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San Leandro

(Encyclopedia)San Leandro săn lēănˈdrō [key], city (1990 pop. 68,223), Alameda co., W Calif., on San Francisco Bay; inc. 1872. Metal, wood, and paper products; chemicals; leather goods; foods and beverages; me...

Central Valley

(Encyclopedia)Central Valley, great trough of central Calif., c.450 mi (720 km) long and c.50 mi (80 km) wide, between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges. The Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers drain much of the...

Wilder, Laura Elizabeth Ingalls

(Encyclopedia)Wilder, Laura Elizabeth Ingalls, 1867–1957, American author of the classic Little House series of children's books, b. Pepin, Wis. She and her pioneer family traveled (1869–79) throughout the Midw...

Modesto

(Encyclopedia)Modesto mōdĕsˈtō [key], city (1990 pop. 164,278), seat of Stanislaus co., central Calif., on the Tuolumne River, near the northern end of the San Joaquin valley; inc. 1884. The center of a farming...

Lodi, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Lodi lōˈdī [key]. 1 City (1990 pop. 51,874), San Joaquin co., central Calif., on the Mokelumne River, in a rich farm area; inc. 1906. Agricultural products include nursery stock, sugar beets, fruit...

Sharpe, William Forsyth

(Encyclopedia)Sharpe, William Forsyth, 1934–, American economist, b. Boston, Mass., Ph.D. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, 1961. After working at the Rand Corporation, he taught at the Univ. of Washington (1961�...

Golden Gate

(Encyclopedia)Golden Gate, strait, 4 mi (6.4 km) long and 1 to 2 mi (1.6–3.2 km) wide, linking San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean. It was discovered in 1579 by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake. Known ...

Bakersfield

(Encyclopedia)Bakersfield, city (2020 pop. 403,455), seat of Kern co., S central Calif., at the southern end of the San Joaquin valley; inc. 1898. It is an oil, minin...

Markowitz, Harry Max

(Encyclopedia)Markowitz, Harry Max märˈkəwĭtsˌ [key], 1927–, American economist, Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1954. In the 1950s he developed a theory of “portfolio choice,” which allows investors to analyze ...

Mother Lode

(Encyclopedia)Mother Lode, belt of gold-bearing quartz veins, central Calif., along the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The term is sometimes limited to a strip c.70 mi (110 km) long and from 1 to 61⁄2 mi...