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Born in London on this day in 1527 to parents from Radnorshire, John Dee, astronomer and consultant to Queen Elizabeth 1st.

He was a mathematician, astronomer , astrologer, and geographer. Queen Elizabeth relied on him for guidance mainly relating to astrology. It seems John Dee was an enthusiastic proponent of psychic arts, including alchemy and divination. In Tudor times there was no real distinction  between magic and science; consequently despite believing in things that today’s scientists would scoff at, he graduated from college when he was seventeen, lectured at the University of Paris, and almost completed his doctorate. 

He wrote books on mathematical subjects, and volumes outlining  the improvements he had made to the science of navigation. He was in good standing with the royals until King Edward VI died and Mary Tudor took the throne. At this time, Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth was imprisoned under house arrest in order to prevent her from trying to become queen. Someone managed to ask for John Dee's help. He prepared a horoscope for Elizabeth that predicted the death of Queen Mary and claiming that Elizabeth would be queen of England.  Unfortunately, Mary had a spy in the house, who betrayed Dee. He landed in prison on the charges of treason and for writing of the Queen's death. They even accused him of trying to bring it about with magic. After a long legal process, Dee managed to repudiate the charges.  On November 17th 1588, Dee’s predictions came true. Mary died and Queen Elizabeth I took the throne. She made Dee a private consultant  and royal astrologer. He had many good years until Queen Elizabeth died in 1603. Dee retired to his home in Mortlake where he died old and impoverished. 

Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a retired Welsh footballer who played as a forward for Cardiff City and the Welsh national team.  In the 2012 - 13 season, he helped Cardiff City gain promotion to the Premiership and became an iconic figure to the supporters of the club.

He returned to Cardiff as an academy coach in December 2014.

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Ian David Hislop was born on 13 July 1960 in Mumbles, Swansea.   He is a well known British journalist and writer and edits the satirical magazine Private Eye. He is also a broadcaster, appearing on several radio and television programmes, notably as a team captain on the BBC quiz show Have I Got News for You .

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On 13th July 1798 during a visit to Wales, William Wordsworth wrote the poem "Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey on revisiting the banks of the Wye during a tour"

Although it was written in 1798, the poem is actually a recollection of the poet's visit to Wales in 1793. It also refers to a time when the abbey was not a ruin, and reflects on the present and the future. The voice in the poem confesses to having reminisced about the abbey on many occasions over a period of five years. Interestingly, the abbey itself is not specifically described.

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Queen Alexandra Dock, in what is now Cardiff Bay, was opened on 13th July 1907.   The Glamorganshire Canal was completed in 1794, providing a link between the docks in Cardiff and the industrial heartland of Merthyr. It helped to establish Cardiff as an export centre of iron and coal. A consequent need to provide adequate dock facilities led the 2nd Marquess of Bute to construct the West Bute Dock, which was operational by October 1839.  During the 1850s coal was to replace iron as the principal export from South Wales, with exports exceeding 2 million tons by 1862. The East Bute dock was opened in 1859 to meet the increasing worldwide demand for coal.

The Roath Dock was opened in 1887, and the Queen Alexandra in 1907, facilitating a rise in exports to 10,700,000 tons.  However, after WW1 the coal and steel industries in South Wales went into a gradual decline, which had a devastating effect on Cardiff docks.  In 1987 only 3 of the original docks remained in operation. The Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was set up in April 1987, challenged with planning the regeneration of the old docklands area of South Cardiff and Penarth. The Wharf was  opened in 1990, forming the initial part of the Atlantic Wharf development on the East Bute Dock. This was the first phase of the Cardiff Bay development and represented the beginning of a new era for the Docks area of Cardiff. 

The Investiture of Edward, Prince of Wales, took place at Caernarfon Castle on the 13th July 1911.  He went on to become King Edward VIII, but chose to abdicate in order to marry Mrs. Wallis Simpson. The Chancellor of the Exchequer in the early years of Edward's short reign was David Lloyd George, who was also the Constable of Caernarfon Castle who oversaw the investiture proceedings.

The Ammanford anthracite strike began on 13th July 1925, during which miners took control of the town by force and violence for 10 days. 200 Glamorgan police were ambushed by strikers at Pontamman Bridge (pictured) during the so-called 'Battle of Ammanford'. In total 198 miners were arrested, with 58 being jailed for periods of up to one year. 

