A toast to California! Sep 9, 2019

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
Sep 9, 2026Gabit Keni Beach near Ankola, Karnataka, India

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jan 23, 2025Sundance Film Festival
Apr 6, 2019Make way for robots
Jan 15, 2024Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jun 22, 2024World Rainforest Day
Mar 15, 2021Every day is Napping Day for this screech owl
Jan 3, 2019How do ladybugs winter?
Jul 23, 2020At the foot of Dubrovnik s Gibraltar
Feb 8, 2018The Cordillera de la Sal in the Cordillera Domeyko Range of Chile
Apr 12, 2025International Day of Human Space Flight
Jan 29, 2018Vacuum Chamber 5 at Glenn Research Center
Jan 24, 2026Andermatt village in the Alps, Switzerland
Oct 7, 2025Fall colors below Mount Sneffels near Ridgway, Colorado
Mar 31, 2023Steyr River, Austria
Nov 5, 2018Ludwig’s palace
Jun 14, 2022Museum Mile Festival
Feb 16, 2020When an ideal microclimate gives you lemons…
Oct 29, 2020Let s get lost
Jan 22, 2025Ad-Deir, Petra, Jordan
Feb 21, 2024Yosemite National Park, California
Jul 5, 2019Peel Castle on St. Patrick’s Isle with the Isle of Man in the background
Jan 11, 2021At the gates of the ksar
Aug 16, 2025World Honey Bee Day
Jan 11, 2025Heri es-Swani in Meknes, Morocco
Jul 5, 2026Lavender rows, Plateau de Valensole, Provence, France
Nov 2, 2020Waiting for winter
Dec 23, 2020Swimming into the season
Sep 29, 2021The largest American bison around
Mar 22, 2018Join us in celebrating World Water Day
Dec 8, 2023La Rocque Harbour, Island of Jersey
Dec 26, 2023Happy Boxing Day!