“There’s only the American Dream and the California dream.”
—Gov. Gavin Newsom
This year marks the 175th anniversary of California’s admission to the U.S. as the 31st state. But statehood wasn’t the beginning of the story. Celebrating California is a collection of 175 stories that highlight California’s unique history and role in the world. The goal is to offer examples of California’s unique character and that of its residents, past and present. That means among the good there will be some bad. For every success story, there’s a failure, a tragedy, an injustice. It’s from these mistakes that we learn and grow stronger together. Share a story with us that helps define what California means to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGB4eDT6TrE At a McDonald’s franchise in Goleta, a breakfast sandwich – egg, cheese, Canadian bacon on a toasted English muffin…
Views of redwood trees in Muir Woods; shows paths and roads through the trees. Photo by…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2nLieCOCxI The fabled 2,448-mile highway from Chicago to Santa Monica is established in 1926. It doesn’t receive signs until 1927…
Growing up in Long Beach, Billie Jean King saves $8.29 in a Mason jar to buy her first tennis racquet,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WouOr579mfY&feature=youtu.be That’s what Timothy Leary exhorts the crowd at the Human Be-In, a protest of sorts over a new law…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF-jHJBxcIs At 10:45 a.m., January 28, 1969, 5.8 miles off the coast of Summerland in Santa Barbara County, workers on Union…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOWoPuVSbY0 On a chilly, wet January 8, 1863, invited dignitaries and passers-by gather at K and Front Streets in what’s…
What’s supposed to be the West Coast’s Woodstock attracts 300,000 to the Altamont Speedway between Tracy and Livermore in the…
Eager to control their professional destiny and pocket more of their profits, Hollywood box office icons Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks…