A toast to California! Sep 9, 2019

A toast to California!

Today we"re celebrating the 169th anniversary of the Golden State"s admission into the Union with an appropriately golden image of a Central Coast winery and landscape. In 1850, just 14 months after the peace treaty ending the Mexican-American War ceded most of California along with a large portion of western territory to the US, the former self-proclaimed California Republic became the 31st state. California is one of only six states admitted to the Union without first being recognized as a US territory. Some link this to the California Gold Rush, which began in January 1848 and rapidly increased the California population by more than 1,000 percent.

© Ian Shive/Tandem Motion + Stills

palette

Today in History

Sep 9, 2018Welcome to ‘Hollywood North’
Sep 9, 2020Where the bearded reedling sings
Sep 9, 2021Islands of the Salish Sea
Sep 9, 2022Belize Barrier Reef
Sep 9, 2023Ayutthaya Historical Park, Thailand
Sep 9, 2024Iguazu Falls at the border of Argentina and Brazil
Sep 9, 2025A Eurasian red squirrel in Switzerland

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jul 12, 2018Provence blooms with lavender at Sénanque Abbey
Mar 28, 2023The Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Italy
Oct 24, 202075 years of the United Nations
Apr 12, 2026International Day of Human Space Flight
Jan 11, 2021At the gates of the ksar
Sep 1, 2025Labor Day parade in 1915 Chicago
May 15, 2018Celebrating the UN’s International Day of Families
Nov 5, 2024US Election Day
Nov 27, 2019Have you turned off your electronic device?
Jun 28, 2021A medieval celebration in the Mediterranean
Aug 18, 2024Huntington Beach Pier, California, at sunset
May 25, 2024Aït Benhaddou, Morocco
Jul 29, 2023International Tiger Day
Jul 6, 2023International Kissing Day
Sep 27, 2018High seas commerce
Jan 25, 2021Struck by Southwestern beauty
Mar 13, 2024Lake Magadi, Kenya
Aug 20, 2023International Lighthouse Weekend
Sep 10, 2024Vasco da Gama Bridge, Lisbon, Portugal
Mar 15, 2020Celebrating 200 years of statehood
Aug 23, 2021A little blue
Jul 23, 2019A state-of-the-art lookout on the Rock of Gibraltar
Sep 8, 2019Just a couple of yellow-billed hornbills
Apr 22, 202050 years of Earth Day
Mar 4, 2023Mount Pico, Portugal
Oct 21, 2023International Archaeology Day
Oct 14, 2018Gone ‘lightseeing’ in Berlin
Nov 15, 2022River otters at Acadia National Park, Maine
Apr 3, 2025National Find a Rainbow Day
Apr 14, 2025National Dolphin Day