Top 10 interesting Facts about Los Angeles

Top 10 interesting Facts about Los Angeles

Los Angeles lies in a basin in Southern California, adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, and extends through the Santa Monica Mountains and into the San Fernando Valley, covering a total of about 469 square miles (1,210 km2). The city was founded on September 4, 1781, under Spanish governor Felipe de Neve, on the village of Yaanga.

The city of angels is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic and cultural diversity, Hollywood film industry and sprawling metropolitan area. Below are top 10 interesting facts about Los Angeles;

1. Share the secret

Los Angeles’ secret tunnel – Flickr

There are 11 miles of underground maze of tunnels beneath Downtown Los Angeles. The tunnels run from Temple and Spring streets to 1st Street and Grand Avenue. Some are abandoned subway underpasses. While others date back to the Prohibition era, when people used them for smuggling liquor to some establishments in Los Angeles.

There are some interesting stories about these tunnels. Some say Mafia mobsters used the tunnels to store dead bodies. Others say the police used them as a hideout place to transport prisoners and large sums of cash.

Due to the many earthquakes in California, these tunnels are now mostly closed off. However, there are some that remained open and are sometimes used as film locations.

2. Bizarre laws and regulations

Cane Toad – Flickr

The city of Los Angeles has some pretty weird laws that will definitely make you doubt what your eyes as you read and question at what point did humans, the most intelligent life form, reach her. There is a law against licking frogs. The Law came in power after some teenagers in Los Angeles found out that a certain type of toad’s skin contains hallucinogens.

It is a crime for dogs to do it doggystyle within 500 yards of a church. The act punishable by a fine of $500 and/or six months in prison.

It’s also illegal for a man to beat his wife with a strap wider than 2 inches without her consent.

3. More to the Universal Studios Hollywood than you think

Universal Studios Sign – Flickr

For many, Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio that delivers highly themed immersive lands that translate to real-life interpretations of iconic movie and television shows. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use.

However, it combines a theme park and a real working studio. It was initially created to offer tours of the real Universal Studios sets and is the first of many full-fledged Universal Studios Theme Parks located across the world. Also, about 70% of the studio lies within the unincorporated county island known as Universal City, while the rest lies within the city limits of Los Angeles, California.

4. One of a kind Ferris wheels

Pacific Wheel – Flickr

The Pacific Wheel at Pacific Park is the world’s only solar-powered Ferris wheel. The original Pacific Wheel was listed on eBay, with half the proceeds from the sale donated to the Special Olympics. It had 20 gondolas and was featured in the Steven Spielberg film 1941.

The current Ferris Wheel features more than 174,000 energy-efficient LED lights that display dynamic, eye-popping computer-generated lighting entertainment in the evenings. Measuring 85 feet, the Wheel moves at 2.5 revolutions per minute with intermittent stops to pick up passengers and gives visitors a panoramic view of the Southern California coastline from more than 130 feet above the Santa Monica Pier.

5. There is more to the Hollywood Sign

Hollywood Sign – Flickr

The Hollywood Sign is an American landmark and cultural icon overlooking Hollywood, Los Angeles situated on Mount Lee, in the Beachwood Canyon area of the Santa Monica Mountains. The sign is visibility from many points across the Los Angeles Basin.

It was originally created in 1923 as a temporary advertisement that originally read “HOLLYWOODLAND” to promote the name of a new housing development in the hills above the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, but due to increasing recognition the sign was left up, and replaced in 1978 with a more durable all-steel structure.

6. Experience the magic

Magic Castle – Wikipedia

There is an exclusive and mysterious Magic Castle with performance parlors, secret doors and mysterious illusions. The clubhouse of the Academy of Magical Arts allows entrance only to members and their guests, or through courtesy invitations, which are available to magicians visiting from out of the United States.

Since 1963 this private club housed in an old Victorian mansion has served as the home base for the Academy of Magical Arts. A typical evening features magic shows that range from close up magical tricks to full stage illusions that stun an entire room. The Castle is full of rare memorabilia and magnificent posters.

7. Not indigenous to the city

Los Angeles Palm Trees – Flickr

There is no other tree that is so quintessentially Los Angeles as the Palm Tree. The palm trees line the sand at Will Roger State Beach in Santa Monica and the Palisades Park, festoon the entrance of Fox Studios in Century City, run down the boulevards of Rodeo Drive, line the streets of Hancock Park and Los Feliz, surround the lake in Echo Park, occupy “Avenue of the Palms” off Stadium Way in Elysian Park.

Palm trees have come to symbolize wealth, sunny weather, and a tropical climate. However, the only palm tree native to the Los Angeles area is the California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera) the most common being Mexican fan palms and Canary Island date palms.

8. A new form of entertainment

Police cruiser giving chase – Wikipedia

Observing car chases have emerged as something of a citywide tradition in Los Angeles. It started on January 3, 1992, when a rerun of Matlock was interrupted to report breaking news of a Darren Micheal Stroh car chase. With the most current famous being the O.J Simpson’s low speed chase in 1994

Police officials have asked news media to reduce coverage of chases, claiming that they encourage suspects to flee and inciting gawkers to possibly get in the way of the pursuit, while the media responds that coverage of chases provides a public service and provide a deterrent to police brutality.

9. So many stars

Hollywood Walk of Fame Star – Flickr

The iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame is located along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard from Gower to La Brea and on Vine Street from Sunset to Yucca has more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars. The site commemorating famous names who have made significant contributions to the entertainment industry.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce credits E.M. Stuart, its volunteer president in 1953, with the original idea for creating a Walk of Fame. Construction of the Walk began in 1958 and Joanne Woodward is often singled out as the first person to receive a star on the Walk of Fame.

10. The city’s original name

La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles – Wikipedia

There is probably no other major city in America whose original name is as disputed as that of Los Angeles. We do know that the official name, City of Los Angeles, has been the city’s official name since at least it became an American city in 1850.

 One of the popular accounts suggest, originally known as “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Porciúncula .” That would translate to “The Town of Our Lady Queen of the Angels on the Porciuncula River.”