Twenty Interesting Facts about Edinburgh...
Did You Know?
1. Edinburgh's population is over 460, 000. But that figure swells to well over 1 million during its famous arts festivals in August.
2. Each year, Edinburgh hosts the biggest New Year street party in the world. (The famous festival is best known as Edinburgh's Hogmanay).
3. JK Rowling, author of the famous Harry Potter books, wrote her first novel 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' in a café in Edinburgh.
4. Sean Connery grew up in Edinburgh and as a boy, delivered milk to Fettes School, where the fictitious character of James Bond was educated. (UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was also educated at Fettes School in Edinburgh.)
5. The city's Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre is dedicated to the 300-year history of Scotch whisky and features sound effects and aromas! For the real thing visit Scotland's Southern most whisky distillery, Glenkinchie, thirty minutes drive from Edinburgh
6. Edinburgh University, one of the most famous universities in the world, was established in 1583.
7. Edinburgh Castle, which dominates the city skyline, is the most popular visitor attraction in Scotland with over 1 million visitors each year.
8. The word 'caddie' originated from the men who were hired to carry pails of water up the tenement flats in the Old Town of Edinburgh. Golf caddies are thought to stem from Mary Queen of Scots who was educated in France and a keen golfer. Apparently, she christened the students who carried her clubs 'cadets' and, given the French pronunciation of the word, some people believe that this is how the modern meaning of the term developed.
9. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was born in Edinburgh. A statue of Sherlock Holmes is in Picardy Place celebrates the birthplace of Arthur Conan Doyle, and is the only statue of its kind in the UK.
10. In the Old Calton Burial Ground, in the centre of Edinburgh, there is a memorial to the Scottish soldiers who died in the American Civil War and a statue of Abraham Lincoln - the first one erected outside the USA.
11.The Royal Yacht Britannia served the Royal Family for forty four years and is the last in a long line of Royal Yachts. Its new permanent home is at Ocean Terminal in the historic port of Leith
12. Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was born in Edinburgh. Bell, like his father, was an educator of the deaf. He went first to Canada and then to the United States, where in 1873 he was appointed a professor in the School of Oratory, Boston University.
13. Robert Louis Stevenson lived at 17 Heriot Row in the New Town. His poem 'Leary the Lamplighter' was written about the local lamplighter, who Stevenson could see from his window. Famous landmarks with RLS connections include the Jeckyll & Hyde pub, Deacon Brodie's Tavern and The Hawes Inn in South Queensferry which features in 'Kidnapped'.
14.While Princes Street Gardens, situated in the city centre, boasts the world's oldest floral clock, the Royal Botanic Garden contains Britain's tallest Palm House in The Glasshouse Experience.
15.The founder of America's National Parks, is commemorated at the John Muir House & Country Park, just outside Edinburgh
16.The Palace of Holyroodhouse is The Queen's official residence ion Scotland. They contain historic apartments where Mary, Queen of Scots, lived. Mary's death mask, meanwhile, is housed within Lennoxlove House, home of the Duke of Hamilton and just outside Edinburgh.
17.To follow in the footsteps of Scotland's literary heroes, visitors to the city can join in The Macallan Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour, which takes-in the famous and infamous pubs of Edinburgh's Old and New Towns. The tour finishes at Milne's Bar, originally a meeting place of the Scottish literati.
18.Some of the movies to have been filmed in Edinburgh and the surrounding district include 'The 39 Steps', 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie', 'Jude', and 'Mary Reilly'.
19.The story of 'Greyfriar's Bobby', the faithful Skye terrier, hails from Edinburgh, and the world famous statue to the little dog is located on George IV Bridge, opposite Greyfriar's Bobby pub. (A new film version of the story will be filmed in Edinburgh in 2002)
20.Edinburgh, along with Bath, Rome and Venice, has been designated a World Heritage Site
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