On August 16, 1896, two prospectors had their hopes literally pan out when they found a huge deposit of gold along the banks of the Yukon River in Canada’s Klondike region. And with that, Skookum Jim Mason (aka Keish) and his American brother-in-law George Carmack set in motion the Klondike Gold Rush—the richest gold strike in North American history. Because of the remoteness of the find, it would be over 11 months before the rest of the world found out. And it did so in the most dramatic fashion, when the steamers Portland and Excelsior pulled into the harbors of Seattle and San Francisco respectively carrying over one ton of gold (worth more than $1 billion in today"s dollars).
Shining like Klondike gold
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Headed to the High Country
-
The most Instagrammable bird?
-
Nha Phu Bay, Nha Trang, Vietnam
-
World Lion Day
-
The largest living organism on Earth
-
Why’s it called a spelling ‘bee,’ anyhow?
-
Groundhog Day arrives—beyond a shadow of a doubt
-
Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
-
It s tree-climbing season
-
Spring equinox
-
A day of death and rebirth
-
Reflecting on Black History Month
-
Pollinator Week
-
A rest stop for the birds
-
Macro photograph of a migrant hawker dragonfly
-
Pretty poetic for a pit
-
An ice cap-puccino
-
Indigenous Peoples Day
-
Kiteboarding and windsurfing in Croatia
-
Protecting endangered giants
-
Balloons and camels are two ways to catch a ride here
-
Where is this gorgeous peak?
-
A predator at risk
-
Mid-Autumn Festival
-
Day of the Dead
-
A Carpathian Christmas celebration
-
Welcome to the drainpipe of the Pacific
-
Let the Highland games begin
-
It’s Art Deco Weekend in Miami
-
Fresh water on the Silk Road