10 Things You Didn't Know About California

Check out 10 things you didn't know about California.

Sunny California: Home to Hollywood, wine and freeways. Here is a list of ten things that you may not know about California.

Number 10: The State of California boasts the highest and lowest points in the continental United States. Mount Whitney measures 14,505 feet and Badwater Basin in Death Valley is 282 feet below sea level. You could visit both on a day trip since they are within 130 miles of one another.

Number 9: Almost all of the United States commercial artichokes are grown in Monterey County, California. Every May, Castroville, CA, known to be the "Artichoke Center of the World", hosts an artichoke festival complete with a queen. A young girl by the name of Norma Jean was the first to be crowned back in 1948. You may know her as Marilyn Monroe.

Number 8: Pacific Grove, California welcomes thousands of migrating monarch butterflies each October. They can be found in the Monarch Grove Sanctuary. Don't mess with them, though. A city ordinance authorizes a $1,000 fine for "molesting a butterfly in any way."

Number 7: The Frisbee, Barbie, skateboards and video arcades are just a few of the many fun inventions created in California.

Number 6: The world's largest concentrations of hot tubs and BMW's are located in Marin County. The area also boasts being the most educated county in California, with 22 and a half percent of its adults having an advanced degree.

Number 5: San Francisco has the largest Chinatown in the world outside of Asia.

Number 4: Some say the view from the summit at Mount Diablo is the best view in the United States. Atop the 3,849 foot peak, you can see areas covering 40 different counties. The only other place you can see more of the Earth's surface is Mount Kilimanjaro.

Number 3: The lowest, driest and hottest place in the United States makes its home in California. Death Valley has the highest temperature ever recorded in the world at 134-degrees Fahrenheit recorded back on July 10, 1913.

Number 2: California's White Mountains are home to Bristlecone pines that are over 4,000 years old. and a creosote bush found in the Mojave desert in 1980 was dated between 11,000 and 12,000 years old.

Number 1: According to a report from California Common Sense, California spends more money on prisons than they do on universities. Between 1980 and 2011, the group found that while spending has increased in both, they now receive less of a portion from the state's general fund with higher education getting under 10% and corrections just over 10%.

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