1.
San Jose, California
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San Jose, officially the City of San José, is the economic, cultural, and political center of Silicon Valley and the largest city in Northern California. With an estimated 2015 population of 1,026,908, it is the third most populous city in California and the tenth most populous in United States. Located in the center of the Santa Clara Valley, on the shore of San Francisco Bay. San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County, the most affluent county in California. San Jose is the largest city in both the San Francisco Bay Area and the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area, which contain 7.7 million and 8.7 million people respectively. Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area around San Jose was inhabited by the Ohlone people, San Jose was founded on November 29,1777, as the Pueblo of San José de Guadalupe, the first civilian town founded in Spanish Alta California. When California gained statehood in 1850, San Jose became the states first capital, following World War II, San Jose experienced an economic boom, with a rapid population growth and aggressive annexation of nearby cities and communities carried out in the 1950s and 60s. The rapid growth of the high-technology and electronics industries further accelerated the transition from a center to an urbanized metropolitan area. Results of the 1990 U. S. Census indicated that San Jose had officially surpassed San Francisco as the most populous city in Northern California, by the 1990s, San Jose and the rest of Silicon Valley had become the global center for the high tech and internet industries. San Jose is considered to be a city, notable for its affluence. San Joses location within the high tech industry, as a cultural, political. San Jose is one of the wealthiest major cities in the United States and the world, and has the third highest GDP per capita in the world, according to the Brookings Institute. Major global tech companies including Cisco Systems, eBay, Adobe Systems, PayPal, Brocade, Samsung, Acer, Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by several groups of Ohlone Native Americans. The first lasting European presence began with a series of Franciscan missions established from 1769 by Junípero Serra, San Jose came under Mexican rule in 1821 after Mexico broke with the Spanish crown. It then became part of the United States, after it capitulated in 1846, on March 27,1850, San Jose became the second incorporated city in the state, with Josiah Belden its first mayor. San Jose was Californias first state capital, and hosted the first, today the Circle of Palms Plaza in downtown is the historical marker for the first state capital. The city was a station on the Butterfield Overland Mail route, in the period 1900 through 1910, San Jose served as a center for pioneering invention, innovation, and impact in both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air flight. These activities were led principally by John Montgomery and his peers, the City of San Jose has established Montgomery Park, a Monument at San Felipe and Yerba Buena Roads, and John J. Montgomery Elementary School in his honor
2.
San Jose State University
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San José State University is a comprehensive public university located in San Jose, California, United States. Located in downtown San Jose, the SJSU main campus is situated on 154 acres, SJSU offers 134 bachelors and masters degrees with 110 concentrations and five credential programs with 19 concentrations. The university also offers two joint doctoral programs and one independent doctoral program as of 2014. SJSU is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, SJSUs total enrollment was 32,154 in fall 2016, including nearly 5,800 graduate students. As of fall 2015, graduate student enrollment at SJSU was the second-highest of any campus in the CSU system, as of fall 2014, the top five most popular undergraduate majors at SJSU were psychology, accounting, marketing, business management, and biological sciences. As of fall 2014, the top five most popular programs were software engineering, electrical engineering, library and information sciences, social work. More San José State University alumni are hired by Silicon Valley firms than graduates of any college or university. SJSU sports teams are known as the Spartans, and compete in the NCAA Division I FBS Mountain West Conference, what is now San José State University was originally established in 1857 as the Minns Evening Normal School in San Francisco, founded by George W. Minns. In 1862, by act of the California legislature, Minns Evening Normal School became the California State Normal School, the school eventually moved to San Jose in 1871, and was given Washington Square Park at Fourth and San Carlos Streets, where the campus remains to this day. In 1881, a bell was forged to commemorate the school. The bell was inscribed with the words California State Normal School, A. D.1881, the original bell appears on the SJSU campus to this day, and is still associated with various student traditions and rituals. In August 1882, a branch campus of the California State Normal School opened in Los Angeles. In 1921, the California State Normal School changed its name to the State Teachers College at San Jose, in 1935, the State Teachers Colleges became the California State Colleges, and the schools name was changed again, this time to San Jose State College. Finally, in 1974, the California legislature voted to change the name to San José State University. In 1930, the Justice Studies Department was founded as a two-year police science degree program and it holds the distinction of offering the first policing degree in the United States. A stone monument and plaque are displayed close to the site of the police school near Tower Hall. In 1942, the old gym was used to register and collect Japanese Americans before sending them to internment camps, coincidentally, Uchidas parents and siblings were among those processed in the building. In 1963, in an effort to save Tower Hall from demolition, SJSU students and alumni organized testimonials before the State College Board of Trustees, sent telegrams, and provided signed petitions
