In January 1848, James Marshall was overseeing the construction of a saw mill for his boss, when he saw an unusual rock glinting in the upturned soil.

He was not certain whether it was gold or not and did not want to get people’s aspirations up. So Marshall tried to break the yellow rock with a hammer. It did not split, but it did dent. just like gold would. The woman who was cooking meals for the saw mill construction crew, tried another test by boiling the rock in lye.

They boiled it all day, but it did not change colour. So, they passed the rock over to the mill’s owner, Mr. John Sutter, who also conducted a few tests. Eventually, everyone agreed that this rock was indeed gold.

It seems that the Sierra Nevada Mountains hid huge hordes of gold, but that over tens of thousands of years, erosion had loosened up gold nuggets and the mountain streams flushed them down to the bottom of the mountains. Sutter’s property was situated between two rivers and so was likely to generate great wealth.

Sutter had ideas to build an agricultural empire on his 39,000 acres of land, so he asked his employees to keep stum about the strike. However, as is to be anticipated, word leaked out. In due course news of the gold strike reached the small town of San Francisco.

There, a newspaper publisher shouted around the streets: “Gold from the American River!” and within three days of the news arriving, 400 of the 600 inhabitants had set out for Sutter’s land. It was a groundswell and by the end of the year, gold prospectors had traveled to California from as far afield as Mexico and Chile.

When word of the gold strike reached the east coast, President Polk confirmed the finding. It was December 1848 and ‘The Gold Rush’ became a national and even a worldwide phenomenon. The gold prospectors of 1849 and later years became known as forty-niners.

What has to be borne in mind is though, that most people, who came from Canada, Mexico and the eastern United States came by wagon train, as there were not locomotive! This meant a arduous trek of between six and nine months

Nevertheless, at least 32,000 people actually walked to California in 1849, and about 44,000 more got there in 1850. Others, such as South Americans, faced an arduous journey by sea. They suffered storms, shipwrecks, hunger and thirst, disease, and overcrowding and after all that, some still had to face mule rides through jungles and deserts! Still, in under a year, about 40,000 people arrived in San Francisco from abroad.

The new arrivals caused a dramatic change in California’s population, because in 1848, California had had about 100,000 residents, most of whom were Native Americans, but within two years, the state population more than doubled but the variety of backgrounds increased tens of fold.

Some prospectors found gold and made a fortune in the Californian riverbeds, but most people did not become rich in the Gold Rush. When gold was found, the cache was usually cleared quickly. James Marshall had little achievement as a miner, and he died impoverished. John Sutter, who had once owned 39,000 acres, left California in serious debt after miners flattened his land.

In fact, it was simpler to make money selling spades and other provisions to the prospectors. Most people lost everything they had, so they stayed to farm the vast expanse called California or to set up businesses. By 1856, San Francisco had a very cosmopolitan population of over 50,000 people and California had become the most exhilarating state in the nation.

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In 1849, thousands of people started rushing towards California in quest of gold. Most of the people adopted a lot of methods to find out the huge deposits of this precious element in order to make hefty amounts of money. People used several techniques at that time but the most renowned method was panning. A lot of people succeeded in getting gold flakes through this method.

The lust for gold never let these people quit their search for gold. Thus, the people kept searching for gold and tried latest methods to get gold. The gold fever increased once the people achieved a single flake of gold. They sometimes increased their struggle to find out more gold flakes.

As the number of emigrants was increasing, the government also felt the importance of that once unknown place. The government also extracted the gold deposits. They established several gold mining labs in the areas where gold was expected. Also, they adopted more advanced methods to extract gold rather besides panning.

Majority of the new comers, also known as the forty-niners, were found wearing long shoes holding pans for extracting gold at the gold mines of California. They sometimes found the gold flakes in their pans while most of the times their efforts proved to be useless. The continuous struggle used to make them exhausted sometimes, but even then they did not stop making efforts in the particular direction. The miners found large amounts of gold flakes which encouraged the government to establish a mint there.

At present, the use of plastic pans for finding gold flakes is quite common. In the past, only metal pans were used for finding gold flakes. Moreover, special technique was used to place these metal pans in the riverbeds or water.

The weight of the present day plastic pans is much less than the once used metal pans. However, these pans have spaces in them which allow the gold to get into the pan more easily. Nowadays, slats and bars are also used for this purpose. Earlier, only metal pans were in use but the latest equipments have made possible to separate the gold from other materials.

However, the techniques used by the emigrants were so effective that they are still in use even after so many years. In the past, people used to place the pans where the water flow was considerably slow. At that time the pipette and tweezers were not in use so, the most suitable way was to separate gold with hands.

Most of the emigrants arrived California from faraway places in order to get their dreams come true. So, they made utmost efforts for achieving their goal and their determination led them to the way of success.

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A Swiss miller John Sutter in 1848 discovered gold in California. Thus, the great American Gold Rush is the outcome of accidental discovery of gold in California in1848. Thus, the discovery of gold triggered off many people from different parts of the world to migrate to California. This migration, which took place in the quest of gold was named as gold rush. Many people suffered in the hunt for gold. Majority of the people faced a lot of hardships, ailments as well as deaths. Such emigrants were named as forty-niners.

