The San Francisco 49ers, an American football club headquartered in California, were named after the gold-seekers who rushed to the state in 1849.¹⁾

Mount Whitney, 14,494 feet above sea level, is California's highest peak.²⁾

Death Valley is the lowest location in California, at 282 feet below sea level.³⁾

California is the most populous state in the United States, with a population of 39.5 million people.⁴⁾

The hula hoop, the Egg McMuffin, Barbie, WD-40, California rolls (sushi), Cobb salad, the Shirley Temple (alcoholic beverage), and the nicotine patch are among California inventions.⁵⁾

If California were a nation, it would have the world's fifth-largest economy, greater than the United Kingdom, France, or India.⁶⁾

The film business, the hippie counterculture, the Internet, the personal computer, fast food, and beach culture all originated in California.⁷⁾

After Alaska and Texas, California is the third biggest state.⁸⁾

At 1,040 miles long and 560 miles broad, California is almost the same size as France, Spain, and Sweden combined.⁹⁾

California has more national parks than any other state, with 9 of the 59 parks.¹⁰⁾

Humans first arrived in California 130,000 years ago.¹¹⁾

Californians drive to work for an average of 29 minutes each trip.¹²⁾

California has eight of the top ten most expensive home markets in the United States. The average property price in the two most costly regions, Newport Beach and Palo Alto, is more over $2.5 million.¹³⁾

San Jose, California, the Silicon Valley center, is regarded as the most expensive city in America.¹⁴⁾

Unfortunately, many Californians are homeless, accounting for more than 30% of the entire homeless population in the United States.¹⁵⁾

During the California Gold Rush, San Francisco increased from 200 to 36,000 people.¹⁶⁾

California provides virtually all of the almonds, celery, figs, kiwi fruits, walnuts, and other foods consumed in the United States. The state is the world's fifth-largest food producer.¹⁷⁾

The state of California was previously known as the Grizzly Bear State. However, because grizzly bears were driven to extinction in California, the state is now known as the Golden State.¹⁸⁾

California is the only state to have hosted both the Winter and Summer Olympics.¹⁹⁾

California is home to some of the world's oldest and tallest trees.²⁰⁾

Fortune cookies were originated in California rather than Asia.²¹⁾

Los Angeles was formerly known as “El Pueblo de Nuestra Seora Reina de Los Angeles Sobre el Rio Porciuncula”. It means “The River of Our Lady Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula”.²²⁾

Monarch is the name of the grizzly bear on the California flag.²³⁾

California was named from a book published some 500 years ago. The story was about a gold-rich island called California.²⁴⁾

The Iron Door Saloon in Groveland is California's oldest saloon. It was constructed in 1852.²⁵⁾

The whole California coastline is designated as a national monument known as the “California Coastal National Monument”.²⁶⁾

On September 9, 1850, California became the 31st state.²⁷⁾

Several buffalo were transported to Catalina Island, off the coast of California, for a film in the 1920s. Around 200 of these may still be seen on the island today.²⁸⁾

In an effort to halt the spread of COVID-19, the state of California outlawed singing and chanting in places of worship in July 2020.²⁹⁾

Following the Mexican-American War, Mexico surrendered California to the United States in 1848. In the 1850 Compromise, California was annexed as a free, non-slavery state.³⁰⁾

Tally's Electric Theater, which opened in Los Angeles in 1902, was the state's first permanent motion picture theater.³¹⁾

California produces more turkeys than any other state in the country.³²⁾

There is a $500 fine in Pacific Grove, California for disturbing butterflies.³³⁾

San Bernardino County is the biggest county in the United States, with about 3 million acres.³⁴⁾

Death Valley, California, is the hottest and driest area in the United States. Temperatures can exceed 115 degrees Fahrenheit.³⁵⁾

The biggest living tree may be found at Sequoia National Park in California's Sierra Nevada highlands. The General Sherman Tree is 275 feet (83 meters) tall and more than 36 feet (11 meters) in circumference at the base.³⁶⁾

The majority of California people are members of ethnic minority groups; in fact, one out of every four California residents was not born in the United States.³⁷⁾

Many Native American tribes existed in California, including the Quechan (Yuma), Maidu, Pomo, and Hupa.³⁸⁾

Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose are among the top ten most populous cities in the United States.³⁹⁾

Alpine County, in contrast to San Bernardino, is one of California's smallest counties, with 465,000 acres of land and the smallest population.⁴⁰⁾

California has many intriguing statistics, but one of the most amazing is that it is the first state to achieve $1 trillion in GDP.⁴¹⁾

Eureka - the Greek term for “I have found it!” — is a happy shout when you have accomplished something. When Archimedes found the procedure for evaluating the purity of gold, he spoke this exact phrase. The state eventually selected “Eureka” as its official motto in celebration of the California Gold Rush.⁴²⁾

San Francisco withstood the international slump during the Great Depression. During this time, none of its banks went insolvent.⁴³⁾

California sees about 10,000 earthquakes every year on average. Fortunately, many of these earthquakes are fairly weak.⁴⁴⁾

Here's an unusual truth about California: During the summer, the Sierra Nevada shocks and charms tourists with its spectacular “watermelon snow.” Pink-tinted snow blankets the mountains as a consequence of tiny algae, and others claim it smells and tastes like watermelon.⁴⁵⁾