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San Jose State Spartans
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The San Jose State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Mountain West Conference at the NCAA Division I FBS level, the university has participated in athletics since it first fielded a baseball team in 1890. San José State University sports teams have won NCAA national titles in track and field, cross country, golf, boxing, fencing, as of July 2014, SJSU has won 10 NCAA national Division 1 team championships and produced 50 NCAA national Division 1 individual champions. SJSU also has achieved a reputation for its judo program. SJSU alumni have won 19 Olympic medals dating back to the first gold won by Willie Steele in track. Alumni also have won medals in swimming, judo and boxing, the track team coached by Bud Winter earned San Jose the nickname Speed City, and produced Olympic medalists and social activists Lee Evans, John Carlos and Tommie Smith. Smith and Carlos are perhaps best remembered for giving the raised fist salute from the podium during the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City. San José State University sponsors teams in seven mens and thirteen womens NCAA sanctioned sports, # = Gymnastics and womens water polo team compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. ## = The mens water polo team competes in the Golden Coast Conference * = Beach volleyball is a fully sanctioned NCAA sport which had its first national championship in the spring of 2016, San Jose State is currently an independent. Due to the original designation as a teachers college, SJSUs mascot changed many times before the school finally adopted the Spartans as the official mascot. Mascots and nicknames prior to 1922 included the Daniels, the Teachers, the Pedagogues, the Normals, the schools current mascot is Sammy the Spartan or Sammy Spartan for short. After 1887, the name of the San Jose campus was the State Normal School at San Jose. Despite the SNS identity, the continued to be referred to as the California State Normal School. A recent historical exhibit in the Martin Luther King Library on the San José State campus featured a number of pieces of State Normal School memorabilia, including a SNS pennant. San Jose State shares rivalries with fellow Mountain West members, Fresno State, San Diego State and Hawaii, as well as Stanford due to its close proximity, in all sports. With its shared history, CSU affiliate Fresno State University is SJSUs biggest rival, Athletic programs challenge for local turf, especially in SJSU vs SCU basketball and baseball games. The Event Center, Aquatic Center, and the Spartan Complex are the sports facilities on the main campus for athletes.5 mi south of the main campus. A north end zone building addition for CEFCU Stadium is currently in the planning stages, the estimated cost of the project is $40 million
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San Jose Earthquakes
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The San Jose Earthquakes is an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California, United States, that competes as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The franchise began play in 1996, as one of the clubs of the league. The Earthquakes took part in the first game in MLS history, the Earthquakes have won two MLS Cup titles, in 2001 and 2003, and two Supporters Shields in 2005 and 2012. In 2002, the played in its first CONCACAF Champions Cup. The team holds a rivalry with the LA Galaxy known as the California Clásico. In 2005, the owner of the Earthquakes, Anschutz Entertainment Group. The organization in Houston would be considered a team by the league, eventually being known as the Houston Dynamo. The Earthquakes returned after a hiatus, resuming play in 2008. Their head coach is Dominic Kinnear, who coached the team from 2004 to 2005. The Earthquakes play their games at Avaya Stadium beginning in 2015. The team previously played its games at Buck Shaw Stadium on the Santa Clara University campus in Santa Clara. The franchises roots trace back to 1974, when the North American Soccer League awarded a franchise to San Jose. The name Earthquakes originally came from a newspaper contest in the San Jose Mercury News, Earthquakes was chosen by the teams general manager Dick Berg, but was criticized due to San Joses proximity to the San Andreas Fault. The NASL folded after the 1984 season and the Earthquakes played in the Western Soccer League from 1985–88, in 1988, Bridgwater sold the team. When the team folded later that year, the WSL awarded a franchise to Dan Van Voorhis, Van Voorhis named his new team the Blackhawks, after a real estate development of his. The San Francisco Bay Blackhawks entered the WSL for the 1989 season, in 1991, Van Voorhis hired a former Earthquakes player, Laurie Calloway, as coach. Calloway coached a full of players who would later play for San Jose in MLS, including John Doyle, Troy Dayak, Paul Bravo. In a preview of what was to later in MLS
5.
