Major Mike | Today in History 09/09 (California Statehood)

(1850) New state takes up most of the USA’s West Coast

The United States officially admits more than 160,000 square miles of West Coast territory, stretching from arid semi-desert lands near the Mexican border northwards to the evergreen forests of the Pacific Northwest, as the new state of California.

California is a U.S. state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.5 million residents, California is the most populous state in the United States and the third largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation’s second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 8.8 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California’s most populous city, and the country’s second-most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation’s most populous county, Los Angeles County; its largest county by area, San Bernardino County; and its fifth most densely populated county, San Francisco.

Population: 39.54 million (2017)
Capital: Sacramento
Area: 163,696 sq miles
Colleges and universities: Stanford University · University of California, Berkeley · University of California, Los Angeles · University of Southern California · California Institute of Technology · University of California, Santa Barbara · University of California, Davis · California State University, Los Angeles · University of California, San Diego · University of Californi…
Senators: Dianne Feinstein · Kamala Harris
Governor: Jerry Brown

Map of the United States with California highlighted
wiki/California

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(1850) New state takes up most of the USA’s West Coast.
Also on this day,

1839 | Inventor makes pioneering photograph

England’s John Herschel is a true Renaissance man, and now the mathematician, inventor, chemist, and discoverer of the stunningly beautiful cyanotype process, makes the first photograph on a glass plate.

1948 | Socialist state is created on the Korean Peninsula

Following post-WWII annexations by the USSR in the north and the US in the south, the country of Korea is further split as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is announced. The new socialist dictatorship, led by Kim Il Sung, takes over the north, and will close its borders and grow increasingly isolated.

1954 | Bell becomes the first person to swim Lake Ontario

Marilyn Bell arrives in Toronto, having swum across Lake Ontario from Youngstown, NY. The 16-year-old Canadian swimmer took off the night before with two other swimmers (including American Florence Chadwick), but after nearly 21 hours of swimming, only Bell completed the crossing.

Today in History ^09/09/17

Kim Il Sung gives a broadcast speech in June 1950 to all North Korean citizens regarding the breakout of the Korean war (© Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

(1948) Socialist state is created on the Korean Peninsula

Following post-WWII annexations by the USSR in the north and the US in the south, the country of Korea is further split as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is announced. The new socialist dictatorship, led by Kim Il Sung, takes over the north, and will close its borders and grow increasingly isolated.

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang is the nation's capital and largest city. To the north and northwest the country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok and Tumen rivers; it is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone separating the two. Nevertheless, North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire Korean peninsula.

Population: 25.37 million (2016)
Official language: Korean
Capital: Pyongyang
GDP: $25 billion USD (2015)
Area: 46,541 sq miles (120,540 km²)
Calling code: 850

Area controlled by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea shown in dark green; claimed but uncontrolled regions shown in light green.