California is the fourth largest state in the US. The geological position of California is such that it lies on the west coast of the United States, and was formerly a part of Mexico. The gold deposits were mainly borne by the rivers in California.

When people came to know about the discovery of gold for the first time at the end of the year 1848, the first comers at the site of gold were the people of California and its adjoining areas. They were the first ones who took advantage of the discovered gold deposits, and hence made a lot of money from those deposits.

Nearly 90,000 people moved to California in 1849. This figure kept multiplying for several years. The huge number of immigrants changed the destiny and value of California. The gold rush added much to the value of this previously unknown region.

Just in 1849, near about 90,000 people moved towards California. This migration rate then kept on increasing enormously. Thus, this migration played an important role in determining United States as an important country on the globe of the world. The dynamics of this state were started changing quite rapidly. Soon, the unknown city of San Francisco acquired a new dimension on the map of the world and became a centre of trade and commerce. At present, it is ranked as the fourth largely populated city in the state of California. Moreover, the population of San Francisco contributes 13% of GDP growth to the country.

Once, California suffered a lot of cultural, as well as social tumult, but with the gold rush law, and order conditions were introduced, and were later improved. The large number of migrated people added much to the problems of the natives, as well as the State. It is not so that all people accomplished their task of discovering gold, and making money. Many people ended up in acquiring jobs in offices, and factories, or did farming as well.

As the time passed, the gold discovery for people became a difficult task. It not only became expensive due to the arrival of advanced methods, but the corporate also employed people on wages for mining purposes. The immigrants had left their own homes, and countries, and they were left with the only option to survive. Thus, they had done jobs in other industries founded by the immigrants, such as agriculture industry.

The greed for gold by the powerful ones led them to practice great racial discrimination especially towards the Chinese, and the Asians. In short, the American gold rush was not just a regional or national experience, but it had strong repercussions on the socio-economic factor of the world.

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One of the oldest elements of earth is the gold, which has been valued since centuries. Especially the tribe, which found out gold, got many advantages out of the things gold brought with itself. This element might not be as attractive as it is valued, but there are certain characteristics of gold, which make it different from others.

Not only it is a harmless and comfortable element, gold tends to conduct electricity quite well. With great convenience and comfort, it can be transformed in to several shapes, and sizes. The history of the discovery of gold is embedded in old books, and gives us an overview about it.

There is s strong association between gold and Egypt, simply because this country was one of the few civilisations to discover it. They benefited a great deal from this metal, and it quickly began the resource of the country. Not just in the olden days, but in the present day, gold holds the top most value in the business hub.

It was a medium of exchange with aspect to price for purchasing and selling commodities. Egypt was one of the countries that also with much determination followed this concept. However, in Egypt, the role of gold excelled beyond the boundaries of being used as money.

Some people are known to have worshipped the Sun. The people also constitute the Egyptian civilisation. Sun was often seen as a source of life. For several civilisations, Gold was closely associated to the sun because of its yellow and gleaming attributes. The Egyptians perceived gold as the skin of Gods, especially the RA.

Besides the king, no one else was allowed to wear gold in those times. Gradually and slowly, priests and royal members were also given the privilege of wearing gold. The tomb of the king is known as the “house of gold”, and the chamber is made out of gold.

Another amazing feature of gold was that it never rusts, which was associated with the characteristics of god. The top of pyramids were usually made out of a mixture of gold, and other metals. Due to its holy and sacred value, it was often used to engrave the coffins. The mask of Tutankhamun is an example of gold being used for funerary art. However, gold was not easy to dig out, and mining was quite a difficult task even though there was rich gold present.

Due to the resource of gold present in the region, rivalries began between Egypt and its bordering countries while mining for gold. The army forces strictly monitored the convicts who were given the task of gold mining. Nubia and the Eastern desert were abundant with gold; hence, all the mining took place there. Looking at the current popularity of jewellers in Egypt proves that the value and respect for gold is still alive in Egypt.

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At the time of gold rush, people eventually moved towards the places where huge deposits of gold were found. In past, gold was originated in several countries of the world such as Australia, America, Canada, and Brazil.

During the gold rush, many people tried their luck in order to become wealthy. Many people left their homes and jobs to travel to areas where gold was discovered. People left behind families and loved ones in search of wealth. During the California Gold Rush, one of the most famous gold rushes in history, around 300,000 gold prospectors travelled to California.

A gold rush started with a discovery of gold that became popular. When this news spread to other cities, many people excitedly rushed to the place of discovery. There have been many gold rushes at different times in history, and they have left great impact on civilisations. Some people were able to gain prosperity, while others were left with nothing. One of the major impacts of the gold rush was that it helped spur civilisation in cities by initiating economic growth. Many cities, which were previously obscure, became instantly popular and attractive for investors. As people began moving to these areas, it stimulated growth and development.

The gold rush in California occurred in 1848. The major impact of this gold rush was the development of California from an unknown place to a developed city. The population rate also boosted to 265,000. Thus, attempts were made in order to transform California as a proper state on the map of the world.

