Discover the City of Angels: 9 Fascinating and Fun Facts about Los Angeles You Won't Believe!

1. Donut Kingdom in LA

In a hole glaze the size of Cambodia: Los Angeles boasts nearly 1,500 donut shops, primarily built by Cambodian Americans escaping the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s. Today, the city's donut landscape continues to be dominated by Cambodian-owned establishments like DK's Donuts, Blinkie's Donut Emporium, and Donut City.
Source => nationalgeographic.com

2. Orange Grove Beginnings

Before "orange" you glad puns took the world by storm, Los Angeles was all about the citrus game: The first orange grove in LA was planted at the San Gabriel Mission in 1804, paving the way for a booming citrus industry in the San Fernando Valley, and distributing these sweet, tangy fruits across the country.
Source => latimes.com

Did you know that San Diego is home to the second-largest surface ship base in the US Navy, employing over 26,000 personnel? Dive into more nautical fun facts!

=> Fun Facts about San-Diego

3. Wild Parrots Take Over

Los Angeles' skies may not be filled with Polly-want-a-crackers, but a curious confederation of wild parrots have turned Tinseltown into their personal backdrop for tropical escapades: A thriving non-native population of wild parrots has adapted to SoCal's arid climate, likely originating from accidental releases by early bird traders, intentional releases during a fire, or even a marketing ploy by Anheuser Busch, all while coexisting peacefully with local fauna and not carrying any dangerous diseases.
Source => pethelpful.com

4. Hollywood Sign Reborn

You might say the original Hollywood Sign partied a little too hard and found itself in a "Ripley's Believe It or Not" kind of mess: In 1978, it was in such a sorry state that a new sign needed to be rebuilt entirely, funded by nine generous sponsors who each donated $27,778 to replace the tattered Hollywood starlet with a more stable steel sign that still stands iconic today.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

5. Avocado Super Bowl Craze

Who needs guac and roll when you've got a record-breaking appetite for avocados? America's craze for this luscious fruit has reached the big leagues, with even the Super Bowl dips in on the action: In the past 15 years, avocado sales peaked at an unparalleled 1.9 billion pounds, thanks to import leniency, technological advancements, and the nation's increasing love for Mexican food and healthy eating. Advertisers have merrily jumped on the creamy bandwagon, boosting the industry's marketing budget to nearly $50 million annually – including their most expensive as guac-t for primetime, an ad during the Super Bowl.
Source => washingtonpost.com

6. Star-Studded Sidewalks

Who needs a golden ticket when you can walk among the stars: The Hollywood Walk of Fame spans over 2,700 glittering terrazzo and brass stars across 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street, commemorating the greats of the entertainment world, from actors and directors to musicians, fictional characters, and more, attracting a whopping 10 million visitors annually in 2010.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

7. Urban Oil Jungle

In the City of Angels, you could say that it's not just celebrities who are dripping with oil: Los Angeles boasts the largest number of urban oil derricks in the United States, with over 3,700 oil derricks tapping into 55 active oil fields since the first successful drilling in Echo Park back in 1892.
Source => blogs.getty.edu

8. Gas Island Woes

California: the land where cars guzzle gas like it's a tall glass of ice-cold lemonade on a hot summer's day! With your wallet wailing louder than the theme song of a classic Hollywood blockbuster, you may be wondering why fuel prices in Los Angeles have been turning into traffic-stopping nightmares: Well, it's not just taxes and clean fuel requirements that are to blame, but the state's unique status as a "gas island" with no major interstate pipelines, making Cali dependent on in-state production and pricier transportation options. In fact, thanks to this interesting quirk in fuel logistics, one refinery hiccup led to a jaw-dropping all-time high of $6.49 per gallon in LA in October 2022.
Source => latimes.com

9. Chameleon Climate Party

Los Angeles is like a chameleon at a climate party, constantly changing its outfit for the perfect temperature profile: Microclimates make coastal areas chill in a Mediterranean vibe while inland valleys turn up the heat, and high-altitude northern neighborhoods even play in the occasional winter wonderland.
Source => en.wikipedia.org