The tallest hills in San Francisco are Twin Peaks, Mount Davidson, and Mount Sutro, all more than 900 feet tall. The best known hills, Nob Hill and Telegraph Hill, are smaller, between 300 and 400 feet.
In 1992, the words “Pan Am” were replaced by “MetLife” on the crown of the Pan Am Building at 200 Park Avenue, New York City. The change marked the final end of Pan American World Airways, which ceased operations in December 1991 but had housed offices in the building. It was also more accurate, since…
The road used by migrants moving westward in the mid-19th century, known as the Oregon Trail, ran about 2,000 miles from Independence or Westport, Missouri, to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. It took about six months for wagon trains to cover the distance. The Oregon Trail was in use from the 1840s until the advent of the…
The pledge was uttered by Nez Perce chief Joseph (c. 1840–1904) in 1877. It was part of a larger statement made when his fugitive tribe surrendered to the U.S. Army following a long, grueling journey as they attempted to flee to Canada. The exact quote is, “Hear me, my chiefs, I am tired; my heart…
Located in Wyoming, Teapot Dome was one of two naval oil reserve sites improperly leased in 1922 to private oil companies by Albert B. Fall, President Harding’s secretary of the interior. After the scandal broke in 1923, Fall paid a heavy fine and served a year in prison for bribery. The other oil reserve site…
The English explorer Sir Francis Drake gave the name Nova Albion (Latin for “New England”) to California in 1579. The place near San Francisco where he anchored is still called Drake’s Bay.