The name Cardiff means "fort on the
Taff"
Author Roald Dahl was born in Cardiff to Norwegian
parents - the Oval Basin in the bay has been renamed
Roald Dahl Plass in his honour.
Visit Roald Dahl website
here
Cardiff Bay was once one of the richest cities in the
world, thanks to the Docks and coal industry.
The first million pound deal was struck at the Coal
Exchange in Cardiff Bay.
In 1857, General Tom Thumb, the smallest man alive
(height of 31 inches weight 25lb) visited Cardiff's Town
Hall. It cost sixpence to see him.
The first British news film ever recorded was of the
Prince and Princess of Wales visiting the Cardiff
exhibition of 1896
The last air raid on Cardiff on May 18, 1943, was a
revenge raid for the Dam Busters raid on Germany the
night before. Why Cardiff? Guy Gibson, who led the 617
Dam Busters squadron was married to Eve Moore of Penarth
and spent most of his leave in the area. More than 40
people died in the raid, the only one in which the
Germans used the screaming Stukka bombers at night,
during the blitz on Britain.
Bute Park is said to be the richest urban park for
trees, probably in the world, according to The Royal
Horticultural Society tree register
Marconi sent the first ever wireless
communication over open sea. It transversed the Bristol
Channel from Lavernock Point near Cardiff Bay to
Flat Holm Island, a distance of 6 kilometres (3.7
mi). The message read "Are you ready" The receiving
equipment was almost immediately relocated to Brean Down
Fort on the Somerset coast, stretching the range to 16
kilometres (9.9 mi
Do you know any fascinating facts about Cardiff?
Let us know and we'll add
them to our list.
Cardiff has been named as one of the top 10 cities in Europe. Over 319,700 friendly people live here and call it home. We have 149 pubs, bars and nightclubs (18 of them on the waterfront), 73 restaurants and 125 hotels.