1.
California
–
California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
2.
The California Museum
–
The building has more than 20,000 square feet of exhibit space, and facilities for lectures, performances, receptions and events. Originally called the Golden State Museum, The California Museum opened in June 1998 as a unique public/private partnership and it was developed under the Secretary of State’s office with ste bond funding for the facility and the opening exhibits. However, the Museum’s long-term management and financial support are the responsibility of a nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation, private contributions, augmented by proceeds from admissions and the Museum Store, fund the Museum’s programs and operations. In May 2004, former First Lady Maria Shriver, working with the Secretary of State and California State Parks, presented an exhibit titled “California’s Remarkable Women. ”This trailblazing exhibit honors the legacy and celebrates the accomplishments of California’s remarkable women of yesterday and today. A revitalized Board of Trustees oversees the operations and has launched a multi-million dollar capital campaign to design and develop the new Museum. The 3, 000-square foot gallery showcases the unique contributions of the state’s Native peoples through artifacts, art,13 oral histories at 6 video stations and an interactive Native language kiosk. Over 400 artifacts are displayed, including, Buckskin jacket and revolver of Captain Jack and this permanent exhibition will feature new artifacts during its second installation phase scheduled for display in March 2012. This exhibit, inspired by former California First Lady Maria Shriver, honors the achievements of the women who strengthen, shape. Focusing on the opportunities awaiting present and future generations of women leaders. This permanent exhibition will be remodeled to commemorate the 100th anniversary of suffrage in California. Each January, the California Museum presents a joint exhibit and school program that centers on the internment of Californians of Japanese descent during World War II. Artifacts and photographs follow the history of Japanese Californians from immigration to the internment and this year, an expanded version of the exhibit will include original art, furniture and crafts made in the internment camps. The exhibit highlights fundamental concepts of rights and responsibilities, while providing a message of personal strength. Curated by original Z-Boy Nathan Pratt, co-star of the 2002 documentary Dogtown and Z- Boys, from the earliest 1950s wood plank and metal roller skate wheel prototypes to the modern engineered marvels of today, rare boards and ephemera document the evolution of sidewalk surfing. Highlights include many of the firsts, including the first pro model skateboard, the first board with urethane wheels. Open July 2,2011 through March 25,2012, California Innovates, The Computer Chip is the first in a new a series of exhibits focused on the Golden State as a hub of innovation. Dedicated to the California-created computer chip, this first display explores one of the states most prosperous industries, through a hands-on, interactive display, the exhibit introduces what chips are, where they are used and how they are made. Open August 26,2011 through August 25,2012, the artists - Irma Barbosa, Carmel Castillo, Mareia de Socorro, Laura Llano and Helen Villa - have been leaders in the Chicana art movement for the past twenty years
3.
Sacramento, California
–
Sacramento is the capital city of the U. S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. It is at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the portion of Californias expansive Central Valley. Its estimated 2014 population of 485,199 made it the sixth-largest city in California, Sacramento is the cultural and economic core of the Sacramento metropolitan area, which includes seven counties with a 2010 population of 2,414,783. In 2002, the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University conducted for Time magazine named Sacramento Americas Most Diverse City, Sacramento became a city through the efforts of the Swiss immigrant John Sutter, Sr. his son John Augustus Sutter, Jr. and James W. Marshall. Sacramento grew quickly thanks to the protection of Sutters Fort, which was established by Sutter in 1839, the city was named after the Sacramento River, which forms its western border. The river was named by Spanish cavalry officer Gabriel Moraga for the Santísimo Sacramento, California State University, Sacramento, is the largest university in the city and one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. University of the Pacific is a university with one of its three campuses in Sacramento. In addition, the University of California, Davis, located in nearby Davis, operates its UC Davis Medical Center, nisenan and Plains Miwok Native Americans had lived in the area for perhaps thousands of years. Unlike the settlers who would eventually make Sacramento their home, these Native Americans left little evidence of their existence. Traditionally, their diet was dominated by acorns taken from the oak trees in the region, and by fruits, bulbs, seeds. In 1808, the Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga discovered and named the Sacramento Valley, a Spanish writer with the Moraga expedition wrote, Canopies of oaks and cottonwoods, many festooned with grapevines, overhung both sides of the blue current. Birds chattered in the trees and big fish darted through the pellucid depths, the air was like champagne, and drank deep of it, drank in the beauty around them. The valley and the river were then christened after the Most Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, John Sutter first arrived on August 13,1839 at the divergence of the American and Sacramento Rivers with a Mexican land grant of 50,000 acres. The next year, he and his party established Sutters Fort, representing Mexico, Sutter called his colony New Helvetia, a Swiss inspired name, and was the political authority and dispenser of justice in the new settlement. Soon, the colony began to grow as more and more pioneers headed west, within just a few short years, John Sutter had become a grand success, owning a ten-acre orchard and a herd of thirteen thousand cattle. Fort Sutter became a stop for the increasing number of immigrants coming through the valley. In 1847, Sutter hired James Marshall to build a sawmill so that he could continue to expand his empire, Sutter received 2,000 fruit trees in 1847, which started the agriculture industry in the Sacramento Valley. In 1848, when gold was discovered by James W. Marshall at Sutters Mill in Coloma and he hired topographical engineer William H
4.