This was the climax of four months of rioting and mass demonstrations of which Ammanford was the epicentre. During the course of a single day, riots broke out simultaneously in several locations; at the No 2 colliery in Ammanford where riot police charged with batons, at the square in Ammanford town itself, at the nearby Llandybie and Pantyffynnon collieries, at Wernos and also at Betws. As a result of the civil unrest, the Ammanford No 1 colliery was shut down.

Born on 12th July 1947 in Gwaun-cae-Gurwen, nr Pontardawe, Welsh rugby legend Sir Gareth Edwards.  

Described as the greatest player of all time, Gareth Edwards is a former Welsh rugby union footballer. The ultimate athlete, Edwards played scrum-half and is referenced as the scorer of the greatest ever try when he played for Barbarians against the All Blacks in 1973.  Edwards was the spearhead of the highly successful Welsh rugby team in the 60's and 70's. He is Wales' youngest ever captain, appearing in his first match as captain at the age of 20 in February 1968 against Scotland - a game which the Welsh side won 5 - 0. 

During an era of Welsh dominance, Edwards made 53 appearances for Wales, scoring 20 tries. Edwards also won 10 caps for the Lions and was part of the 1971 legendary team that won a series in New Zealand. He also played in the unbeaten 1974 side that toured South Africa.  A supreme athlete, he is acknowledged worldwide for his speed, passing and reading of the game. He was also known for his moments of brilliance and an ability to score truly magical tries. In a poll of international rugby players conducted in 2003 by Rugby World magazine, Edwards was voted the greatest player of all time, "I've never considered myself a sporting icon," he admits, " You get a lot of attention when you walk down the street or attend functions, but grandchildren soon bring you down to earth." Edwards was made a CBE for services to sport in the 2007 New Years Honours List and was awarded his Knighthood in June 2015.

Died on this day in 1982 aged 67, Kenneth More, actor, whose mother was from Cardiff.

Kenneth More depicted characters who were generally affable, sporting and decent; qualities which were considered particularly ' British ' in the 1950s when More was at the height of his fame. He was, during this time, Britain's most popular film actor, appearing in box office successes such as Genevieve (1953), Doctor in the House (1954), Reach for the Sky (1956) and A Night to Remember (1958).

Later in his career he enjoyed television success where his interpretations of Jolyon in BBC's "The Forsyte Saga" (1967) and the title role in "Father Brown" (1974) made him a well known figure to a new generation of viewers.

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The annual Barmouth Kite Festival provides quite a spectacle, with kite flyers from all over the UK and many from overseas converging on this picturesque seaside town .

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On 12th July 1891, world famous soprano Adelina Patti opened her private theatre at Craig-y-Nos Castle in the Swansea Valley.

Adelina Patti (19 February 1843 – 27 September 1919) was one of the most famous sopranos in history. The composer Giuseppe Verdi described her as being perhaps the finest singer who had ever lived.  Patti's career was one of continuous success , inspiring frenzied acclaim and critical adulation. Her youthful good looks gave her an attractive stage presence, which considerably enhanced her celebrity status.  At the peak of her career, Patti demanded to be paid, in gold, the equivalent of $5000 a night, before she even deigned to perform.

When she retired from the stage, Patti settled in the Swansea Valley, where she bought Craig- y-Nos Castle. She commissioned a private theatre to be built, emulating in miniature the theatre at Bayreuth. The theatre remains intact to this day, and the stage is in all probability the only surviving example of original 19th century 'backstage' equipment.

Patti also had a railway station built at Craig y Nos/Penwyllt on the Neath and Brecon Railway,  and additionally, in 1918, she presented the Winter Garden building from her Craig-y-Nos estate to the city of Swansea. This was rebuilt near the Guildhall and renamed the 'Patti Pavilion.' The Castle itself became a chest hospital in 1921, which remained in use until 1986 when it was sold and converted into a hotel.

On 12th July 1916 – Railway worker James Dally was awarded the Edward Medal by King George V for his actions in saving a colleague from falling 170ft from the Crumlin Viaduct.

