Hometown Knowledge:
Yes, I know nobody trusts Wikipedia anymore. But I had a super time this morning checking out the entries of every place I’ve ever lived and learning a thing or two…
Ann Arbor, Michigan (1973-1991): President Lyndon Johnson announced the “Great Society” in Ann Arbor in 1964.
Baltimore, Maryland (1991-1997): Baltimore is home to the world’s tallest five-sided equilateral building, the Baltimore World Trade Center.
Los Angeles, California (Summers of 1991, 1992): Los Angeles and its suburbs have 13 area codes.
Austin, Texas (1997-2000): Austin is situated on the Balcones Fault, a non-active earthquake zone.
San Francisco, California (2000-Present): San Francisco’s city flag is a rising pheonix, adopted after the devastating 1906 earthquake. The motto beneath it reads “Gold in Peace, Iron in War.”
Try it with your hometowns. It’s fun.
Reader interactions
2 Replies to “Hometown Knowledge:”
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Wikipedia is wrong. The phoenix came into being in 1900. And being something of a city history junkie, I know that without even Googling.
But if you don’t believe me, you can always get it straight from the City’s site.
http://www.sfgov.org/site/visitor_index.asp?id=8081
This is the major problem with Wikipedia. Great for leads, but useless when it comes to confirming information. Because nobody is accountable for the information and some 15 year old kid could delete some carefully researched piece of history. Anyone who relies upon it as a primary source is a fool.
Wikipedia is wrong. The phoenix came into being in 1900. And being something of a city history junkie, I know that without even Googling.
But if you don’t believe me, you can always get it straight from the City’s site.
http://www.sfgov.org/site/visitor_index.asp?id=8081
This is the major problem with Wikipedia. Great for leads, but useless when it comes to confirming information. Because nobody is accountable for the information and some 15 year old kid could delete some carefully researched piece of history. Anyone who relies upon it as a primary source is a fool.