Maria Shriver
–
Maria Owings Shriver is an American journalist, activist, author of six best-selling books, and former First Lady of California. She has received a Peabody Award and was co-anchor for NBCs Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics, as executive producer of The Alzheimers Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of Television Arts & Sciences award for developing a television show with a conscience. She is a member of the Kennedy family, Shriver is currently a special anchor and correspondent for NBC News. Shriver was born in Chicago, Illinois, Shriver is the niece of United States President John F. Kennedy, U. S. Attorney General and U. S. Senator Ted Kennedy and six other siblings, Shriver attended Westland Middle School in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D. C. and graduated in 1973 from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda. She attended Manhattanville College for two years, then transferred and went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in American studies from Georgetown University in Washington, vice presidential race, calling these orders the best thing that ever happened to me. Shriver also served as anchor on Saturdays, from 1989–1990. She was an anchor on Dateline NBC from 1992 until 2004. In August 2003, Shriver took a leave of absence from NBC News when her husband became a candidate in the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election. Following her husbands November 17,2003, inauguration as the 38th Governor of California and she then returned to reporting, making two more appearances for Dateline NBC. She appeared as herself in the film Last Action Hero and she also played a minor role as herself in Be Prepared, a 2006 episode of the television series Thats So Raven promoting a Preparedness Plan. On March 23,2007, Shriver returned to television news as substitute host of talk show Larry King Live on CNN with musician Sheryl Crow. Shriver announced that she not return to the news media after the excessive media coverage of the death of Anna Nicole Smith. In 2008, Shriver executive-produced American Idealist, The Story of Sargent Shriver, the documentary originally aired on PBS on January 21,2008. The film chronicled the life, accomplishments and vision of her father, Shriver has been a lifelong advocate for people with intellectual disabilities. She is a member of the International Board of Special Olympics and she is also on the advisory board of Best Buddies, a one-to-one friendship and jobs program for people with intellectual disabilities. In addition, Shriver serves as Chair of the Audi Best Buddies Challenge, Hearst Castle, as First Lady, Shriver has been instrumental in the hiring of individuals with intellectual disabilities in the capitol and in various state offices through her WE Include program. In February 2008, Shriver launched an ice cream company called Lovin Scoopful with her brother, twenty-five percent of the proceeds from Lovin Scoopful benefits the Special Olympics
5.
