Gold Rush

Gold is one of the most well-known elements, thanks to its distinctive color and use in everything from jewelry to food. It’s also one of the most interesting elements, as you’ll find when you read these facts about gold.

• Some scientists believe that almost all of the gold on Earth comes from meteorites that hit our planet 200 million years after it formed.
• Gold is the most malleable, or easily manipulated, metal. One ounce of gold could be pounded into a 50 mile long wire.
• The helmets that astronauts wear into space are covered with a thin layer of gold that reduces glare from sunlight.
• Until 1999, gold was used to back money across the world. Switzerland was the last country to make the switch to a fiat currency.
• The World Gold Council estimates that a typical cell phone contains 50 cents worth of gold, thanks to gold’s use as an electricity conductor.

• Gold has no taste, but it is edible! It’s often shaved into flakes or dust and used to decorate desserts.
• The first gold coins were used in 600 BC, and the last gold coins went out of circulation in 1930. That’s over 2,000 years of use!
• There are an estimated 150,000 tons of gold in the Earth’s oceans, but the particles are so small that it costs too much money to extract it from the water.
• Of all the countries in the world, China mines the most gold, followed by Australia.

• During the California Gold Rush, there was initially so much gold that miners just picked up nuggets off the ground.
• The Gold Rush is what led to California becoming a state — 300,000 people settled there between 1848-1855.
• The reason why California had so much gold is because 400 million years ago, the entire state was under the sea. Underwater volcanoes deposited gold onto the sea floor, and once the land rose above sea level, it was left covered in gold.

• Scientists recently discovered that termites excrete small amounts of gold. They can burrow into deposits that humans can’t yet detect.
• Liquid gold has been injected into people to cure ailments like tuberculosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
• The biggest gold nugget ever found was discovered only centimeters below the ground in 1869. It was called the “Welcome Stranger” and would be worth almost $4 million today.
• The last time the Olympic gold medal was made of solid gold was in 1912. Today’s gold medals are only gold plated.

• The San Francisco 49ers football team is named after the 1849 Gold Rush miners.
• The largest stockpile of gold in the world is located at the Federal Reserve Bank in NY. There are 540,000 gold bars there, worth about $150 billion.
• Gold is even more rare than diamonds, because we don’t know for sure how it’s created.