Need help with research

I am trying to research a name in a ring.
So far I have not found a post that can lay it out on
how to do this.
Can somone supply any of these websites that are actually FREE?
There are many that claim to be free until you use them and can only go so far
until they want $$$.
If you have FREE research websites, please post the links.
I could use the following:
US social security death records (particularly CA, but all the US would be great).
Marriage records for CA, Wisconsin, Mich, and other states going back to 1920's
Birth records websites (no, we all know Obama is not a US citizen anyway!)
School graduation records
anything else that would be of help in researching.
Obscure search engines (Ie: google, bing, dogpile, etc.)
If you have a specific website post it.