Ronald Reagan
–
Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who was the 40th President of the United States, from 1981 to 1989. Before his presidency, he was the 33rd Governor of California, from 1967 to 1975, after a career as a Hollywood actor and union leader. Raised in a family in small towns of northern Illinois, Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932. After moving to Hollywood in 1937, he became an actor, Reagan was twice elected President of the Screen Actors Guild, the labor union for actors, where he worked to root out Communist influence. In the 1950s, he moved into television and was a speaker at General Electric factories. Having been a lifelong Democrat, his views changed and he became a conservative and in 1962 switched to the Republican Party. In 1964, Reagans speech, A Time for Choosing, in support of Barry Goldwaters foundering presidential campaign, Building a network of supporters, he was elected Governor of California in 1966. Entering the presidency in 1981, Reagan implemented sweeping new political, in his first term he survived an assassination attempt, spurred the War on Drugs, and fought public sector labor. During his re-election bid, Reagan campaigned on the notion that it was Morning in America, foreign affairs dominated his second term, including ending of the Cold War, the bombing of Libya, and the Iran–Contra affair. Publicly describing the Soviet Union as an empire, and during his famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate. Jack, a salesman and storyteller, was the grandson of Irish Catholic immigrants from County Tipperary, Reagan had one older brother, John Neil Reagan, who became an advertising executive. As a boy, Reagans father nicknamed his son Dutch, due to his fat little Dutchman-like appearance and Dutchboy haircut, Reagans family briefly lived in several towns and cities in Illinois, including Monmouth, Galesburg, and Chicago. In 1919, they returned to Tampico and lived above the H. C, Pitney Variety Store until finally settling in Dixon. After his election as president, residing in the upstairs White House private quarters, for the time, Reagan was unusual in his opposition to racial discrimination, and recalled a time in Dixon when the local inn would not allow black people to stay there. Reagan brought them back to his house, where his mother invited them to stay the night and have breakfast the next morning, after the closure of the Pitney Store in late 1920 and the familys move to Dixon, the midwestern small universe had a lasting impression on Reagan. Reagan attended Dixon High School, where he developed interests in acting, sports and his first job was as a lifeguard at the Rock River in Lowell Park in 1927. Over a six-year period, Reagan reportedly performed 77 rescues as a lifeguard and he attended Eureka College, a Disciples-oriented liberal arts school, where he became a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, a cheerleader, and studied economics and sociology. While involved, the Miller Center of Public Affairs described him as an indifferent student and he majored in economics and sociology, and graduated with a C grade
6.
Cesar Chavez
–
Cesar Chavez was an American labor leader and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962. His public-relations approach to unionism and aggressive but nonviolent tactics made the workers struggle a moral cause with nationwide support. By the late 1970s, his tactics had forced growers to recognize the UFW as the agent for 50,000 field workers in California. However, by the membership in the UFW had dwindled to around 15,000. He has since become an icon for organized labor and leftist politics, symbolizing support for workers and he is also famous for popularizing the slogan Sí, se puede, which was adopted as the 2008 campaign slogan of Barack Obama. His supporters say his work led to improvements for union laborers. Although the UFW faltered a few years after Chavez died in 1993 and his birthday, March 31, has become Cesar Chavez Day, a state holiday in California, Colorado, and Texas. Chavez was born on March 31,1927, in Yuma, Arizona and he was the son of Juana Estrada and Librado Chávez. He had two brothers, Richard and Librado, and two sisters, Rita and Vicki and he was named after his grandfather, Cesario. Chavez grew up in an adobe home, the same home in which he was born. His family owned a store and a ranch, but their land was lost during the Great Depression. The familys home was taken away after his father had agreed to clear eighty acres of land in exchange for the deed to the house, an agreement which was subsequently broken. Later, when Chavezs father attempted to purchase the house, he could not pay the interest on the loan and his family then moved to California to become migrant farm workers. The Chavez family faced many hardships in California, the family would pick peas and lettuce in the winter, cherries and beans in the spring, corn and grapes in the summer, and cotton in the fall. When Chavez was a teenager, he and his older sister Rita would help other farm workers and neighbors by driving those unable to drive to the hospital to see a doctor, in 1942, Chavez quit school in the seventh grade. It would be his year of formal schooling, because he did not want his mother to have to work in the fields. Chavez dropped out to become a migrant farm worker. In 1946 he joined the United States Navy and served for two years, Chavez had hoped that he would learn skills in the Navy that would help him later when he returned to civilian life
7.
