California Trivia & Tidbits - Page 15

Looking for California trivia? Try our list California little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

In the 1909 Chinese American Telephone Exchange building in San Francisco, operators were required to know English as well as five Chinese dialects. They also had to learn every phone number of every one of the company’s 2,400 clients, because the Chinese believed it was rude to refer to a person as a number.

first appeared: 10/6/2002

Disneyland opened the gates to “The Happiest Place on Earth” in Anaheim, Calif., on July 17, 1955. In the famous theme park’s first year of operation, more than 4 million people visited Main Street USA, Fantasyland, Frontierland, Adventureland, and Tomorrowland.

first appeared: 9/29/2002

The nonprofit Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, the fifth-largest aquarium in the United States, celebrates the planet’s largest and most diverse body of water. The aquarium is home to more than 12,000 ocean animals and features 17 major habitats and 31 exhibits that explore the waters of Southern California, Baja, the Northern Pacific, and Tropical Pacific.

first appeared: 9/22/2002

Perhaps the most popular children’s television series of all time, the original Mickey Mouse Club, which aired on ABC from 1955 to 1959, ranks high among California’s contributions to pop culture. Weekday afternoons, children nationwide would tune in to see 39 Mouseketeers—wearing their trademark mouse ears—sing, dance, perform skits, and introduce Disney cartoons.

first appeared: 9/15/2002

Mono Lake near Lee Vining (pop. 900), an oasis in the dry Great Basin, is one of the oldest lakes in the Western Hemisphere and a vital habitat for millions of migratory and nesting birds. In addition to breathtaking views of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the area abounds with excellent trout streams.

first appeared: 9/8/2002

The falls at McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park in northern California send 100 million gallons of water a day crashing down its 129-foot vertical drop. The park’s landscape is a result of volcanic activity started more than a million years ago. It is named for two pioneers who settled the area in the 19th century.

first appeared: 9/1/2002

While not a particularly athletic creature, the banana slug is the official mascot of the University of California at Santa Cruz’s sports teams. The slimy yellow mollusk can be found in the redwood forest on the school’s campus and has wormed its way into the hearts of students since the university’s opening in 1965. When the school joined the NCAA’s Division III in five sports in 1980, the sea lion was thought to be a more appropriate mascot. Student sentiment, however, convinced school officials to change back to the Slugs after several years.

first appeared: 8/25/2002

Selma (pop. 19,444) bills itself as the “Raisin Capital of the World” and claims to grow more than 90 percent of the world’s raisins within a 40-mile radius. The community celebrates the crop with the Selma Raisin Festival each May.

first appeared: 8/18/2002

Cones of the Jeffrey Pine, found in the state’s higher elevations, can reach nearly 12 inches in length, with the tree’s needles almost as long. The tree’s reddish-brown bark flakes off in pieces resembling those of a jigsaw puzzle.

first appeared: 8/11/2002

The Trona Pinnacles found in the California Desert Conservation Area east of Ridgecrest consist of more than 500 calcium carbonate spires reaching up to 140 feet out of Searles Dry Lake basin. The Trona Pinnacles have been featured in many commercials, films, and photo shoots.

first appeared: 8/11/2002

The Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area near California City (pop. 8,385), in the Mojave Desert, is set aside for the official state reptile. It is also home to coyotes, badgers, jackrabbits, and the threatened Mojave ground squirrel.

first appeared: 8/4/2002

A popular setting for movies and television shows is Tuolumne County in northern California’s Gold Country. Television shows filmed there include Little House on the Prairie, Rawhide, Wild, Wild West, and Lassie, as well as the movies Back to the Future Part III, Pale Rider, The Unforgiven, and The Perils of Pauline.

first appeared: 7/28/2002

Mariposa County was named by Spanish explorers in 1807 when they saw many butterflies or butterfly lilies in the foothills of the Sierras. Mariposa means butterfly in Spanish.

first appeared: 7/21/2002

Scotty’s Castle, a popular attraction in Death Valley National Park, is the work of a legendary Wild West character and a Chicago millionaire. Death Valley Scotty, born Walter Scott in 1872, gained prominence as a cowboy in Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show. He began prospecting for gold in Death Valley, enlisting the backing of insurance mogul Albert Johnson, a frequent visitor to the desert who decided to build a mansion there. Scott spread the story that he was building the castle with proceeds from his gold mine—a tale that Johnson, by then a true friend of Scott’s, went along with. The National Park Service gained ownership of the turreted masonry structure in 1970.

first appeared: 7/14/2002

Muir Woods National Monument near Mill Valley (pop. 13,600) was spared the fate of many forests in northern California’s coastal valleys because its location made it difficult for loggers to access. In 1905, Congressman William Kent and his wife, Elizabeth Thatcher Kent, bought 295 acres for $45,000, donating the land to the federal government to preserve one of the Bay Area’s last uncut stands of old-growth redwood. It became a national monument in 1908 and was named for conservationist John Muir, who called the area “the best tree-lovers monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world.”

first appeared: 7/7/2002

California’s many natural treasures made the state an appropriate place to launch the nation’s conservation movement. Naturalist John Muir acted as the movement’s catalyst after spending the summer of 1869 in the Sierras. Before that, Californians had convinced the Lincoln administration to put Yosemite Valley and the neighboring giant sequoia groves under protection as a state park, but Muir’s efforts led to the creation of Yosemite National Park in 1890.

first appeared: 6/30/2002

Sutter County in north-central California was named for Gen. John Augustus Sutter, a Switzerland native who acquired the land in a grant from the Mexican government and began a ranch in 1841. Sutter is best known for the discovery of gold (by others) on land he owned at Sutter’s Mill. The general’s substantial land holdings were subsequently overrun by masses of prospecting 49ers.

first appeared: 6/23/2002

Santa Barbara celebrates its early colonial heritage with the Old Spanish Days Fiesta, an event that reprises the Rancho Period in the mid-1800s. Ranchos were cattle ranches awarded to prominent people by the Mexican governor when the area was under Mexican rule.

first appeared: 6/16/2002

What’s billed as the world’s first fourth-dimensional roller coaster opened in January at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia. The “X” features vehicles that spin independently 360 degrees forward and backward on a separate axis. Thrill-seekers fly at 76 miles an hour for 2 1/2 minutes. The ride includes a headfirst, face-down, 200-foot, near-vertical drop.

first appeared: 6/9/2002

Renowned British seaman Sir Francis Drake, who circumnavigated the world from 1577-80, became the first explorer to land in the area now known as Tomales Bay State Park, 40 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Drake landed there in 1579, followed by Spanish explorers in 1595.

first appeared: 6/2/2002

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