
The original name of Los Angeles was “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula,” which means “The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the Porciuncula River.”
The Hollywood Sign originally read “Hollywoodland” and was an advertisement for a real estate development.
The world’s first movie theater, the Nickelodeon, was opened in Los Angeles in 1902.
The La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles have yielded one of the largest collections of prehistoric fossils in the world.
The Los Angeles freeway system is the largest in the world, spanning over 1,000 miles.
The famous Hollywood Walk of Fame was created in 1958 and features over 2,600 stars.
Los Angeles is the only city in the world to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
The Los Angeles County Fair is the largest county fair in the United States.
Los Angeles has a ban on loud, annoying car stereos, and drivers can be ticketed for playing music too loudly.
Reno, Nevada is farther west than Los Angeles.
The iconic Capitol Records building in Los Angeles was designed to look like a stack of vinyl records.
Los Angeles is home to the oldest operating McDonald’s restaurant in the world, which opened in 1940.
The Los Angeles Dodgers were originally called the Brooklyn Dodgers and moved to Los Angeles in 1958.
Los Angeles is the birthplace of the popular street food, the taco truck.
The Beverly Hills Hotel has a secret tunnel that was used by celebrities to enter and exit the hotel discreetly.
The city of Los Angeles was founded in 1781 and was originally part of Mexico before being annexed by the United States in 1848.
The Watts Riots of 1965 were some of the deadliest and most destructive race riots in American history, with 34 people killed and over 1,000 injured.
The Hollywood Bowl is the largest natural outdoor amphitheater in the United States and has been the site of many famous concerts.
Los Angeles has the highest number of museums per capita of any city in the world.
24 percent of Los Angeles is paved.
The Los Angeles River, which is mostly dry, was once a major water source for the city and is featured in many movies and TV shows.
Los Angeles is the birthplace of the shopping cart, which was invented in 1936 by grocery store owner Sylvan Goldman.
The city has a beach called Muscle Beach where famous bodybuilders such as Arnold Schwarzenegger have trained.
Los Angeles was once the largest producer of oil in the world and still has active oil fields within city limits.
Los Angeles is home to the largest Thai community outside of Thailand, and the neighborhood of Thai Town has many Thai restaurants and shops.
Los Angeles has the largest urban park in the United States, Griffith Park, which covers over 4,200 acres.