In the mid-19th century, in 1859, an unusual event occurred during the gold rush in the United States in California. While a gold prospector was finding gold particles in the waters of the Sacramento River, he also discovered a peculiar transparent stone about the size of a potato. The distinctive feature of this stone was its ability to shimmer with colors in sunlight. The local community dubbed this stone "Sutter's Tears," and it quickly became a prized natural phenomenon. However, over time, it was revealed that the stone was actually a quartz crystal, and it had been processed elsewhere, making it a byproduct of the gold frenzy of that era.