Random San Francisco

Hey hey!

Normally Far out Fridays are all about Japan, but my brian is fried from:

(a) nano
(b) teaching every single period today
(c) not having an off day since October 11th
(d) just getting home at 10 pm from hip hop practice
(e) all of the above

(Correct answer = e. all of the above)

So I'm going to share some random things I learned about San Francisco last month. My town and a town 1 North and 1 West of here (I know that sounds complicated- sorry) send students to San Francisco every year. This year, they had me make posters about San Francisco and I learned a whole lot more than someone who has never lived there, doesn't live there now, and has no plans of living there should ever know.

1. San Francisco is the 4th most populous state in California and the 12th most populous in the US.

2. San Francisco has a land area of only 46.7 square miles, and almost 4 times as much water area.

3. The San Francisco 49ers have won the Super Bowl 5 times. Only the Pittsburgh Steelers have more wins (6) and the Dallas Cowboys tie them on 5.

4. The San Francisco Giants have the most wins in American professional baseball.

5. The Rainbow Flag (Gay Pride Flag) was designed by a San Francisco man, Gilbert Baker, in 1978. It originally had 8 stripes, but the hot pink stripe was removed because of inavailability of the colour. When the flag was hung vertically, the middle stripe disappeared, so the turquoise stripe was removed to have an even number of stripes, and solve this problem.

6. San Fancisco was almost destroyed in 1906 by a massive earthquake and subsequent fire.

7. The Golden Gate Bridge is 1970m long and was the longest suspension bridge in the world when it was completed.

8. Over 44% of San Francisco residents have a Bachelor's degree or highe, making it the second most educated city in the US. (Seattle is number 1)

9. Alcatraz, which was a lighthouse and a military facility before becoming a prison, is located 2.4 miles of the coast of the mainland. There has never been a succesful escape from Alcatraz. (Unless you watch The Rock:)

10. The city was named for St Francis of Assisi, notorious for his peaceful ways (appropriate, huh?), back in the days when it was a Spanish possession.

And, in case you wondered, I wrote this from memory.

How many of these did you know?