On this day in history, December 5, 1848, President Polk ignites California Gold Rush with address to Congress

President James K. Polk, at the end of a year of fantastical rumors of riches in the Sierra Nevada, ignited the California Gold Rush with his State of the Union address on this day in history, Dec. 5, 1848. 

"The accounts of abundance of gold are of such an extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief were they not corroborated by the authentic reports of officers in the public service," Polk told both houses of Congress. 

"The explorations already made warrant the belief...