On 28 October 1914, the Crumlin viaduct, near Newport, south Wales, was being painted by using a staging of planks timber supports when one of the supports broke, and the foreman, Mr Skevington, fell 52m (175 feet) to his death into the goods yard below. The second man, Thomas Bond, just managed to grip onto the main bridge structure in time, but was left dangling in mid air.  

Bridgeman James Dally, of Crumlin, was nearby, supervising the operation. He immediately crawled out from the gangway on to the diagonal bracings - which were a mere eight centimetres wide:

"I asked him to swing his legs in an upward direction, so as to get them around the stretcher, if possible. This he succeeded in doing. I then got hold of Bond's legs; & told him to move one hand at a time & by that means he was drawn nearer to the gangway & when he was near enough I got a better hold of him, & eventually landed him safely on the gangway."

In the event, Dally was awarded the Edward Medal, which he received from King George V on 12 July 1916. This medal had been created in 1907 to reward "heroic acts performed by miners and quarrymen" and in 1909, its award was extended to acts of courage in other industries.

The Crumlin Viaduct was 512m (1,680 feet) long and rose some 60m (200 feet) above the valley of the Ebbw. The viaduct was opened on 1 June 1857 and by 1863 was part of the Great Western Railway network; it was demolished in 1965-66.

On 12th July 1946 – The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act was passed by Parliament, which legislated for the nationalization of the entire British coal industry. The National Coal Board was established as a result, acting as the managing authority for all coal mining activities.

The NCB, as it became known, was one of several public corporations established during Labour's post-war government, led by Clement Attlee.  By 1950, the NCB employed  more than 700,000 people, but successive governments reduced the size of the industry by closing remotely situated or 'uneconomic' coal mines. Closures in the 1960s were initially confined to pits in Scotland, but gradually included mines in Lancashire, North East England and South Wales. Closures spread rapidly across all coalfields during the 1980s as a consequence of falling demand for British coal. This was, in part, the result of large subsidies offered by other European countries to their coal industries, but was also due to the availability of cheaper coal from Poland, The United States, Australia and Colombia. The NCB saw three major national strikes. In 1972 and 1974 the strikes were over pay disputes and both saw success for the National Union of Mineworkers. The miners strike of 1984 - 1985 culminated in a defeat which is still bitterly resented in many parts of Britain, including Wales, where the closure of pits caused huge suffering and demographic upheaval.

Many of our readers will be aware that AmeriCymru is collaborating with Celticos to develop the AmeriCymru Trail Tour. We are also working together with Celticos and north Wales community group Golygfa Gwydyr to spread the word about the new Welsh Hill Farming Experience which provides an opportunity to experience this unique and challenging way of life.

We strongly urge our readers and supporters to help us in circulating the text below to any tourism offices or agricultural organisations that they feel may be interested. Please feel free to reproduce or repost this letter.

Re: Establishment of an International Community Tourism Network

On behalf of Celticos and Golygfa Gwydyr may I introduce our North Wales, U.K. based partnership promoting opportunities for community based tourism activities within a Welsh rural context. We are in the process of establishing key links with similar enterprises in the mid-west USA; we are looking to extend our links further with mutual benefits for all concerned

(See The Welsh Hill Farming Experience at http://www.celticos.com/welsh-hill-farming-experience )

I originate from Western Nebraska, spent my teenage years in Omaha, and relocated to London in 1984 and then North Wales in 2003. Since moving to North Wales, I was struck by the similarities of lifestyle between North Wales and the Midwest USA. Being from a farming background myself, I felt at home immediately. Knowing both areas as I do, I could see the life style was similar, with a sense of connectedness to the land, a pride of place and cultural heritage. It is this connectedness that we believe will attract visitors from North Wales to the USA and the USA to North Wales.

We have already trialled the Welsh Hill Farming Experience with two ranching families from Western Nebraska in 2010. The attraction for tourists from rural communities in the USA was instant, so much so, that my first guests have become part of our exchange for tourists from the UK wanting to experience the same style of community tourism in their locality.

(See testimonials http://www.celticos.com/welsh-hill-farming-experience )

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We are now in discussions with a number of tourism businesses and tourism offices to promote farm based tourism experiences in Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota and Montana and our tours here in North Wales, UK and Europe. We are inviting you to join us to form a business network and marketing opportunity for mutual benefit.

