California History Trivia

1. For what purpose was the original Hollywoodland sign placed on Mount Lee?

From Quiz Hollywoodland

Answer: As an advertisement for a housing development.

While the current sign only says Hollywood, the original was a 1923 advertisement for the Hollywoodland housing development. All the bells and whistles were brought out to make the sign noticeable from the gigantic wooden letters painted white to the 4,000 lights attached to the sign that blinked. Even a gigantic searchlight was below the sign making the unmissable even harder to miss. Originally, the sign was only going to be on display for a year and a half, but it became popular, and the community decided to leave it up. By 1933 the lights were switched off due to the expense and in 1949 the sign had to be refurbished with the "land" part of the sign being left off. In 1978 the sign was falling apart again and shock rocker Alice Cooper organized a campaign to refurbish it once more. The decision was made to replace the wooden letters with steel to help preserve it longer. Of course, countless times the Hollywood letters have appeared in pop culture making it one of the most easily recognizable landmarks in the world. This question was refurbished and polished by Phoenix Rising's non-shock rocker BigTriviaDawg.

From Quiz History of Los Angeles

Answer: Gabrielinos

The Spanish called the Native people Gabrielinos from the mission they set up in the area. The Gabrielinos were locally known as the Tongva who called their home Yaanga. They worshiped the creator God Chinigchinix and were primarily fishers and hunters. The Gabrielinos sold their goods to the Spanish who came from Mexico and also offered services such as digging ditches and building buildings.

From Quiz Fort Ross, California

Answer: None

The Spaniards claimed Alta California but had no settlements further north than San Francisco. Russian exploration along the coast north of the bay indicated no occupation by other European powers.

From Quiz Mining and Ghost Towns of California

Answer: Bodie

Bodie,widely rated one of the best preserved ghost towns in the US, is also known for its somewhat extreme weather. Winter temperatures regularly drop below freezing, and the local topography frequently produces wind gusts that top 100 mph.

From Quiz Historic Catalina Island

Answer: A Spanish galleon looking for a route to the Far East.

Spaniard Juan Cabrillo "discovered" the island in 1542.

From Quiz San Francisco Earthquake of 1906

Answer: 5:12 AM

On April 18, 1906, the earthquake rattled people from a peaceful sleep at around 5:12 AM. It killed over 3000 people when it was all over.

From Quiz 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

Answer: April 18

The quake struck at 5:13 AM on April 18th. The day before had been uncommonly warm - a warning perhaps?

From Quiz 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire

Answer: Between 7 and 8

Though early estimates put the magnitude at 8.3 on the Richter scale, modern analyses estimate that it was closer to 7.7 or 7.9. Many houses and businesses in San Francisco were built on liquefied soil or "bay fill", making them especially vulnerable to the earthquake's violent shaking.

From Quiz A History of Los Angeles, City of Angels

Answer: 1781

After first arriving in the area in 1769, the Spanish founded "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula" or The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Little Portion in 1781.

From Quiz Bear Flag Revolt and Early Statehood

Answer: Jose Castro

Mariano Vallejo was a subordinate of Castro and Santa Anna was in charge of everything down in Mexico.

From Quiz Early California: The Natives and the Spaniards

Answer: Rebellion

This rebellion was brought on by a number of factors including the rumored demise of the mission system, shaky Spanish military power in colonial California and widespread abuse of the natives.

From Quiz California - History

Answer: gold

John (Johann) Sutter was Swiss.

From Quiz San Francisco History

Answer: Bay Area Rapid Transit

The BART electric train system started operating in 1972. It now has more than 100 miles of track, and has stations from SF to the East Bay and peninsula. The extension to SFO airport opened in 2003.

From Quiz Hollywoodland

Answer: Thomas Edison

Edison was famous for using patents and the law to his advantage in business. A patent is only as good as the holder's willingness to defend it in court. If the holder does not exert his rights, then the patent is meaningless. Edison was wealthy enough and ruthless enough to use the patent system mercilessly. He formed the Motion Picture Patents Company, also known as the Edison Trust, in 1908 in an attempt to monopolize the early film making industry. On the East Coast in places like New York and Chicago, Edison had the resources in place to pursue his patent rights with relative ease. The cost of enforcing his patents on the West Coast, however, was prohibitive because it would take private detectives and California lawyers to sue in the state. For this reason, many independent film makers headed west. Beyond this, the US Ninth Circuit Court, based in San Fransisco, was not favorable to enforcing patents so early Hollywood began to flourish. It has also been postulated that the relative closeness of the Mexican border made California more attractive since the filmmakers could just head for the border to escape Edison. This, however, is more fanciful conjecture than provable fact. The distance from Edison's power base was enough to make the need to flee to Mexico highly unlikely. By 1915 the courts even in the East had ruled against Edison and his company for overreaching in what their patents protected but by that time the establishment of the film industry in California was well under way. Phoenix Rising's tazman6619 found Edison's business practices to be patently unfair and wrote this question in solidarity with the early independent pioneers of the movie industry.

