You probably know that Phoenix acquired its name from the mythological bird – The Phoenix, an immortal bird that rises from its own ashes. But there are many things about this city that will surprise you.
Go ahead and impress your friends, family, and co-workers with these 15 facts!
1. The Phoenix Valley was the floor of a shallow, ancient sea 1.8 billion years ago.
2. The land that would become the city of Phoenix was first inhabited by the Hohokam people around 700 AD and was later abandoned.
3. In 1867 a man named Jack Swilling was traveling through the Salt River Valley and saw a potential for farming. He formed a small community near the confluence of the Salt and Gila Rivers.
4. Phoenix became an incorporated city on February 25, 1881, it was home to approximately 2,500 people and by 2017, Phoenix has grown to become the fifth-largest city in the United States with a population of 1,626,078 people.
5. The City of Phoenix is the only state capital with more than 1,000,000 residents.
And now the lesser-known facts:
6. The Hotel San Carlos in downtown Phoenix is featured in Psycho, the opening sequence of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 slasher-thriller.
7. Opened in 1962, the 125-acre Phoenix Zoo is the largest privately owned, non-profit zoo in the United States with more than 1,400 animals and 2.5 miles of walking trails.
8. The male mulberry tree is banned in Phoenix due to its high pollen production.
9. The region receives 320 days of sun each year, the most of any major U.S. city. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Phoenix was 122 degrees Fahrenheit at Sky Harbor International Airport on June 26, 1990.
10. There are more than 200 golf courses in the Greater Phoenix area.
11. The giant saguaro cactus does not grow arms until it is at least 50 years old. Saguaros can live to be more than 300 years old.
12. The major industries of the Greater Phoenix area are high-tech manufacturing, tourism and construction.
13. The world’s largest collection of desert plants can be found in Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden.
14. More than 40 million passengers fly through Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport each year, making it one of the 10 busiest airports in the United States.
15. Scenes from the 2017 movie Transformers: The Last Knigh were shot on the Loop 303 in north Phoenix during the summer of 2016.