About us

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Celticos Ltd is a company specialising in Guided Tours and Rural Tourism, based in the Snowdonia region of Wales, UK. Following a long and successful career in sales and marketing employed by high profile companies such as 3M, Alwyn the director has now returned to his roots in North Wales where hes been emulating the working philosophy of 3M by being both innovative and creative in meeting customer needs and expectations, applying these principles to Celticoss activities. Celticos have established excellent links with AmeriCymru , an online Welsh community based social network based in North America.

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Golygfa Gwydyr is a community group established in North Wales, UK in 2004.We are a social enterprise and all profits are invested back into community projects. Our aim is to increase social, environmental and economic well-being through sustainable community based projects.If you are interested in more information about our project, or to discuss any potential benefits for your organisation please do not hesitate to contact.

Email: lizn@golygfagwydyr.org

Yours sincerely

Elizabeth Davies

The Wales Coast Path is in the running to become the 8th Wonder of the World. In a competition sponsored by VirtualTourist.com and TripAdvisor voting is now open for the selection of places nominated.

Please place your vote for the Wales Coast Path on

8th Wonder of the World | Contest Vote Page - VirtualTourist.com and share with as many contacts as you can.

Voting goes on until the end of September and you can vote once a day from the same computer.

Diolch.

Bob Titley

Dafydd ap Gruffydd, brother of Llywelyn, was born on 11th July 1238. He was the son of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn and grandson to Llywelyn Fawr, Llywelyn the Great. 

 As a very young child, in 1241, he was sent to the court of Henry III for a period of ten years. This was partly to receive an education befitting his noble rank, but also partly as a hostage in order to reinforce a peace treaty.  At the age of 14, he was invested with the title Lord of Cymydmaen, and as a consequence became a liegeman of the king and was expected to pay due homage to Henry.  In 1255, he became involved in the  struggle for the control of Wales. He fought against his brother, Llywelyn, during the battle of Bryn Derwin, but was defeated. In 1263, he once again fought for King Henry against his brother, but after an agreement was reached, Llywelyn was reluctantly acknowledged by Henry as Prince of Wales. However, in 1274 Dafydd once again supported King Edward I in a conflict with Llywelyn. 

In 1282, Dafydd precipitated a significant confrontation by attacking Hawarden Castle, provoking Edward l to gather an enormous attacking force, an army far greater than was actually needed. Llywelyn was hunted down and killed, and Edward pursued Dafydd, who on his brother's death had assumed the title Prince of Wales.  His reign as Prince was destined to be very brief. Edward surrounded  Dafydd’s stronghold in Snowdonia and gradually closed in. In May 1283, Dafydd retreated to his royal home at Garth Celyn, where he was encircled by 3,000 of Edward’s men.  In June of that year, Dafydd was eventually taken captive while ignominiously seeking refuge in a bog. He was wounded, but survived and was sent to Shrewsbury to face trial. On 30th September 1283, Dafydd was condemned to death, the first person to be tried for ‘high treason’. 

On 3rd October 1283, Dafydd was dragged through Shrewsbury to the scaffold and hanged until just before the point of death, then disembowelled, with his intestines being burnt before his eyes, becoming the first prominent person in recorded history to have been hanged, drawn and quartered.  His body was then cut into four pieces and fed to the dogs. His head was removed from his body and sent to the Tower of London, where it was put on display alongside that of his brother Llywelyn.  

 

Born on this day in 1769 was John Quincy Adams, who became the 6th President of the United States of America. His family can be traced to Pembroke, and also to Llanboidy in the heart of Carmarthenshire. 

He was the son of John Adams who was the 2nd US President. He planned to improve the efficiency of the American economy and was committed to education. Adams was economically successful and succeeded in reducing a large proportion of the national debt. He was, however, thwarted by a Congress dominated by his political opponents, and his refusal to use networking gave the advantage to those politicians who sought to undermine him. He lost his bid for re-election in 1828 to Andrew Jackson, making him the first president since his father to serve only a single term in office. Impelled by his increasing abhorrence of slavery, Adams became one of the principal opponents of the Slave Power. He confidently predicted that should there be a civil war, the residing president would be able to abolish slavery by using his 'war powers'. Adams also predicted the dissolution of the Union over the slavery issue.  