From Quiz History of Los Angeles

Answer: The last Pobladores arrived in Los Angeles

The Pobladores were the first groups of families, forty-four people in total, who were the original Europeans (via Mexico) to settle permanently in Los Angeles. Although many families had arrived earlier in 1781, the date of September 4 is the given as the founding date because that is when the last family arrived to claim their land after having been in quarantine with smallpox. Some of the land given to the Pobladores was taken from the Native Americans who had been baptized Christian when they forced from the land.

From Quiz Welcome to LaLaLand!

Answer: The New Beulah Land

In "Pilgrim's Progress", John Bunyan stated that heaven could be seen from Beulah Land and L.A. boosters felt that even if their city wasn't heaven, you could see the promised land from its shores. Other hyperbolic names for the Los Angeles of the 1870s were "The Home of Sunlit Skies of Glory", "The Wonder City of the United States", and "The Home of Contented Labor." The Riviera name referred to the beautiful little town of Santa Barbara, a few hours north of Los Angeles and still a world-class destination.

From Quiz Fort Ross, California

Answer: Ivan Kuskov

Commandant Kuskov was Senior Assistant to Baranov, the Chief Administrator of the Russian-American Company. He was reputedly a zealous administrator, with a great interest in exploiting natural resources such as the local redwood trees.

From Quiz I Left My Heart In San Francisco

Answer: Charles Manson

Charles Manson had settled in San Francisco, where he met the first of who would become his followers, Mary Brunner. Manson moved in with Brunner and in short order, 18 other women moved in as well. The "family" spent most of the "Summer of Love" in San Francisco, before Manson and a group comprised of the hard-core followers set off on a road trip to Los Angeles.

From Quiz Mining and Ghost Towns of California

Answer: New Idria

Vandalism has resulted in heavy loss to the historic buildings in the town, which does not enjoy any protection, despite its being listed as a California Historical Landmark. The ownership of the land that the town is situated on is unclear, and some of the descendents of the former mine workers still imagine they have some claim to the property and are known to chase off visitors.

From Quiz Historic Catalina Island

Answer: San Salvador

The San Salvador was Cabrillo's main ship.

From Quiz San Francisco Earthquake of 1906

Answer: 7.8

The magnitude of the quake was listed to be 7.8 on the Richter scale. However, some experts say that the quake measured anywhere from 7.7 to as high as 8.3 at the moment of the quake. Earthquakes are the sliding of plates which get stuck momentarily and then release the energy built up. This quake happened along the San Andreas fault which runs nearly the entire length of California.

From Quiz 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

Answer: Enrico Caruso

Enrico Caruso was on the last leg of his American tour. When he arrived in San Francisco all the reporters were asking him about the recent eruption of Mt. Vesuvius near his hometown. Naturally, they had no idea that they'd soon be in the thick of their own disaster.

From Quiz 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire

Answer: Carmen

Caruso performed in "Carmen" on April 17, just hours before the earthquake struck. He had been scheduled to sing in Naples, Italy around the same time, but canceled that trip after Mt. Vesuvius erupted. Caruso never came back to San Francisco.

From Quiz Bear Flag Revolt and Early Statehood

Answer: Los Angeles

The old capital of Monterey remained the military headquarters of Jose Castro.

From Quiz California Governors

Answer: Upton Sinclair

The author of the "The Jungle" and other popular novels, Sinclair ran on a campaign platform known as EPIC (End Poverty in California). He was defeated by Republican Frank Merriam. Job Harriman was a California Socialist who ran for vice-president in 1900 and came close to being elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1911.

From Quiz California - History

Answer: Russians

The Russians came further south than Alaska. (Russian claims to sovereignty were, however, rejected by Spain, Britain and the US).

From Quiz History of Los Angeles

Answer: Mexico & M

During the Mexican-American War, the U.S. had a firm grip on northern California but the southern part proved to be troublesome. In August 1846, John C. Fremont and Robert Stockton had conquered large parts of California. However, both Fremont and Stockton left Los Angeles to Archibald Gillespie. Gillespie was woefully underprepared to fight and underestimated the strong Mexican sentiment of the people, many of whom were of Mexican descent, living in Los Angeles at the time. He surrendered to Jose Maria Flores within twenty-four hours.

From Quiz Fort Ross, California

Answer: 1812-1842

The changing political situation in California made it uncomfortable for the Russians to stay any later than 1842.

From Quiz I Left My Heart In San Francisco

Answer: Haight-Ashbury

Haight-Ashbury has become indelibly marked as the central locale for the hippie movement during the 1960s. There had been talk of a new freeway running through the area so the property values had dropped, making the district an attractive location for the unemployed or funds-lacking hippies, due to the inexpensive rents and availability of space. To this day, it is still a haven of bohemian lifestyles.

From Quiz 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

Answer: Gen. Frederick Funston

Gen. Funston believed that only the military could control the citizens after the earthquake. His actions included imposing martial law on the town. It was more than two days after the earthquake that President Roosevelt authorized a military presence in the ravaged city.

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