The development was also boosted during that time. Churches were built along with the school buildings. Efforts were made to enhance the transportation facilities leading to the formation of Panama Railway as well. The services of steamships were made available on seashores. It was the time when the First Continental Rail Road was made. More and more businesses were founded. New projects were processed with the investments of gold rush money.

Similar development took place during all the other gold rushes, such as the Georgia Gold Rush or the Australia Gold Rush. One of the greatest affects of the gold rush was to make gold mining a professional business. It led to the modernisation of technology, turning mining into a major industry supported by a network of other industries and services.

The course of development took place in the same way when Georgia and Australia gold rushes took place. Due to gold rush, mining become an occupation. Thus, technological development also occurred, which transformed mining into an industrial form.

Thus, the importance of the gold rush in history cannot be denied. Although it was a difficult time for many, the major affect it has had on development and urbanisation cannot be denied.

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The Georgia Gold Rush, which started in Lumpkin County in 1829, is considered to be the first major gold rush in the US. Though the major discovery of gold was noted in 1828 in Georgia, there were some accounts of gold discovery in the mountains of North Georgia quite earlier.

The American Indians informed the European explorers about the deposits of gold discovered from the mountains of this region. Some of the accounts, however, not properly documented, show that the French and Spanish people used to find gold deposits in the mountains of this region quite earlier; while it is thought by some of the people that these accounts were emerged just on the basis of suppositions, and were a part of gossip.

A lot of accounts given on the discovery of gold in this region seem to be simply improbable at one instant; while on the other hand, they appear quite true. It is not plausible that the Spanish explorers, even after knowing the worth of these mines, left them abandon. All these ideas keep the human mind a bit confused about the origin of gold in America.

With the inception of gold in the North Carolina in the year 1798, the suppositions regarding the presence of gold in Georgia also tremendously increased. When the gold was discovered in Georgia, two main factors greatly increased the chances of gold discovery in America as well. The foremost factor was the presence of alluvian deposits which depicted the presence of gold in that area. On the other hand, the rumours and suppositions that spread all through also made people think about the presence of gold over there.

Different believes emerged in Georgia at that time which led to the origin of gold in the country. Some people thought that Frank Logan was the first one to discover gold in the region, while some believed John Witheroods to be the pioneer of gold discovery in Duke Creek. All these believe add to the promotion of gold rush in Georgia.

It is of no importance that who actually discovered gold in that region but the important thing is the start of gold rush in that particular region which further led to the advancements in the process of gold discovery. On August 1, 1829, some news was published in the Georgian Journal which surprised everyone. This news was the discovery of two gold mines which led to the revelation of more gold deposits in the area. It was thought to put these hidden deposits of gold in great use of the country and its people.

The Cherokee Indians took hold of the area containing a large number of gold mines. However, search for gold mines also started in the adjoining counties as well. The alluvian mining was the most common type of mining at that time.

It has been estimated that 4,000 miners worked at Yahoola Creek while 15,000 worked in the towns like Daholenga and Aurarua by the end of 1830.

Gold is a precious element that depicts the wealth and lavishness of the holder. It has been in use for multiple purposes for many centuries. The most notable use of this element has been seen in ornaments, dentistry, life sciences and in the manufacturing of gold coins. It brings hefty amounts of money and is playing a significant role in the international economic ups and downs.

There are several physical properties of gold due to which its uses are increased. It can be converted in to sheet or wire form. It also prevents the corrosive actions. Moreover, it has a remarkable capacity to conduct heat.

The significance of gold in space travel cannot be denied. It is used in a number of ways in all space crafts, and it would not be wrong to say that without the use of gold, man could not have visited the moon. When building a spacecraft, it is important to note that once it has been launched in space, there is minimum possibility of repair or lubrication. Thus, highly dependable materials have to be used in their manufacturing such as gold.

Due to the property of electricity conduction, it is used in the circuits of the spaceships. Moreover, it is also used for keeping the temperature of the spaceship stable. Temperature needs to be kept at a certain level so, gold is used along with the polyester covering. It initiates the reflection of infrared radiations thus, leading to the stability of the temperature.

It helps in reflecting light of the sun, so it is also used in the sheet form. The thickness of the gold sheet is approximately 0.15mm. This diameter of radiation sheet is enough for reflecting the sunlight. Another undeniable quality of gold is that it works as the best lubricant. That is why it is used in the mechanical parts. Other elements have not enough lubrication property to resist the space environment, and would have volatilised in the space. As it is highly ductile, it is used in the form of sheets for lubricating the parts of the spaceship.

Furthermore, it is used in the helmets of the space visitors. It is transformed into a thin electroplated sheet which is fitted in the visor for preventing the deadly solar rays. Thus, these rays are refracted back and the vision of the wearer remains safe.

The use of gold is very important in the manufacture of spacecrafts. The space travel has been increased over several years which also raised the value of gold to an enormous degree. Nearly all the spacecrafts designed by the NASA are made up of gold, used in several different forms. The US Columbia Space Shuttle has a record gold consumption in various forms including reflectors, conductors and soldering of alloys. Gold is a precious element, having innumerable characteristics, which made the space journey possible.