In the absence of much to report on the Valentine's day front, I am going to jump forward a couple of weeks and pretend its March 1st, which will allow me to post some facts about the country of my birth, Wales. With the help of an extremely informative fridge magnet, and a bit of browsing, I can report the following:
- March 1st is celebrated in Wales as St. David's Day. St. David was an early crusader for Christianity in Wales and is supposed to have died on March 1st, 589. His remains were buried at what is now the Cathedral of St. David's in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. St David was actually Irish, while St Patrick is believed to be Welsh
- Population just under 3 million people with 11 million sheep
- Area:20,778 sq km (8000 sq miles) with 1,288km (750 miles) of coastline and 110 sq km 42 sq miles) of national Parks. Wales measures 160 miles long by 60 miles wide
- Welsh is one of the oldest living languages. Around 19% of the population speak Welsh.
- The Welsh may have settled in America as early as 1169
- The Stapleford scoring system in golf originated in Wales
- Wales has over 400 castles
- The first wireless transmission took place in Wales
- The infamous Pirate of the Caribbean, Henry Morgan was Welsh
- Welsh celebrities include Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Anthony Hopkins, Charlotte Church, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Burton, Dylan Thomas
- The largest ethnic group of signatories (16 in all) on the original draft of the American Declaration of Independence were Welsh
- Sunshine (hours per day) - 4.03 Rainfall (annual total mm.) - 1,296 (51 inches)
- Snowdon is the highest mountain at 3,560 feet
- The daffodil and the leek are famous emblems of Wales
For more fun facts check out the following sites:
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