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The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota is over 9.5 million square feet, or the size of 78 football fields.

The world's largest man-made waterfall is 438 feet tall. It is the spillway over the Shasta Dam in Redding, California.
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City History

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The Rancho Los Cerritos and Rancho Los Alamitos were divided from the larger Rancho Los Nietos, which had been granted by the Spanish Empire's, King Carlos III in 1784 to a Spanish soldier, Manuel Nieto. The boundary between the two ranchos ran through the center of Signal Hill. A portion of western Long Beach was originally part of the Rancho San Pedro, and was in dispute for years, due to flooding changing the Los Angeles River boundary, between Juan Jose Dominguez and Manuel Nieto's ranchos.

Rancho Los Cerritos was bought in 1843 by John Temple, a Yankee who had come to California in 1827. Soon after he built what is now known as the "Los Cerritos Ranch House," an adobe which still stands and is a National Historic Landmark. Temple created a thriving cattle ranch and prospered, becoming the wealthiest man in Los Angeles County. Both Temple and his ranch house played important local roles in the Mexican-American War.

In 1866 Temple sold Rancho Los Cerritos to the Northern California sheep-raising firm of Flint, Bixby & Co. for $20,000. To manage Los Cerritos, the company selected Lewellyn's brother Jotham Bixby, the "Father of Long Beach", to manage their southern ranch, and three years later Jotham bought into the property and would later form the Bixby Land Company. In 1880, Bixby sold 4,000 acres of the Rancho to William E. Willmore, in hopes of creating a farm community, Willmore City. He failed and was bought out by a Los Angeles syndicate the Long Beach Land and Water Company. They changed the name of the community to "Long Beach", which was incorporated as a city in 1888.

Probably even more influential in the development of the city was John W. Bixby, another Bixby cousin. After first working for his cousins at Los Cerritos, J.W. Bixby then leased land at Rancho Los Alamitos, and then put together a group consisting of himself and many influential leaders including the rest of the Bixbies to purchase the rancho. In addition to bringing innovative farming methods to the Alamitos John W. Bixby began the development of the Alamitos' oceanfront property near the city's picturesque bluffs. Under the name Alamitos Land Company, J.W. Bixby named the streets and laid out the parks of his new city. The town grew as a seaside and then as an oil, Navy, and port town.

The Port of Long Beach is one of the world's largest shipping ports. The city also has a large oil industry; oil is found both underground and offshore. Manufactures include aircraft, automobile parts, electronic and audiovisual equipment, and home furnishings. It is also home to headquarters for corporations such as Epson America, Molina Healthcare, Scan Health Care, and Polar Air Cargo. Long Beach grew with the development of high-technology and aerospace industries and tourism in this picturesque area.

Historic Figures

Eldrick "Tiger" Woods (Born December 30, 1975)



Eldrick "Tiger" Woods (Born December 30, 1975)
Tiger Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Currently the World No. 1, Woods was the highest paid professional athlete in 2006. At the age of 31, he won his thirteenth professional major golf championship and has more career wins on the PGA Tour than any other active golfer to date. He is the only active golfer in the top 10 in career major wins and career PGA Tour wins.

March 29, 2024

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