Ernest Thompson Willows (1896-1926) was a pioneer aviator and aircraft designer who was born on 11th July in Cardiff.  He was the first person in the United Kingdom to hold a pilot's certificate for an airship.

Willows started designing his own aircraft at the age of nineteen and made his first flight in 1905.  His first airship, the Willows No.1, was built in 1905 when he was aged only 19. Its maiden flight lasted for 85 minutes over East Moors, Cardiff on 5 August 1905 and in 1910 he flew his airship from Cheltenham to Cardiff.  He devised a technique of powering hot air balloons using moveable propellers, which meant that, for the first time, balloons could be steered. His first venture was soon followed by an improved version, Willows No. 2, which he landed outside Cardiff City Hall on 4 June 1910.  This was remodelled as No. 3, which he named the 'City of Cardiff' before flying from London to Paris in 1910. 

Willows moved to Birmingham where he constructed his next airship, the Willows No. 4. Piloted for the first time in 1912, Willows sold the craft to the Admiralty for £1,050, when it became 'His Majesty's Naval Airship No. 2'. With the profit from the Navy, Willows established a gas balloon school at Welsh Harp in Hendon near London. This venture, however, this did not deter him from building Willows No. 5 in 1913, a four-seater craft built to take pleasure flights over London.  During the first world war, Willows built kite or barrage balloons to protect the City of Cardiff. After the war he resumed his career but sadly, on the 23 August 1926, he was killed in a balloon accident at Hoo Park, near Bedford, a tragedy which also claimed the lives of  two passengers.

His achievements are commemorated in his native Cardiff, where a street, a public house in City Road and 'Willows' High School are named in his honour.  

On 11th July 1811 Sir William Robert Grove, who is commonly known as the 'father of the fuel cell,' was born in Swansea. His work is influential in the modern application of fuel conservation.

Grove constructed the first fuel cell producing energy using a combination of hydrogen and oxygen in 1842. He called this the 'gas voltaic battery' which is described using his 'correlation' theory. He was, essentially the first person to show the thermal dissociation of molecules into constituent atoms. He was closely associated with other contemporary scientists such as Gassiot and Faraday, and with Edward William Bailey, who was his scientific editor. His discoveries contributed significantly to the development the process of ionisation.  

On July 11th 1718, Howell Davis, a sailor from Milford Haven, was serving as mate on a ship named the Cadogan which was captured by pirate Edward England. Davis decided to become a pirate captain himself. 

He was given command of the Cadogan and set sail for Brazil. Unfortunately for him, the crew mutinied en route and diverted the ship to Barbados, where Davis was imprisoned for piracy. On his release, he joined a pirate band based in New Providence in the Bahamas, but the Governor, Woodes Rogers, cleared them out. Davis fled on a sloop called The Buck, and along with six others, commandeered the vessel and set up his own den at Coxon's Hole.

Later, crossing the Atlantic, he harried shipping in the seas around his new base in the Cape Verde Islands. One of his prizes while there was the Saint James, a fine ship with 26 guns. He joined forces with Olivier Levasseur, a French pirate known as La Buse, and with Thomas Cocklyn, another pirate captain. This was a short-lived partnership which ended in a drunken brawl.

He took yet another ship, The Rover, which had 32 guns, sailed south to the Gold Coast where he captured several more rich vessels. One of his prisoners was Bartholomew Roberts, who was to become an even more famous pirate than his captor. Bartholomew, a fellow Welshman, became Black Bart or Barti Ddu.
Davis finally overreached himself when he tried to pass himself off as a Royal Navy Pirate Hunter in order to kidnap the governor of Principe, a Portuguese island. The governor was not fooled, however, and ambushed Davis who was shot dead.  His successor, Barti Ddu, retaliated later that same night by raiding and pillaging the island.  

On 11th July 1905, an underground explosion at the Wattstown National Colliery in the Rhondda Valley killed 120 men, with just one survivor. Three people were rescued from the mine, of whom two would later die of their injuries. Only Matthew Davies lived.

