California is the most populous state of the United States. Located on the Pacific coast of North America, it is bordered by Oregon, Nevada and Arizona in the United States, and Baja California in Mexico. The state's four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco. California is known for its Mediterranean climate and ethnically diverse population. The state has 58 counties.
Inhabited by indigenous people for millennia, Alta California was first colonized by the Spanish Empire in 1769, and after Mexican independence in 1821, continued as part of Mexico. Following one brief week as the independent California Republic in 1846, and the conclusion of the Mexican-American war in 1848, California was annexed by the United States and was admitted to the Union as the thirty-first state on September 9, 1850.
California's diverse geography ranges from the sandy beaches of the Pacific coast to the rugged, snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the east. The central portion of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most vital agricultural areas in the country. The Sierra Nevada contains Yosemite Valley, famous for its glacially-carved domes, and Sequoia National Park, home to the largest living organisms on Earth, the giant sequoia trees, and the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney. The tallest living things on Earth, the ancient redwood trees, dot the coastline, mainly north of San Francisco. California is also home to the lowest and hottest place in the Western Hemisphere, Death Valley. Bristlecone pines located in the White Mountains are the oldest known trees in the world; one has an age of 4,700 years.
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Nine Inch Nails (abbreviated as NIN) is an industrial rock act, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction. NIN's music straddles a wide range of genres, while retaining a characteristic sound using electronic instruments and processing. After recording a new album, Reznor usually assembles a live band to perform with him; this live component is a separate entity from Nine Inch Nails in the recording studio. On stage, NIN often employs spectacular visual elements to accompany its performances, which frequently culminate with the band destroying their instruments.
Underground music audiences warmly received Nine Inch Nails in its early years. The band produced several highly influential records in the 1990s that achieved widespread popularity: many Nine Inch Nails songs became radio hits, two NIN recordings won Grammy Awards, and the band has sold over twenty million albums worldwide, with 10.5 million sales certified in the United States alone. In 2004, Rolling Stone placed Nine Inch Nails at 94 on their list of the 100 greatest rock artists of all time.
Gwen Renée Stefani (born October 3, 1969) (pronounced /ˈgwɛn stɛˈfɑːni/), is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer, and occasional actress. Stefani debuted in 1992 as the frontwoman of the rock band No Doubt, whose 1995 album Tragic Kingdom propelled them to stardom, selling 16 million copies worldwide. It spawned the singles " Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs", and " Don't Speak". The band's popularity went into decline with its fourth album, Return of Saturn (2000), but Rock Steady (2001) introduced dancehall and reggae production into its music, and generally received positive reviews.
Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was primarily inspired by music of the 1980s, taking Stefani's work further into pop and dance music, and enjoyed international success with sales of over seven million. The album's third single "Hollaback Girl" became the first U.S. digital download to sell one million copies. Stefani's second solo album The Sweet Escape (2006) yielded "Wind It Up", a moderate worldwide success, and the United World Chart number one "The Sweet Escape". Including her work with No Doubt, Stefani has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.
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- ...that Filipino jazz singer Katy de la Cruz was once a top-billed performer at the famed Forbidden City nightclub in San Francisco?
- ...that Van Nuys Boulevard, running through the heart of LA's San Fernando Valley, was a center of teenage cruising from the 1950s through the 1970s?
- ...that Barstow, California, and Strong City, Kansas, are both named in honor of William Barstow Strong, former president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway?
- ...that Ruth Comfort Mitchell Young, owner of the Yung See San Fong House in Los Gatos, California, didn't want it to be a bungalow, but a "bungahigh"?
- ...that Josiah Belden was a member of the first party to use the California Trail, and the first mayor of San Jose, California?
- ...that Julia Tuttle was the citrus plantation owner that owned the land upon which Miami, Florida, was built, and that she gave half her land to Henry Flagler to entice him to build a station for the Florida East Coast Railroad there?
- ...that 8-year-old Sylvia Mendez played an instrumental role in the 1946 Mendez v. Westminster case, which successfully ended de jure segregation in California schools?
- ...that the Yana people people of California hid in the Sierra Nevada mountains for over 40 years their survival and existence unknown in the United States from 1865 to 1911?
- ...that Zinfandel was grown for table grapes in Boston long before it made wine in California?
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