Welsh man that gave his name to the highest mountain in the world

Mount Everest is Earth's highest mountain above sea level and the current official elevation is 29,029 ft (8,848 m). It is named Everest after a Welsh man George Everest, who was born in Crickhowell (Welsh: Crug Hywel) on 4th July 1790. There is an item about this on the History of Wales Facebook page marking the anniversary of his birth. The article is printed below. The name of the mountain in Nepali is Sagarmatha सगरमाथा; inTibetan it is Chomolungma ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ and this Tibetan name translates as "Holy Mother".

Born on this day 1790 in Crickhowell,

Colonel Sir George Everest, the man that Mount Everest is named after.

In 1818, Sir George was commissioned into the Royal Artillery and was appointed as assistant to Colonel William Lambton, who had inaugurated the Great Trigonometrical Survey of the sub-continent in 1806. When Lambton died in 1823, Everest replaced him as superintendent of the survey and was responsible for its completion. In recognition of this monumental achievement, he was appointed Surveyor General of India in 1830 and in 1865, the Royal Geographical Society named Mount Everest in his honour.

Images: Mount Everest and George Everest.