The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) began when gold was discovered by James W. Marshall (above) at Sutter’s Mill, in northern California at Coloma. News of the discovery 
brought some 300,000 people to California from vast parts of the United States and abroad.Some became quite wealthy, but many returned home with little more than what
they started with. The effects of the Gold Rush resulted in San Francisco growing from a small settlement to a boomtown. A state constitution was written and California became  
a state in 1850 as part of the compromise of 1850. 

MORRO BAY, Calif. (AP) — Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru who inspired television viewers to trim down and pump iron for decades before exercise became a national obsession, died Sunday. He was 96.

LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay on California’s central coast, his longtime agent Rick Hersh said.

Lalanne ate healthy and exercised every day of his life up until the end, Hersh said.

 
 
Pictured above are Capt. “Sully” Sullenberger (left) and his First Officer Jeffrey Skiles

Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III was an American airline pilot, safety expert, and accident investigator from Danville, California. Sullenberger rose to fame when he successfully ditched U S Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River off Manhattan, New York City, on January 15, 2009, saving the lives of all 155 people on the aircraft.

Sullenberger is an international speaker on airline safety and has helped develop new protocols for airline safety. As of September 30, 2009, Sullenberger is also the co-chairman of the EAA’s Young Eagles youth introduction-to-aviation program. Sullenberger retired from US Airways and its predecessor airline after 30 years with them on March 3, 2010.

He is the author of Highest Duty, a memoir of his life and of the events surrounding Flight 1549, published in 2009 by HarperCollins. He was ranked second in Time Magazine’s  Top 100 Most Influential Heroes and Icons of 2009.

Kevin Michael Costner is an actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe awards.. Costner’s roles include Lt. John J. Dunbar in the film Dances with Wolves (1990), Jim Garrison in JFK (1991), Ray Kinsella in Field of Dreams (1989), and Eliot Ness in The Untouchables (1987). Costner earned a B.A. in business from California State University, Fullerton, in 1978.

  
   Kevin behind the camera directing Dances With Wolves

             

Kevin Costner singing with his band Kevin Costner and Modern West

 
Aviation pioneer and author Amelia Earhart made a flight from
Honolulu, Hawaii to Oakland, California, becoming the first
woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean. The plane she
flew on that trip, a Lockheed Vega, is on display at the
National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. 

 
Amelia Earhart posing by her plane at the Oakland airport

 
The Lockheed Vega 5B at the National Air and Space Museum