Walt Disney
–
Walter Elias Walt Disney was an American entrepreneur, animator, voice actor and film producer. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons, as a film producer, Disney holds the record for most Academy Awards earned by an individual, having won 22 Oscars from 59 nominations. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors, several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Born in Chicago in 1901, Disney developed an early interest in drawing and he took art classes as a boy and got a job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. He moved to California in the early 1920s and set up the Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy, with Ub Iwerks, Walt developed the character Mickey Mouse in 1928, his first highly popular success, he also provided the voice for his creation in the early years. As the studio grew, Disney became more adventurous, introducing synchronized sound, full-color three-strip Technicolor, feature-length cartoons, the results, seen in features such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Pinocchio, Dumbo and Bambi, furthered the development of animated film. New animated and live-action films followed after World War II, including the critically successful Cinderella and Mary Poppins, in the 1950s, Disney expanded into the amusement park industry, and in 1955 he opened Disneyland. In 1965, he began development of theme park, Disney World, the heart of which was to be a new type of city. Disney was a smoker throughout his life, and died of lung cancer in December 1966 before either the park or the EPCOT project were completed. Disney was a shy, self-deprecating and insecure man in private and he had high standards and high expectations of those with whom he worked. Although there have been accusations that he was racist or anti-semitic and his reputation changed in the years after his death, from a purveyor of homely patriotic values to a representative of American imperialism. Nevertheless, Disney is considered an icon, particularly in the United States. Walt Disney was born on December 5,1901, at 1249 Tripp Avenue and he was the fourth son of Elias Disney—born in the Province of Canada, to Irish parents—and Flora, an American of German and English descent. Aside from Disney, Elias and Calls sons were Herbert, Raymond and Roy, in 1906, when Disney was four, the family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri, where his uncle Robert had just purchased land. In Marceline, Disney developed his interest in drawing when he was paid to draw the horse of a neighborhood doctor. Elias was a subscriber to the Appeal to Reason newspaper, Disney also began to develop an ability to work with watercolors and crayons. He lived near the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway line and he and his younger sister Ruth started school at the same time at the Park School in Marceline in late 1909. In 1911, the Disneys moved to Kansas City, Missouri, before long, he was spending more time at the Pfeiffers house than at home
8.
Amelia Earhart
–
Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, distinguished Flying Cross for this accomplishment. She set many records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines. In 1935, Earhart became a faculty member at Purdue University as an advisor to aeronautical engineering. She was also a member of the National Womans Party and a supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. During an attempt to make a flight of the globe in 1937 in a Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10 Electra. Fascination with her life, career and disappearance continues to this day, Earhart was the daughter of Samuel Edwin Stanton Earhart and Amelia Amy. Amelia was the child of the marriage, after an infant stillborn in August 1896. She was of part German descent, alfred Otis had not initially favored the marriage and was not satisfied with Edwins progress as a lawyer. According to family custom, Earhart was named after her two grandmothers, Amelia Josephine Harres and Mary Wells Patton, from an early age, Earhart, nicknamed Meeley was the ringleader while her younger sister, Grace Muriel Earhart, nicknamed Pidge, acted the dutiful follower. Both girls continued to answer to their childhood nicknames well into adulthood and their upbringing was unconventional since Amy Earhart did not believe in molding her children into nice little girls. A spirit of adventure seemed to abide in the Earhart children, as a child, Earhart spent long hours playing with sister Pidge, climbing trees, hunting rats with a rifle and belly-slamming her sled downhill. Although this love of the outdoors and rough-and-tumble play was common to many youngsters, the girls kept worms, moths, katydids and a tree toad in a growing collection gathered in their outings. In 1904, with the help of her uncle, she cobbled together a home-made ramp fashioned after a roller coaster she had seen on a trip to St. Louis, Earharts well-documented first flight ended dramatically. She emerged from the wooden box that had served as a sled with a bruised lip, torn dress. She exclaimed, Oh, Pidge, its just like flying, although there had been some missteps in his career up to that point, in 1907 Edwin Earharts job as a claims officer for the Rock Island Railroad led to a transfer to Des Moines, Iowa. The next year, at the age of 10, Earhart saw her first aircraft at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines and her father tried to interest her and her sister in taking a flight. One look at the rickety flivver was enough for Earhart, who asked if they could go back to the merry-go-round
9.