The subsequent investigation into the cause of the disaster concluded that the illegal use of blast material had caused the explosion. A message of condolence was sent by King Edward VII and many thousands of mourners joined the four-mile long funeral procession.  

The Welsh language pressure group Cymuned was launched on 11th July 2001, at a meeting in Mynytho on the Llyn Peninsula. 

The group was set up to campaign against the threat to communities in Wales caused by ongoing demographic changes. Issues such as housing and social justice feature strongly on its agendas, and the organisation considers itself to be anti-racist and anti-colonisation.

One of Cymuned's recent campaigns, for a reasonable proportion of new housing builds to be reserved for local inhabitants, has been adopted in the Lake District, the Peak District, Devon, The Yorkshire Dales National  Park and parts of Shropshire.
 
Cymuned have organised demonstrations outside the offices of English estate agents that sell second homes in Wales. In addition, they have tackled the train company Arriva Trains Wales for its lack of use of the Welsh language, and the holiday company Thomas Cook which banned the use of Welsh in its Bangor branch in 2007.

AmeriCymru is looking for blogs to feature on the new AC Magazine page. If you are a Welsh or Welsh American blogger please contact us at americymru@gmail.com . Places are ( more or less ) unlimited and all you need to do is send us your url. Be the first:-

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The Offa's Dyke Path was opened on 10th July 1971.

The path links Sedbury Cliffs near Chepstow on the banks of the Severn estuary with the coastal town of Prestatyn on the shores of the Irish sea. Its name is derived from the extensive 8th century Dyke which King Offa had ordered to be constructed in order to separate his Kingdom of Mercia from the rival kingdoms beyond the dyke in what is now Wales.  

In its 177miles / 285 kilometres, it passes through eight counties and crosses over 20 times the current border between England and Wales. The popular Offa's Dyke Walking Trail passes through this border region, known as The Marches, and includes the spectacular section of the Brecon Beacons National Park known as Hatterall Ridge. In addition, it links  three designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty – the Clwydian Hills, the Shropshire Hills and the Wye Valley. 

On this day in 1940, the German Airforce launched the Battle of Britain by mounting a series of attacks on shipping convoys off the south-east coast of England.   Among those who Winston Churchill, the wartime Prime Minister would call 'the few', who saved 'the many', were several Welsh pilots.  These included Fred Rosier from Wrexham, Denis Crowley-Millington from St Asaph and Frederick 'Taffy' Higginson, a Welsh-speaker from Gorseinon near Swansea.

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Died this day 1997.

Ivor John Allchurch MBE (16 October 1929 – 10 July 1997) who was a Welsh international footballer. 

'The Golden Boy,' as he was often titled, played initially for Swansea Town, then Newcastle United and eventually Cardiff City, for whom he played 691 games during which he scored 249 goals. His total of 68 caps for Wales was not surpassed until 1986 by the renowned Joey Jones.  Allchurch, in addition, held the record for the largest number of goals scored for Wales, 23, which was broken by Ian Rush. He achieved widespread acclaim following his participation in the 1958 World Cup when Wales reached the quarter-finals.

According to Sir Matt Busby, "Ivor never needed a number on his back for identification. His polish, his class could not be missed. He vies with the greatest of all time, yet he has a modesty that becomes him"

Donald Peers, born in Ammanford  (10 July 1908 – 9 August 1973) was a popular Welsh singer.  The song for which he is best remembered is "In a Shady Nook by a Babbling Brook," which became his signature tune.

He made a name for himself initially in variety shows, becoming especially popular in the provinces. In 1948, after exposure on BBC Radio, he became a star in London's West End. In 1949, the entertainment entrepreneur  Henry Hall booked Peers, along with Billy Russell and Norman Wisdom for a new show called 'Buttons & Bows' and also in that year he was invited to perform his one-man show at the London Palladium and at The Royal Albert Hall. In 1950, Peers appeared in the Royal Variety Performance. 

He had a popular radio programme entitled 'Cavalier of Song', and had a further hit with the song "On a Slow Boat to China". Later in his career, in the early 1960s, he presented a music programme on television, 'Donald Peers Presents', and among the artists he introduced were Sir Tom Jones and the scientist and writer Brian J. Ford  playing boogie piano.

