Wales (or Cymru in Welsh) is a mountainous country on the western side of

Some Facts About Wales and the Welsh

1. St. Patrick was not an Irishman. Many scholars believe that Patrick (Patricius or Padrig) was born in the still Welsh-speaking Northern Kingdom of Strathclyde (Southeastern Scotland, a former Welsh-speaking Celtic kingdom at the time.) of Romano-Brythonic parents around 385 AD.

2. A Welshman (Walter Wingfield) invented Lawn Tennis in Wales (1874).

3. The Prince of Wales is not Welsh. In 1300, King Edward of England made his son, the future Edward II, (born at Caernarfon Castle), Prince of Wales and Count of Chester. Ever since that date these titles have been automatically conferred upon the first-born son of the English monarch.

4. A Welshman was responsible for the mid-19^th century US industrial might. The anthracite iron era, which David Thomas set in motion almost the moment (1854) he arrived in the country was to last nearly 80 years before being replaced by the coming of steel manufacture. One of the most influential men in the growth of American industry in the 19^th century, David Thomas deserves the title of "Father of the Anthracite Iron Industry in the United States."

5. A Welshman (George Jones) co-founded The New York Times (1851).

6. The world's biggest second-hand bookshop is in Wales (Hay-on-Wye).

7. The world's longest railroad station name is in Wales. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllantisiliogogogoch

8. Welshmen invented two important mathematical symbols.

= Robert Recorde (~1550)

p William Jones

9. Three leading universities owe their founding to Welshmen.

Yale University

Brown University in Rhode Island

Beijing University in China

10. A Welshman discovered the link between Asian and European Languages.

Sir William Jones, late 18^th century

11. The earth's highest mountain (Mount Everest) is named after a Welshman.

12. Cardiff has the world's largest retractable-roof arena. Millennium Stadium; 75,000 seats

13. A Welshman was the first to transmit and receive radio waves. A Welshman named David Edward Hughes became the first (1889) to transmit and receive radio waves (from one room to another), eight years before Marconi.