7. World's Largest Artichoke: Castroville, California

The World's Largest Artichoke
Publications International, Ltd.
The World's Largest Artichoke measures 20 feet and heads the Artichoke Festival in Castroville, California.

Down the coast a bit from San Francisco, Castroville, California, is the "Artichoke Center of the World," thanks to its famous Green Globe 'chokes and a $50 million local industry.

The city pays homage to this distinction with a 20-foot-tall steel vegetable (built in 1963) and an annual Artichoke Festival, which named Norma Jean Baker (a.k.a. Marilyn Monroe) its inaugural Artichoke Queen in 1947.

Find out about a gigantic tire -- one so big it was used as a Ferris wheel -- in the next section.