The Handy California Answer Book

Kevin Hile

Description

Hollywood. Silicon Valley. The cities, beaches and redwoods. An enlightening look at the Sunshine State, people, history, and culture!

California is the country's most populous state. The home of the entertainment industry and silicon valley. It's known for its beaches, its redwood forests, and as the “land of fruit and nuts.” Its people, industries, politicians, climate, and allure captivates the world and draws millions of visitors each year. Exploring the state’s fascinating history, people, myths, culture, and trivia, The Handy California Answer Book takes an in-depth look look at this fascinating, quirky, and diverse state.

Learn about the original Indigenous peoples, the Spanish explorers, the independence from Spain, the secession from Mexico, the Gold Rush, the building of the Los Angeles Aqueducts, the earthquakes, the water shortages, and much, much more. Tour landmarks from Disney Land to the Golden Gate Bridge to Yosemite National Park. Learn about famous sons and daughters, including Ronald Reagan, Jeff Bridges, Tony Hawk, and John Steinbeck. Sports (college and professional) are illuminated. The government, parks, and cultural institutions are all packed into this comprehensive guide to the state of California. Find answers to more than 1,100 questions, including:

How did “Eureka!” become the state motto?

Why is a grizzly bear on the state flag when no grizzlies exist in California?

Was the coast of California ever attacked by pirates?

How did Russians come to colonize part of what is now California?

How did the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad drastically transform the state?

Does the ghost of Cary Grant still roam his favorite home in Palm Springs?

Is the “Big One” earthquake inevitable, and are Californians prepared for it?

How did Silicon Valley become a center for the high tech industry?

Can you eat the snails in your backyard in California?

Why do so many Californians want to divide the state into smaller states?

What is a “Valley Girl” fer shur fer shur?

Why did the Brooklyn Dodgers move to Los Angeles?

Did anyone ever escape the island prison on Alcatraz?

When you order your fast-food burger at In & Out “animal style,” what will land on your plate?

A convenient place to go to look up the basic—and fun—facts about California, its history and culture, The Handy California Answer Book illustrates the unique character of the state through a combination of facts, stats, and stories, as well as the unusual and quirky. This informative book also includes a helpful bibliography and an extensive index, adding to its usefulness.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Golden State
• California Republic
• State
• Fresno, California
• Eureka
• Oakland, California
• Sacramento, California
• United States
• West
• République de Californie
• History
• Local
• California
• Fresno
• Oakland
• Long Beach
• San Diego
• Silicon Valley
• Sacramento
• Hollywood
• San Francisco
• San José
• Los Angeles

Informations

• Publié par: Visible Ink Press
• Date de parution: 19 septembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781578596232
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

About the Author

Raised in Laurel Canyon and Van Nuys, California, Kevin Hile has had a long career as an author and editor. He worked for several years with the late Jim Fordyce on news, entertainment, and travel radio shows about California and the Coachella Valley such as the Cruisin California program. He wrote Visible Ink Press The Handy Weather Answer Book , has edited many other titles in the Handy Answer series, and is proud of his history book on Michigan s oldest zoo, Little Zoo by the Red Cedar: The Story of Potter Park Zoo . He lives in Cathedral City, California.
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Contents
D EDICATION
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
P HOTO S OURCES
T IMELINE
I NTRODUCTION
CALIFORNIA BASICS
Population
EARLY CALIFORNIA: FIRST PEOPLES TO THE 1849 GOLD RUSH
First Europeans in California Spanish Mission Period The Russian Presence Rule under Mexico: 1821-1846 The Gold Rush
THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA: 1850 TO THE PRESENT
California Becomes a U.S. State Stagecoaches and Railroads Ghost Towns The U.S. Civil War Chinese Immigration Other Immigrant Populations in California The Turn of the Twentieth Century Wartime California The 1950s and 1960s A More Conservative Era The Twenty-first Century
NATURAL WONDERS
Mountains Valleys Fault Lines and Earthquakes Lakes and Rivers Fires and Droughts Beaches Deserts Islands Mammals Birds Marine Life Plant Life Refuges, Preserves, and Parks Zoos and Aquariums
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Area Pasadena Riverside County Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley Long Beach San Diego and Surrounding Area
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge and Park Other Bay Area Cities Sacramento