Clint Eastwood
–
Clinton Clint Eastwood Jr. is an American actor, filmmaker, musician, and political figure. These roles, among others, have made Eastwood an enduring icon of masculinity. For his work in the Western film Unforgiven and the sports drama Million Dollar Baby, Eastwood won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture, as well as receiving nominations for Best Actor. Eastwoods greatest commercial successes have been the adventure comedy Every Which Way But Loose and its sequel, the war drama biopic American Sniper set box office records for the largest January release ever and was also the largest opening ever for an Eastwood film. Eastwood received considerable praise in France for several films, including some that were not well received in the United States. Eastwood has been awarded two of Frances highest honors, in 1994 he became a recipient of the Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, in 2000, Eastwood was awarded the Italian Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Since 1967, Eastwood has run his own company, Malpaso. Starting in 1986, Eastwood served for two years as Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, a non-partisan office, Eastwood was born Clinton Eastwood Jr. May 31,1930, in San Francisco, California, the son of Clinton Eastwood Sr. and he has one younger sister, Jeanne Bernhardt. Eastwood is of English, Irish, Scottish, and Dutch ancestry and he is descended from Mayflower passenger William Bradford, and through this line is the 12th generation of his family born in North America and the 13th generation to live in North America. His family moved often as his father worked at jobs along the West Coast, settled in Piedmont, California, the Eastwoods lived in a very wealthy part of town, had a swimming pool, belonged to the country club, and each parent drove their own car. Clint attended Piedmont Junior High School, shortly before he was to enter Piedmont High School, he rode his bike on the schools sports field and tore up the wet turf, this resulted in his being asked not to enroll. Clint graduated from the airplane shop, I think that was his major, joked classmate Don Kincaid. Another high school friend, Don Loomis, echoed I dont think he was spending much time at school because he was having a pretty good time elsewhere. I think what happened is he just went off and started having a good time, I just dont think he finished high school, explained Fritz Manes, a boyhood friend two years younger than Eastwood, who remained associated with him until their falling out in the mid-1980s. Biographer Patrick McGilligan notes that high school records are a matter of strict legal confidentiality. Eastwood worked at a number of jobs, including lifeguard, paper carrier, grocery clerk, forest firefighter, Eastwood has said that he tried to enroll at Seattle University but was then drafted into the United States Army during the Korean War. He always dropped the Korean War reference, hoping everyone would conclude that he was in combat, actually, hed been a lifeguard at Fort Ord in northern California for his entire stint in the military, commented Eastwoods former longtime companion, Sondra Locke
10.
Frank Gehry
–
Frank Owen Gehry, CC is a Canadian-born American architect, residing in Los Angeles. A number of his buildings, including his private residence, have become world-renowned attractions and it was his private residence in Santa Monica, California, that jump-started his career. Gehry is also the designer of the future National Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, Gehry was born Frank Owen Goldberg on February 28,1929, in Toronto, Ontario, to parents Sadie Thelma and Irving Goldberg. His father was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Russian Jewish parents, a creative child, he was encouraged by his grandmother, with whom he would build little cities out of scraps of wood. With these scraps from her husbands store, she entertained him for hours, building imaginary houses. His use of corrugated steel, chain link fencing, unpainted plywood and he would spend time drawing with his father, while his mother introduced him to the world of art. So the creative genes were there, Gehry says, but my father thought I was a dreamer, I wasnt gonna amount to anything. It was my mother who thought I was just reticent to do things and he was given the Hebrew name Ephraim by his grandfather, but only used it at his bar mitzvah. In 1947, his family immigrated to the United States settling in California, Gehry got a job driving a delivery truck, and studied at Los Angeles City College, eventually to graduate from the University of Southern Californias School of Architecture. During that time, he became a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, according to Gehry, I was a truck driver in L. A. going to City College, and I tried radio announcing, which I wasnt very good at. I tried chemical engineering, which I wasnt very good at and didnt like and you know, somehow I just started wracking my brain about, What do I like. And I remembered art, that I loved going to museums and I loved looking at paintings and those things came from my mother, who took me to concerts and museums. I remembered Grandma and the blocks, and just on a hunch, Gehry graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree from USC in 1954. After graduating from college, he spent time away from the field of architecture in other jobs. In the fall of 1956, he moved his family to Cambridge and he left before completing the program, disheartened and underwhelmed. Gehry returned to Los Angeles to work for Victor Gruen Associates, in 1957 he was given the chance to design and construct his first private residence at the age of 28, with friend and old classmate Greg Walsh. Built in Idyllwild, California for his wife Anita’s family neighbor Melvin David, The David Cabin, completed in 1958, beams protrude from the exterior sides and exposed, unfinished ceiling beams are prominent features. In 1961, he moved to Paris where he worked for architects Pereira, in 1962, Gehry established a practice in Los Angeles which became Frank Gehry and Associates in 1967 and then Gehry Partners in 2001
11.
