California

• California is named after a mythical island from Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s best-selling novel Las Sergas de Esplandián (The Deeds of Esplandián).

• California was an independent country—known as the independent California Republic—for one month in 1846.

• The grizzly bear on California’s state flag is based off of one captured by media mogul William Randolph Hearst, who he named Monarch.

• General Sherman, the largest tree in the world (by volume), resides in Sequoia National Park. It’s estimated to be around 2,700 years old and measures 102 feet around the base.

• Oil fields were discovered beneath Los Angeles in the 1890s, and by 1930, California was responsible for a quarter of the world’s petroleum production.


• It is illegal for women to drive vehicles while wearing a housecoat.

• Baldwin Park: Nobody is allowed to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool.

• Burlingame: Women may not wear high heels while in the city limits.

• Lodi: It is illegal to own or sell "Silly String".

• In California it is illegal to have caller ID

• It is illegal to cry on the witness stand.

• Hollywood: It is illegal to drive more than two thousand sheep down Hollywood Boulevard at one time.

• It is illegal to set a mouse trap without a hunting license.

• In California it's against regulations to let phones ring more than nine times in state offices.

• Blythe: You are not permitted to wear cowboy boots unless you already own at least two cows.


• Lake Poway Park - Potato Chip Rock is a rock so thin that it looks like it’s about to break at any given moment. The iconic rock formation is named after its resemblance to, you guessed it, a potato chip.

• San Luis Obispo - Bubblegum Alley is a weird tourist attraction that encourages people to participate by creating bubblegum graffiti.

• Calipatria - Salvation Mountain is a national treasure in California’s desertland. The combination of religion, art, and love resulted in the visionary environment created by Leonard Knight.

• Underground tunnels of LA- This 11-mile long, 40 feet underground tunnel was once the clandestine drinking spot for Los Angeles.

• The Museum Of Death, Hollywood - The museum is home to frightening yet fascinating artifacts and displays. They are arranged in different rooms and include mummified body parts, coffins, a skull collection, body bags, a theater of death, cannibalism, crime photos, and artworks by infamous serial killers.