James Marshall was the first man to ever discover gold. He was born on october 8th. He was a carpenter and sawmill operator. When he was in his late 30s he hired a crew and mostly everyday they went to search for gold and value things in the American River and on January 24 him and his crew finally got lucky. They found gold while they were building a sawmill.
This was the first time that gold was discovered and it was discovered. This is ironic because when he told his workers about it they didn't believe but when the word out they quickly changed there mind and started searching for gold when they were finishing the famous Sutter mill.