Portal:San Francisco Bay Area/Selected article/Archive
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February
Joshua Abraham Norton (c. 1815 – January 8, 1880), also known as His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, was a celebrated citizen of San Francisco who proclaimed himself "Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico." Although he had no political power, and his influence extended only so far as he was humored by those around him, he was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments he frequented. Norton also wrote to Queen Victoria, and he was referred to as His Imperial Majesty by local citizens and in the newspaper obituaries announcing his death. Though he was considered insane, or at least highly eccentric, the citizens of San Francisco celebrated his presence, his humor, and his deeds—among the most notorious being his "order" that the United States Congress be dissolved by force (which Congress and the U.S. Army ignored), and his numerous (some claim prophetic) decrees calling for a bridge to be built across San Francisco Bay. Mark Twain was co-resident in San Francisco during part of Emperor Norton's "reign," and the King in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is reportedly modeled after him. (more...)
January
Sonoma Mountain is a prominent landform within the Sonoma Mountains of southern Sonoma County, California. At elevation 2,463 feet (751 m), Sonoma Mountain offers expansive views of the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Sonoma Valley to the east. In fact, the viticultural area extends in isolated patches up the eastern slopes of Sonoma Mountain up to almost 1,700 feet (518 m) in elevation. The eastern slopes of Sonoma Mountain drain to Sonoma Creek, the northern slopes to Matanzas Creek and the western and southern exposures are part of the Petaluma River watershed. The eastern and northern slopes are protected from afternoon heat, and hence are more densely forested in oak woodlands, abetted by the well drained nutrient rich soils. The western and southern slopes, on the other hand, are drier and warmer, leading to fewer dense woodlands and more chaparral, grassland and oak savannah. (more...)
Previously: Google - 1991 Oakland Hills firestorm - Love Parade
2006
December
Google, Inc. is an American public corporation and search engine, first incorporated as a privately held company on 7 September 1998. The company had 9,378 full-time employees as of September 30, 2006 and is based in Mountain View, California. Eric Schmidt, former chief executive officer of Novell, is Google's CEO, after co-founder Larry Page stepped down. The name "Google" originated from a misspelling of "googol," which refers to 10100 (a 1 followed by one-hundred zeros). The verb "google" was added to both the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary, meaning "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet." (more...)
October-November
The 1991 Oakland firestorm occurred on Sunday October 20, 1991, almost exactly two years after the Loma Prieta earthquake. The fire has also been called the Oakland hills firestorm, the East Bay hills fire, or the Tunnel fire (because it began above the west portal of the Caldecott Tunnel). The fire killed 25 people and injured 150. On the 1,520 acres destroyed were 2,449 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units. The economic loss has been estimated at $1.5 billion. (more...)
September
The weekend of Sepetember 23rd brings the Love Parade now known as the "LoveFest" to San Francisco's Civic Center. Originally started in Berlin in 1989, it blossomed to one of the world's largest rave drawing over a million people at its peak during the 1990s. Burecratic and financial reasons forced the parade to stop in 2003, but unofficial versions of it continued worldwide. The offical version was re-started in San Francisco in 2004 with 40,000 attending. It has been a rousing success since then, drawing more and more crowds per year. With the resumption of the Love Parade in Berlin in 2005, the San Francisco festival was redubbed the "Love fest".
The parade will start at 12 noon at 2nd and Market Streets and will parade down Market to the Civic Center where there will be festivities until sunset. (more...)