I’D LIKE TO KNOW

QCan you please tell me if the opera singer Adelina Patti was Welsh or Italian, and did she ever sing in Liverpool? A.P., Burnley.

AThe opera singer was born in Spain to Italian opera-singing parents who were working in Madrid at the time of her birth in 1843. Adelina grew up in New York. Regarded as the greatest soprano of her day, she also carried a French passport as her first two husbands were French. At the height of her fame the opera singer performed all over Europe, including Liverpool, and even sang to the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and his wife, Mary, at the White House. She died in 1919 at Craig-y-nos Castle in Powys, Wales, where she resided, and was buried in Paris.

QWhy are mountains called Munros in Scotland and what height do they need to be to earn this title?

Mr L.K., Nottingham.

AMunros are named after the man who surveyed and catalogued them – Sir Hugh T. Munro. Munros need to be over 3,000 feet, and a popular pastime among hillwalkers is Munro bagging, where you aim to “bag” as many of the 282 of them as you can. The highest peak is Ben Nevis.

QI have been watching a rerun of “The Thorn Birds” starring the wonderful Richard Chamberlain. When was he born? Mrs B.E.W., Cambridge.

AThe American actor, who found fame as “Dr Kildare” in the TV series of the same name, was born in March 1934 in California, making him eighty-three. He starred alongside Rachel Ward in “The Thorn Birds”.