California – Neko Random

Fun Fact: Californium Element

Californium is the only element named after a U.S. State. It was created at the University of California, Berkeley in 1950.

Fun Fact: California Governor Without a Mansion

Currently there is no official mansion for the Governor of California. Ronald Reagan was the last Governor of California to live in the old one, which still exists but the building and the land around it is now a state park. Reagan lived there for a few months before moving to a more lavish placeContinue reading “Fun Fact: California Governor Without a Mansion”

(Not So) Fun Fact: Ronald Reagan’s Bloody Thursday

In 1969, a large group of students led a protest over the use of land that belonged to the University of California. Then-Governor Ronald Reagan considered the site to be a haven of communists, and ordered the police to harshly remove them. The incident became known as Bloody Thursday which resulted in one death andContinue reading “(Not So) Fun Fact: Ronald Reagan’s Bloody Thursday”

Fun Fact: First Time California Was Written

Historians dispute the origin of California’s name, however the strongest guess is that is comes from the 16th century book Las sergas de Esplandián. The novel featured an island called California which was inhabited by only women. When Spanish explorers traveled around the western parts of North America, they often thought they had found theContinue reading “Fun Fact: First Time California Was Written”

Fun Fact: Baja California

The name California originally applied to the Baja California peninsula of present day Mexico. It eventually extended to present-day California and other parts of the present-day Southwest United States.