Los Angeles has long been associated with celebrities; rumor has it that you’ll probably see someone famous around every block. But there has to be more to the city than that! And there is; there are things about the infamous City of Angels that many people had no idea about. And it’s why this article was created: so you can talk about more than just Angelina Jolie or where the popular celebrity hotspots are. Here are the things you probably didn’t know about LA.

Twenty20/eric_urquhart

  1. LA’s first name, when translated from Spanish to English, was ridiculously long and meant, “The town of our lady queen of the angels on the Porciuncula River.”
  2. The city sits on top of the country’s third-largest oil field.
  3. The Santa Monica Pier was first designed to protect a sewage pipe that unloaded into the ocean.
  4. The iconic and super luxurious Beverly Hills used to be a lima bean ranch.
  5. Los Angeles is the only city to have hosted the Summer Olympics twice.
  6. In 1969, Los Angeles gave birth, so to speak, to the internet.
  7. It’s illegal to drive over 2000 sheep down the city’s most famous street, Hollywood Boulevard.
  8. It’s also illegal to lick a toad in Los Angeles.
  9. If your dog mates within 500 yards of a church, you could be fined $500 or face six months in prison.
  10. The Hollywood sign was longer before and read “Hollywoodland.

Twenty20/manonrinsma

  1. in the late nineties, Los Angeles fell victim to one of the most widespread cases involving documented police corruption in the history of the country.
  2. Los Angeles used to be part of Mexico before it was taken during the Mexican-American War in 1848.
  3. Rumor has it that there are more cars than people in Los Angeles, and that’s why parking is such a huge hassle.
  4. It is one of the most diverse cities in the country, with over 200 languages.
  5. Los Angeles only became the home of the film industry after movie makers moved from New Jersey to get away from patents.
  6. During World War II, it was a center for the production of ships and aircrafts.
  7. After New York City, Los Angeles has the largest (city) population in the United States.
  8. There are hidden tunnels below downtown LA.
  9. Goats are responsible for keeping the Getty Museum’s lawns looking good.
  10. There are over sixty people in Los Angeles legally named ‘Jesus Christ.’