Major League Soccer
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Major League Soccer is a mens professional soccer league, sanctioned by U. S. Soccer, that represents the sports highest level in both the United States and Canada. MLS constitutes one of the professional sports leagues of the United States. The league comprises 22 teams—19 in the U. S. and 3 in Canada, the MLS regular season runs from March to October, with each team playing 34 games, the team with the best record is awarded the Supporters Shield. The postseason includes twelve teams competing in the MLS Cup Playoffs through November and December, culminating in the championship game, MLS teams also play in other domestic competitions against teams from other divisions in the U. S. Open Cup and in the Canadian Championship. MLS teams also compete against continental rivals in the CONCACAF Champions League, Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 as part of the United States successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The first season took place in 1996 with ten teams, MLS experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years, The league lost millions of dollars, teams played in mostly empty American football stadiums, and two teams folded in 2002. Instead of operating as an association of independently owned teams, MLS is an entity in which each team is owned and controlled by the leagues investors. The investor-operators control their teams as owners control teams in other leagues, MLS headquarters is located in New York City. Major League Soccers regular season runs from March to October, teams are divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences. Teams play 34 games in a schedule,23 matches against teams within their conference. Midway through the season, teams break for the annual All-Star Game, at the end of the regular season, the team with the highest point total is awarded the Supporters Shield. While MLS has looked into changing to a format, there are no current plans to do so. If the league were to change its schedule, a break would be needed, especially with several teams in colder climates. It would also have to compete with the more popular National Football League, National Hockey League, MLS teams also play in other competitions. Every year, up to five MLS teams play in the CONCACAF Champions League against other clubs from the CONCACAF region, two U. S. -based MLS teams qualify based on MLS regular-season results, the winner of the Western conference and the winner of the Eastern conference. The third U. S. team to qualify is the winner of the MLS Cup. A fourth U. S. -based MLS team can qualify via the U. S. Open Cup, Canadian MLS clubs play against lower division Canadian clubs in the Canadian Championship for the one Champions League spot allocated to Canada. MLSs 22 teams are divided between the Eastern and Western Conferences, each club is allowed up to 28 players on its first team roster
6.
Sequoia sempervirens
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Sequoia sempervirens /sᵻˈkɔɪ. ə sɛmpərˈvaɪrənz/ is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae. Common names include coast redwood, coastal redwood and California redwood and it is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living 1, 200–1,800 years or more. This species includes the tallest living trees on Earth, reaching up to 379 feet in height and these trees are also among the oldest living things on Earth. The name sequoia sometimes refers to the subfamily Sequoioideae, which includes S. sempervirens along with Sequoiadendron, here, the term redwood on its own refers to the species covered in this article, and not to the other two species. Scottish botanist David Don described the redwood as the evergreen taxodium in his colleague Aylmer Bourke Lamberts 1824 work A description of the genus Pinus, austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher erected the genus Sequoia in his 1847 work Synopsis coniferarum, giving the redwood its current binomial name of Sequoia sempervirens. The redwood is one of three living species, each in its own genus, in the subfamily Sequoioideae, molecular studies have shown the three to be each others closest relatives, generally with the redwood and giant sequoia as each others closest relatives. However, Yang and colleagues in 2010 queried the polyploid state of the redwood, further analysis strongly supported the hypothesis that Sequoia was the result of a hybridization event involving Metasequoia and Sequoiadendron. Thus, Yang and colleagues hypothesize that the inconsistent relationships among Metasequoia, Sequoia, the coast redwood can reach 115 m tall with a trunk diameter of 9 m. It has a crown, with horizontal to slightly drooping branches. The bark can be thick, up to 1-foot, and quite soft and fibrous, with a bright red-brown color when freshly exposed. The root system is composed of shallow, wide-spreading lateral roots, the leaves are variable, being 15–25 mm long and flat on young trees and shaded shoots in the lower crown of old trees. On the other hand, they are scale-like, 5–10 mm long on shoots in full sun in the crown of older trees. They are dark green above and have two blue-white stomatal bands below, leaf arrangement is spiral, but the larger shade leaves are twisted at the base to lie in a flat plane for maximum light capture. The species is monoecious, with pollen and seed cones on the same plant, the seed cones are ovoid, 15–32 millimetres long, with 15–25 spirally arranged scales, pollination is in late winter with maturation about 8–9 months after. Each cone scale bears three to seven seeds, each seed 3–4 millimetres long and 0.5 millimetres broad, the seeds are released when the cone scales dry out and open at maturity. The pollen cones are ovular and 4–6 millimetres long and its genetic makeup is unusual among conifers, being a hexaploid and possibly allopolyploid. Both the mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes of the redwood are paternally inherited, the prevailing elevation range is 98–2,460 ft above sea level, occasionally down to 0 and up to 3,000 ft. They usually grow in the mountains where precipitation from the incoming moisture off the ocean is greater, the tallest and oldest trees are found in deep valleys and gullies, where year-round streams can flow, and fog drip is regular
