for possible communist infiltration.

1957 The Brooklyn Dodgers move from New York to Los Angeles, becoming the Los Angeles Dodgers. They win their first World Series two years later.

1960 The Democratic Party holds its national political convention in Los Angeles, at which it nominates Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy for president of the United States.

1965Race riots take place in Watts, a mostly African American section of Los Angeles. Rioting breaks out after a traffic altercation between a white police officer and a black man. Over thirty people are killed and over one thousand injured. Police arrest almost four thousand people. Damage is estimated at $40 million, with thousands of buildings destroyed or damaged.

1978 The Los Angeles Dodgers play the New York Yankees in the World Series.

1987 Pope John Paul II visits Los Angeles.

1991 Black motorist Rodney King is beaten by white LAPD police officers after he was chased by the California Highway Patrol. A nearby resident videotapes the incident from his house and releases the tape to the media.

1992 Los Angeles's Black community is outraged after the Simi Valley Superior Court acquits four officers charged in the Rodney King case. A week of rioting breaks out, from April 29 to May 5. The violence kills fifty-five people and causes $785 million in damage.

1994 The Northridge earthquake (6.7 on the Richter Scale) rocks Los Angeles, killing sixty-one people and doing up to $20 billion in damages. That same year, actor and former football player O. J. Simpson is arrested for the murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, but he is later acquitted.

2001 The state suffers a major energy crisis, because of its failure to construct enough power plants. California is afflicted with so-called rolling blackouts, or scheduled power outages, in certain areas, as a way to conserve energy. The crisis puts increasing political pressure on Governor Gray Davis.

2003 The state's Republican Party circulates a petition to trigger a recall of Democratic governor Gray Davis. In a special election on October 7, voters recall Davis, and Republican actor Arnold Schwarzenegger becomes governor-elect of California, edging out more than 130 other candidates. Davis is the first governor in California history, and only the second governor in the history of the US, to face a recall. The incoming governor faces an enormous budget deficit of approximately $8 billion.

2004SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately owned rocket to leave Earth's atmosphere from California. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom issues over four thousand marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The California courts later deem these licenses void and state that Newsom did not have the authority to issue them. In the November elections, voters support a plan to spend $3 billion on stem cell research, and vote to ban gay marriages.

2005 In November, a special election heralding four bills proposed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is held. The proposals call for a government spending cap, the removal of legislative redistricting powers, a requirement for new teachers to work five years past a probation period, and the prohibition of public employee unions from financially supporting political activities without permission from the individual employees. All four proposals are voted down.

2006 In September 2006, the California legislature passed the nation's first law aimed at significantly limiting man-made greenhouse gas emissions. The bill aims to reduce emissions in the state by 25 percent by 2020 and improve research and development of alternative fuel sources.

2008 The government of California enters a severe financial crisis, facing an estimated $11 billion budget shortfall. Increasing salaries of state employees and legislative deadlock resulting from the state's supermajority mandate for ballot measures are blamed. While services are cut across the state, a ballot initiative is introduced to change the supermajority rule to a two-thirds vote requirement.

2010Apple, Inc., headquartered in Cupertino, California, announces the iPad. Although it is not the first e-reader or tablet, it sets the benchmark for such devices.

2011 Voters elect former Democratic governor Jerry Brown as the state’s thirty-ninth governor. He had served as California’s thirty-fourth governor between 1975 and 1983.

2012 In order to stave off state budget cuts affecting higher education, voters approve Governor Brown’s Proposition 30, which raises state sales tax as well as income taxes for residents with the highest incomes. Republican control of the state legislature ends when Democrats gain a supermajority. Three cities—Stockton, Mammoth Lakes, and San Bernadino—file for bankruptcy protection. Unemployment in the state is more than 10 percent—the third highest rate in the nation.

2012–15 The state enters into a period of extended drought. Following four years of drought, one of the most severe droughts in history, Governor Jerry Brown declares a state of emergency and implements strict conservation measures in 2015. The California drought causes significant price increases for fruit, vegetables, dairy, and eggs nationwide.

