The fog might "come on little cat feet," according to poet Carl Sandburg, but in San Francisco, the constant fog is often considered more pest than pet. However, that might have changed in 2010, when a Twitter account popped up under the name "Karl the Fog." Created by a user determined to remain anonymous, Karl's account quickly gained followers, with 360,000 followers as of 2019. The account's creator has stated that he didn't like all of the bad-mouthing of the fog, which he considers somewhat mysterious and romantic, so he figured out a way to make people appreciate it. Karl has become famous enough to appear as a Jeopardy question, not least because of the tweets themselves, which are often tongue-in-cheek comments about the persistence of fog in the Bay Area. One example: "Today's forecast: mostly foggy with a side of fog plus some more fog." Even the name Karl is meant to show the fog's nice side. It's a reference to the giant in the 2003 film Big Fish, who is at first seen as terrifying but ends up being beloved by those who get to know him.
More than the Golden Gate:
- San Francisco's Chinatown, centered around Grant Avenue, is the oldest Chinatown in North America, and the largest Chinese neighborhood outside of Asia.
- Fortune cookies aren't Chinese; they were invented by a San Francisco cook of Japanese descent.
- Burials haven't been allowed in San Francisco since 1901. Instead, the city mostly uses the cemeteries in Colma, California.