California is a state in the Western region of the United States. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and the Mexican state of Baja California to the south; it has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the west. With over 38.9 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the most populous U.S. state, the third-largest U.S. state by area, and the most populated subnational entity in North America.
Kim Althea Gordon is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, California, where her father was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. After graduating from Los Angeles's Otis College of Art and Design, she moved to New York City to begin an art career. There, she formed Sonic Youth with Thurston Moore in 1981. She and Moore married in 1984, and the band released a total of six albums on independent labels before the end of the 1980s. They would subsequently release nine studio albums on the major label DGC Records, beginning with Goo in 1990. Gordon was also a founding member of the musical project Free Kitten, which she formed with Julia Cafritz in 1993.
Gordon Earle Moore was an American businessman, engineer, and the co-founder and emeritus chairman of Intel Corporation. He proposed Moore's law which makes the observation that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years.
Gordon Bitner Hinckley was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from March 1995 until his death in January 2008 at age 97. Considered a prophet, seer, and revelator by church members, Hinckley was the oldest person to preside over the church in its history until Russell M. Nelson surpassed his age in 2022.
Charles Gordon Fullerton was a United States Air Force colonel, a USAF and NASA astronaut, and a research pilot at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, California. His assignments included a variety of flight research and support activities piloting NASA's B-52 launch aircraft, the Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), and other multi-engine and high performance aircraft.
Richard Francis "Dick" Gordon Jr. was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut, and a football executive. He was one of 24 people to have flown to the Moon, as command module pilot of the Apollo 12 mission, which orbited the Moon 45 times. Gordon had already flown in space as the pilot of the 1966 Gemini 11 mission.
Walter Arthur Gordon was the first African American to receive a JD from University of California, Berkeley School of Law. He had an extremely long and varied career where he served as a police officer, lawyer, assistant football coach, member of the California Adult Authority, Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, and a Federal District Judge.
Gordon Russell Sullivan was a United States Army general, who served as the 32nd Chief of Staff of the Army and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Sullivan also served as acting Secretary of the Army.
Robert Gordon Sproul was the first system-wide president (1952–1958) of the University of California system, and a president (11th) of the University of California, Berkeley, serving from 1930 to 1952.
The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the legislative branch. The mayor serves a four-year term and is limited to two successive terms. Because of San Francisco's status as a consolidated city-county, the mayor also serves as the head of government of the county; both entities have been governed together by a combined set of governing bodies since 1856.
Andrew Latham Smith was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Pennsylvania (1909–1912), Purdue University (1913–1915), and the University of California, Berkeley (1916–1925), compiling a career college football record of 116–32–13. As head coach of the California Golden Bears football program, Smith guided his "Wonder Teams" to a record of 74–16–7, captured five Pacific Coast Conference titles, and three national championships. Smith was the winningest football coach in school history until he was surpassed by Jeff Tedford in 2011. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.
Gordon Hickman Garland was a conservative Democratic California state legislator and the 48th Speaker of the California State Assembly. Garland also served as Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles in the 1940s and was also Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol. After leaving state government, he became a lobbyist for the Golden Gate Bridge District, the California Water Association, and the California Chiropractic Association and was widely regarded as an expert on water issues in California. Garland was one of ten legislators that wrote the legislation to create the Central Valley Project.
Jeffery Michael Gordon is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver, who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series and Sprint Cup Series, and also served as a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in select races during the 2016 season. He is regarded as one of the best and most influential drivers in NASCAR history, helping the sport reach mainstream popularity.
Neve Gordon is an Israeli professor and academic. He is a professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London and writes on issues relating to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and human rights. He used to teach at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. A member of Academia for Equality, an organization working to promote democratization, equality and access to higher education for all communities living in Israel.
Kevin Mullin is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 15th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the California State Assembly from the 22nd district, which encompasses most of the San Francisco Peninsula region, from 2012 to 2022.
Aaron Addison Gordon is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in San Jose, California, Gordon attended Archbishop Mitty High School where he led his team to two state championships and was named California Mr. Basketball in his junior and senior years. Gordon then played one year of college basketball with the Arizona Wildcats, during which they won the Pac-12 regular season title and reached the Elite Eight of the 2014 NCAA tournament.
Laura de Force Gordon was a California lawyer, newspaper publisher, and a prominent suffragette. She was the first woman to run a daily newspaper in the United States, and the second female lawyer admitted to practice in California.
Gordon Bennett Cologne served in the California State Assembly for the 71st from 1961 to 1963 and the 74th district from 1963 to 1965. He also served in the California State Assembly for the 36th district from 1965 to 1967 and the 37th district from 1967 to 1972. Legislation that bears his name includes the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, anti-pollution legislation which predated the federal Clean Water Act. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy.
The women's suffrage movement began in California in the 19th century and was successful with the passage of Proposition 4 on October 10, 1911. Many of the women and men involved in this movement remained politically active in the national suffrage movement with organizations such as the National American Women's Suffrage Association and the National Woman's Party.
The 1982 California Secretary of State election was held on November 2, 1982. Democratic incumbent March Fong Eu defeated Republican nominee Gordon W. Duffy with 60.54% of the vote.
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