2018 California experiences a destructive wildfire season, with more than 100 fatalities and more than $3.5 billion in property damage. Eighty-five people died in the Camp fire that November, making it the deadliest wildfire in state history.

2019 In March 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that halted executions in the state. The order gave California's 737 death-row inmates a reprieve.

2020 California experiences one of its most destructive wildfire seasons to date, with more than 4.2 million acres burned, 33 fatalities, and $12.079 billion in damage.

2022 In January 2022, Governor Newsom announced that California would dismantle its death penalty by 2024.

2023 The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning for Southern California for the first time in August 2023. Tropical Storm Hilary struck Southern California that month, bringing heavy rainfall and flooding.

FAMOUS PEOPLE

Kimberly Anyadike, 1994– (Compton) , Pilot who completed a transcontinental flight solo at the age of fifteen.

David Belasco, 1853–1931 (San Francisco) , Playwright, actor, stage manager.

Shirley Temple Black, 1928–2014 (Santa Monica) , Actress, ambassador.

Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, 1905–1996 (San Francisco) , Governor.

Dave Brubeck, 1920–2012 (Concord) , Jazz musician.

Octavia Butler, 1947–2006 (Pasadena) , Science-fiction author.

Margaret Cho, 1968– (San Francisco) , Comedian and actor.

Paul Desmond, 1924–1977 (San Francisco) , Jazz saxophonist.

Joan Didion, 1934–2021 (Sacramento) , Author.

Joe DiMaggio, 1914–1999 (Martinez) , Baseball player.

Isadora Duncan, 1878–1927 (San Francisco) , Dancer.

Mark Goodson, 1915–1992 (Sacramento) , Television producer.

Tom Hanks, 1956– (Concord) , Actor.

William Randolph Hearst, 1863–1951 (San Francisco) , Publisher.

Hiram W. Johnson, 1866–1945 (Sacramento) , Governor, US senator, political reformer.

Anthony M. Kennedy, 1935– (Sacramento) , US Supreme Court justice.

Maxine Hong Kingston, 1940– (Stockton) , Author.

Jack London [John Griffith Chaney], 1876–1916 (San Francisco) , Writer.

George Lucas, 1944– (Modesto) , Filmmaker.

Richard M. Nixon, 1913–1994 (Yorba Linda) , Thirty-seventh president of the United States.

Sally K. Ride, 1951–2012 (Encino) , Astronaut.

William Saroyan, 1908–1981 (Fresno) , Writer, dramatist.

Lincoln Steffens, 1866–1936 (San Francisco) , Journalist, social reformer.

John Steinbeck, 1902–1968 (Salinas) , Author.

Earl Warren, 1891–1974 (Los Angeles) , Governor, US Supreme Court chief justice.

Jack Webb, 1920–1982 (Santa Monica) , Actor, producer.

TRIVIA

• Prior to becoming US president in 1981, Ronald Reagan served as California's governor from 1967 to 1975.
• Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, who served as governor from 1975 to 1983 and again from 2011 to 2019, is the son of Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, who served from 1959 to 1967. Both men served as Democrats.
• Joshua A. Norton (1819–1880), a failed San Francisco businessman, declared himself "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico" in 1859. He became a well-known figure, treated with humorous respect by municipal and state officials as well as the general public. He paid his bills with currency of his own devising, which were accepted at face value by local merchants. "The Emperor Norton" regularly issued proclamations on various issues; in 1860, he proclaimed the United States dissolved; and in 1869, ordered the dissolution of the Democratic and Republican Parties. When he died in 1880, the city held an immense funeral.
• Actor and producer Jack Webb, a native of Santa Monica, created the police drama Dragnet first for radio, then for television and the movies. The radio broadcast debuted in 1949 and became a TV series two years later. The show starred Webb as Joe Friday, a no-nonsense detective with the Los Angeles Police Department.The world's first movie theater opened in Los Angeles in 1902.
• The lowest and highest points in the continental United States are located in California. The lowest point is Death Valley and the highest is Mount Whitney.

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Eric Badertscher