Public Domain Image via Thomas Edison National Historical Park

Weird Facts about LA even Angelenos May Not Know

January 16, 2023

6 weird facts about LA

1. The original name of Los Angeles was a mouthful

If you think Los Angeles has always been the name of the city, then you’re in for a treat! LA is as American as it can get, so it’s going to be mind-boggling to find out that the city never had an English name from the get-go.
Dating back to the olden times of the 1850s, the city prided itself on having an odd yet interesting, lengthy name. The city was originally referred to as “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Porciúncula” in 1781, the year the city was founded.
The city’s long name translates to “The Town of Our Lady Queen of the Angels on the Porciuncula River.” By the time the year 1850 hit, the city was assigned the name we all know today—Los Angeles.

2. Secret pathways lie beneath the city

Beneath the lively, bustling city of Los Angeles lies an 11-mile, hidden tunnel. Who would’ve imagined that the city of Los Angeles would be one of those places that kept secrets?
This fact alone serves as a great source of conspiracies. The tunnels could’ve been a pathway used by the government to transport extraterrestrial life. Then there’s the possibility that the tunnels led to a hidden underground society.
Of course, we’re free to imagine wild scenarios that actually took place in the tunnels, but in reality, the tunnels were used to transport prisoners from jails to county courthouses. This was also used by notorious individuals with questionable backgrounds.
Given that it provided them with the ideal opportunity to hide their crimes, mobster and murderer alike used these tunnels for their convenience.

3. LA is no stranger to weird laws

From being prohibited from licking frogs to having the doggy style as an illicit act in public, LA is a city filled with weird laws. Some of which, by the way, still exist in the books.
You’re free to read all the city’s weird laws, but don’t expect them to be applicable in today’s society, as certain laws were only made to cater to a specific timeline in the city’s (very long) history.

4. The film industry wouldn’t have ended up in LA if it weren’t for Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison was the inventor of the first-ever movie camera called the Kinetograph. Given that he was the brains behind such a groundbreaking invention, he took it upon himself to hold most of the film industry’s patents.
Filmmakers didn't take this too kindly and decided to migrate to Los Angeles so that they could escape the clutches of Edison and his patents. Here, they found the freedom they sought for so long, plus it didn’t cost much to produce a film in Los Angeles as opposed to Atlantic City.

5. Hollywood? More like Hollywoodland

Who could forget the iconic selling point and trademark of Hollywood? Fun fact, the Hollywood sign was never spelled H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D in the first place. The sign was once spelled Hollywoodland.
The awkward “land" at the end of Hollywood looks so bizarre, but that was the norm until 1949. The reason there was the word “land” at the end of the word “Hollywood" was for advertising purposes for land development.
The Hollywoodland sign was only supposed to last for a year; however, it had already become the figurehead of the film industry, so it stayed for much longer. In 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce entered into a contract with the Los Angeles Parks Department to repair and rebuild the sign, dropping the word “land” in the process.
This was done so that the sign would reflect the district of Hollywood.

6. Goats in preventing wildfires are the norm in LA

The mere presence of goats significantly contributes to the city of Los Angeles' resources for the prevention of wildfires. All year long, goats graze on grass and dried out bushes, and it’s this straightforward action that has saved the lives of countless Angelenos.
It sounds weird to hear this, but the lives of Angelenos lie in the hooves of these goats.

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