Central Coast vineyards in Arroyo Grande, California

© Ian Shive/Tandem Motion + Still

Happy anniversary!. A toast to California!

Today we're celebrating the 169th anniversary of the “golden state’s” admission into the American Union with an appropriately golden image of a central coast winery and landscape. In 1850, just 14 months after the peace treaty to end the Mexican-American War ceded California, along with a large portion of western territory, to the US, this former self-proclaimed Republic became the 31st state of the US. California is one of only six states admitted to the Union without first being recognised as a US territory. Some link this to the Gold Rush which began in January 1848 and increased the population by more than 1,000% in that same time frame.