Billie Jean King
–
Billie Jean King is an American former World No.1 professional tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam titles, including 12 singles,16 womens doubles, King won the singles title at the inaugural WTA Tour Championships. King often represented the United States in the Federation Cup and the Wightman Cup and she was a member of the victorious United States team in seven Federation Cups and nine Wightman Cups. For three years, King was the United States captain in the Federation Cup, King is an advocate for gender equality and has long been a pioneer for equality and social justice. Regarded by many in the sport as one of the greatest female players of all time. The Fed Cup Award of Excellence was bestowed on King in 2010, in 1972, King was the joint winner, with John Wooden, of the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year award and was one of the Time Persons of the Year in 1975. King has also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year lifetime achievement award. King was inducted into the National Womens Hall of Fame in 1990, and in 2006, King was born in Long Beach, California, into a conservative Methodist family, the daughter of Betty, a housewife, and Bill Moffitt, a firefighter. Her younger brother, Randy Moffitt, would become a Major League Baseball pitcher, Billie Jean attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School. After graduating, she attended California State University, Los Angeles and she learned her tennis on the free public courts in Long Beach. Bob Martin of the Long Beach Press-Telegram wrote about Billie Jeans success in a weekly tennis column, Kings triumph at the French Open in 1972 made her only the fifth woman in tennis history to win the singles titles at all four Grand Slam events, a career Grand Slam. King also won a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles, in womens doubles, only the Australian Open eluded her. King won a record 20 career titles at Wimbledon – six singles,10 womens doubles, King played 51 Grand Slam singles events from 1959 through 1983, reaching at least the semifinals in 27 and at least the quarterfinals in 40 of her attempts. King was the runner-up in six Grand Slam singles events, an indicator of Kings mental toughness at crunch time in Grand Slam singles tournaments was her 11–2 career record in deuce third sets, i. e. third sets that were tied 5–5 before being resolved. King won 129 singles titles, and her prize money totaled US$1,966,487. In Federation Cup finals, King was on the winning United States team seven times, in 1963,1966,1967 and her career win–loss record was 52–4. She won the last 30 matches she played, including 15 straight wins in singles and doubles. In Wightman Cup competition, Kings career win–loss record was 22–4, the United States won the cup ten of the 11 years that King participated
12.
John Muir
–
His letters, essays, and books describing his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada, have been read by millions. His activism has helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park, the Sierra Club, which he founded, is a prominent American conservation organization. The 211-mile John Muir Trail, a trail in the Sierra Nevada, was named in his honor. Other such places include Muir Woods National Monument, Muir Beach, John Muir College, Mount Muir, in Scotland, the John Muir Way, a 130-mile-long route, was named in honor of him. In his later life, Muir devoted most of his time to the preservation of the Western forests and he petitioned the U. S. Congress for the National Park bill that was passed in 1890, establishing Yosemite National Park. The spiritual quality and enthusiasm toward nature expressed in his writings has inspired readers, including presidents and congressmen, today Muir is referred to as the Father of the National Parks and the National Park Service has produced a short documentary about his life. John Muir has been considered an inspiration to both Scots and Americans, Muirs biographer, Steven J. Holmes, believes that Muir has become one of the patron saints of twentieth-century American environmental activity, both political and recreational. As a result, his writings are discussed in books and journals. Muir has profoundly shaped the very categories through which Americans understand and envision their relationships with the natural world, on April 21,2013, the first ever John Muir Day was celebrated in Scotland, which marked the 175th anniversary of his birth, paying homage to the conservationist. John Muirs Birthplace is a stone house in Dunbar, East Lothian. His parents were Daniel Muir and Ann Gilrye and he was the third of eight children, Margaret, Sarah, David, Daniel, Ann and Mary, and the American-born Joanna. His earliest recollections were of taking short walks with his grandfather when he was three, author Amy Marquis notes that he began his love affair with nature while young, and implies that it may have been in reaction to his strict religious upbringing. His father believed that anything that distracted from Bible studies was frivolous, but the young Muir was a restless spirit and especially prone to lashings. As a young boy, Muir became fascinated with the East Lothian landscape and it was during this time that he became interested in natural history and the works of Scottish naturalist Alexander Wilson. Although he spent the majority of his life in America, Muir never forgot his roots in Scotland and he held a strong connection with his birthplace and Scottish identity throughout his life and was frequently heard talking about his childhood spent amid the East Lothian countryside. He greatly admired the works of Thomas Carlyle and poetry of Robert Burns and he returned to Scotland on a trip in 1893, where he met one of his Dunbar schoolmates and visited the places of his youth that were etched in his memory. He also never lost his strong Scottish accent after many years living in America, in 1849, Muirs family immigrated to the United States, starting a farm near Portage, Wisconsin, called Fountain Lake Farm. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark, by age 11, young Muir had learned to recite by heart and by sore flesh all of the New Testament and most of the Old Testament
