The Golden State
This silicon valley city was the original state capital until 1851.
San Jose
This Norse explorer is thought to be the first European to set foot on the North American continent, landing in Newfoundland, Canada
Leif Erikson
The Black Death, responsible for between 25,000,000 and 50,000,000 deaths in seven years, was started by this little guy.
The Oriental Rat Flea
This Mongolian warlord is reportedly related to 1 in 200 men today or .5% of the total male population
Genghis Khan
On March 1, 1872, Ulysses S. Grant signed ‘The Act of Dedication’, which turned over two million acres of land across Montana, Wyoming and Idaho into this
Yellowstone National Park
After the 1906 earthquake, this area of Yosemite was converted into a dam, despite the efforts of John Muir.
Hetch Hetchy Valley
These aptly named scholars created the first alphabet around 1600 BC
The Phoenicians
This french radical revolutionary met his maker at the guillotine, ironic considering the fact that he had sentenced many french citizens to the same fate
Maximillian Robespierre
This rosy book filled with writings by Mao Zedong shares a name with an app that briefly replaced Tiktok.
The Little Red Book
During the Texan Revolution, General Sam Houston shouted this phrase shortly before the Battle of San Jacinto, which few would be able to forget.
Remember the Alamo!
This indigenous woman’s story and isolated life on the Channel Islands inspired Scott O’Dell’s novel ‘Island of the Blue Dolphins’
Juana Maria
These two mythological monsters, who supposedly lived in the Strait of Messina, from greek mythology are the inspiration for the saying ‘rock and a hard place’
Scylla and Charybdis
This German Royal Dynasty became so well known for their incestous tendencies, their name was leant to a genetic disorder of the mouth
The Hapsburgs
Mumbai was previously known as this city during the British occupation of India and was changed in November 1995
Bombay
This first lady is credited with saving the 1796 portrait of George Washington during the British Capture of Washington DC in 1814.
Dolley Madison
The tallest living tree in the world, named after this mythological figure, resides in Redwood National Park, rises 379.1 feet above the ground and is estimated to be between 600 to 800 years old.
Hyperion
This ancient South American civilization survived for over 3000 years and was noted for it’s mathematical, architectural and agricultural achievements, including the first implementation of the number zero.
The Mayans
On November 3, 1957, this very good girl became the first animal to orbit the earth, with no plan or expectation that she would survive; she died of overheating four days after take off.
Laika
This 1000 year period where no Polynesian exploration took place partially inspired the Disney movie ‘Moana’.
The Long Pause
In the 1760’s, these two surveyors used milestones to mark the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Mason and Dixon
This local Stocktonian legend and ‘schizophrenic mistress’ made national headlines for repeatedly suing her common law husband and her alleged involvement in her second husband’s murder, leading to her permanent residence at the Stockton State Hospital, which is now CSU Stanislaus.
Sarah Althea Hill
Diogenes held up this deformed animal in response to Plato’s assertion that a man was a featherless biped
A plucked chicken
This 1520 meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I to form an alliance between England and France was immortalized with this gilded nomenclature
Field of the Cloth of Gold
This Ottoman ruler who reigned from 1520-1566 is widely considered to be one of the greatest military leaders and is credited with the expansion and modernization of the Ottoman Empire.
Suleiman the Magnificent
This exclusive numerical list was created by Ward McAllister in 1892 to denote the haves and have nots of Gilded Age New York High Society.
The Four Hundred