CISL students call San Diego and San Francisco “home” during their time as an international English student. But how much do these students know about the cities that they live in? CISL compiled a few interesting facts about San Diego and San Francisco that even most residents of these two cities do not know. Stump your family and friends with this trivia!
Interesting Facts about San Diego
Adapted from Destination360.com.
San Diego is the second largest city in California and the eight largest city in USA. It has approximately 2.9 million residents (1.3 in the “city” of San Diego and the rest in the outlying areas).
1. San Diego was earlier named San Miguel by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo; the first Portuguese explorer to land here. But it was renamed San Diego by Sebastian Vizcaino.
2. Hua Mei, the first baby panda was born in San Diego’s Zoo to a pair of giant pandas. She was the first baby panda to be born in the Western Hemisphere since 1990.
3. San Diego enjoys beautiful weather throughout the year with an average daily temperature of 70.5 degrees Fahrenheit (21.4 degrees Celsius). At times, you can experience mountain, coastal, and desert environments all in one day.
4. San Diego is home to seventy miles of quaint and picturesque beaches.
5. USA’s largest wooden structure; the Hotel Del Coronado is in San Diego on Coronado island.
Interesting Facts about San Francisco
Adapted from sfheart.com.
Known as the financial and cultural center of Northern California, San Francisco was founded in 1776. It is the United States’ 14th most populous city.
1. Denim jeans were invented in San Francisco for the Gold Rush miners who needed tough, comfortable clothing.
2. Francis Ford Coppola famously wrote large portions of The Godfather Trilogy in Caffe Trieste, the first San
Francisco coffee shop, established in 1956
3. The original United Nations charter was drafted and signed in San Francisco.
4. Chop Suey was created in 1878 during a banquet or Li Hung-Chung, the first Chinese Viceroy to visit our city.
5. San Francisco is built on 43 hills.