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AND AGRICULTURE
Agriculture in the Land of Fruits and Nuts Ranching in the Central Valley and the State Organics Vineyards and the Wine Industry Labor Troubles Central Valley Cities Central Coast Cities
CALIFORNIA MEANS BUSINESS
Silicon Valley and More High Tech Other Technology and Medicine Food Industry Clothing and Fashion Transportation Toys Big Money
MOVIES, TELEVISION, AND OTHER ENTERTAINMENT
Hollywood and the Movie and Television Industry Radio and Television Music Art Movements
POLITICS AND THE LAW
Establishing a State California s Constitution Public Education Utopian (or Near-Utopian) Societies Actors in Politics Important State Legislation The Debate to Divide the State
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
Baseball Football Basketball Hockey
MORE PROFESSIONAL, COLLEGE, AND AMATEUR SPORTS
Early California Sports Auto Racing Boxing Golf Horse Racing Soccer Tennis College Sports Other Amateur Sports and Outdoor Fun The Olympics
QUIRKY CALIFORNIA
Odd Places Musical Wonders Looney Landmarks The Supernatural, Paranormal, and Alien A Taste of the Grotesque Unconventional Religions, Beliefs, and Societies Cool and Kooky Conventions Talk Like a Californian Odds and Ends
CALIFORNIA NOTABLES
Actors and Other Entertainers Artists and Authors Athletes and Coaches Businesspeople Politics, Law, and the Military Scientists, Engineers, Inventors, and Educators
C ALIFORNIA G OVERNORS
F URTHER R EADING
I NDEX
Dedication

This book is dedicated to the memory of my late husband, Jim Fordyce, who passed away in October 2015. Although Jim was born in New Jersey and raised in upstate New York, he adopted California in his heart when we moved here. He loved California and quickly became a Californian. He loved everything, from the weather and attractions to the people and culture.
Jim enjoyed a long career in radio and television in New York, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, and, finally, California, covering everything from hard news to entertainment stories. He produced and hosted several online radio shows covering life in the Coachella Valley and California and did everything he could to help his local community. Jim had just started his Cruisin California travel show and had been contracted to write The Handy California Answer Book a few months before his passing. After writing the first chapter and part of the fourth chapter on natural wonders, he died unexpectedly. Although I am the one who completed this project for him, his joyful spirit and love of the Golden State still imbue the pages you are about to read.
This book is full of my love for you, Jim. I miss you.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank VIP publisher Roger J necke for allowing me to complete the writing of this book, which was begun by Jim Fordyce before his passing. Thanks, as always, to my wonderful typesetter, Marco DiVita, graphics designer Marie Claire Krzewinski, indexer Larry Baker, and proofreader Barbara Lyon.
I would also like to thank several friends of mine for looking over specific chapters in which they have expertise. Thanks to James Crockett for reviewing the two history chapters; thanks to Todd Ableser for reading through the material on San Francisco; thanks to Mary Cardas for checking out other material on Southern California; thanks to Larry Baker for his expertise in reviewing the sports chapters. Last, but not least, to my friend Bart Swaim, who reviewed the San Diego material and who provided two photographs: one showing the fursuit parade at the furry convention that he took, and the other taken by his father of Marilyn Monroe. This photo was taken at the Hotel Del Coronado, where the late Mr. Swaim was a long-time photographer and took many still-unpublished photographs of celebrities who stayed there in the 1950s and 1960s.
Timeline
Year
Event
c. 20000-10000 B.C.E.
Land bridge between present-day Alaska and Russia allows Asian peoples to cross into North America, where they migrate south over the centuries, and many settle in what is California.
2000 B.C.E.
Permanent and sizable coastal villages established
200 C.E.
Indians from points east migrate to California
1510
The name California is taken from a Spanish novel and adopted as the name of this part of the New World
September 28, 1542
Juan Rodr guez Cabrillo lands an expedition by present-day San Diego and then explores the coastline and is the first European to explore California
June 17, 1579
Englishman Sir Francis Drake la