Astronomers Monument - Los Angeles, California
Long before people who make their living pretending to be other people were called “stars” there were people in the Hollywood hills who made their living looking at real stars.
They are the scientists at the Griffith Observatory, built in 1933 high above the city in an area that was thought to be safe from the coastal basin’s famous smog. We think of smog as a modern phenomenon, but it actually pre-dates European settlement of the area. Early explorers reported smog and haze hanging over the area from the fires of local indians.
Back to the point — outside of Griffith Observatory is a monument to some of the world’s great astronomers: Hipparchus, Copernicus, Galileo, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, and William Herschel. It was commissioned by the United States government and designed by Archibald Garner.