The Liberty Stadium in the Landore area of Swansea was opened on 10th July 2005.

The stadium is all-seated and has a capacity of 20,750, making it the third largest stadium in Wales. It is the home stadium of Premier League soccer club Swansea City and the rugby region Ospreys.

On 10th July 1929, nine miners were killed in a mining accident at Milfraen, Blaenavon.

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On this day in 1853, an unusual weather event hit the area around Builth Wells in Powys.  

The first week of July 1853 saw a period of unusually hot summer sunshine. The weather became increasingly humid and inevitably a thunderstorm threatened. On the evening of Friday the 9th, the storm eventually broke with terrific force in the area of Builth Wells. Torrential rain fell throughout the night, which was followed by hailstones to a depth of up to 5 inches. The streams and rivers failed to cope with the ensuing surge of water and it is estimated that 20 bridges were either damaged or swept away. It is known that at least  8 people died.

An extract from Kilvert's Diary records "The great rainstorm and waterspout which fell on the Epynt hills in the summer of 1854 in July, and swept away the Lawrence's house on the Dihonn Brook near Builth".

Stuart Williams, who was born on 9th July 1930, was a Welsh Football International player.

Williams initially played for his home club, Wrexham, though later he moved to West Bromwich Albion and to Southampton.   He played at international level for Wales in 43 matches, which included Wales's group stage matches in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.  Wales played against Brazil in the Quarter-finals, eventually losing 1–0 to a goal by Pelé.

In the autobiography "My Life and the Beautiful Game", which was written in 1977, Pelé recollects this match, "I remember only too well some of the Welsh players I have faced; it will be hard ever to forget . . . the World Cup of 1958 in Sweden, and the excellent play of men like Hopkins and Bowen, Stuart Williams and Sullivan, or the truly inspired goalkeeping of Jack Kelsey."

Powis Castle, Welshpool is where Sir Gruffydd Vychan was beheaded on this day 1447.

Sir Grufydd Vychan c.1395 – 1447;

1404   Gruffydd’s father was appointed Seneschal of Caus Castle with the brief of defending it against the rebellion of Owain Glyndwr, howver, in 1404 Gruffydd, his father and brother, switched their allegiance to Glyndwr, thereby forfeiting their lands and position.

1415     It is believed by many that Gruffydd was in the band of Welshmen, who are said to have saved the life of Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt and were knighted on the field.

1417   His family honours were re-affirmed as a result of his role in the capture of Lord Cobham, who had been imprisoned in the Tower of London for heresy but had subsequently escaped.

1443     At a joist at Caus Castle, Sir Gruffydd killed, by piercing the heart of Sir Christopher Talbot, the champion tilter of England.  Talbot'ss father John, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, fearing Sir Gruffydd would become a “second Glyndwr”, outlawed him and offered 500 marks reward for his capture.

1447   Sir Gruffydd was summoned to Powis castle in Welshpool and under the impression he was being offered safe conduct, he attended.  But on entering the courtyard, he was beheaded on the spot.

Taliesin Williams, whose bardic name was Taliesin ab Iolo, was born in Cardiff on 9 July 1787 and died on 16 February 1847.  He was a Welsh poet and author and the only son of notable literary forger Iolo Morganwg, who was famous for inventing the druidic 'gorsedd' rites and ceremonies associated with the Eisteddfod.

Taliesin was a school teacher and poet. Educated primarily in Cowbridge, he soon joined his father in his trade as a stone mason. For a short time, he ran a school at Gileston and worked briefly as a teacher in Neath before establishing his own school in 1816 in Merthyr Tudful.  Iolo intended that his son would succeed him as a bardic leader, and from 1815 onwards, Taliesin began to take a more prominent role in gorsedd ceremonies. He had already been initiated in absentia in a Gorsedd meeting in London in 1792 (he was only five years old at the time!), but in 1814, in one of the bardic meetings in Pontypridd, Taliesin was inaugurated as a Druid. 

As his father's only son, he collaborated in preparing Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain (1829) for publication. Naively, Taliesin had been ignorant of the fact that that bardism and its ceremonial trappings were the product of his father's fantastical imagination. He worked diligently editing his father's writings on bardic tradition. Taliesin was himself an ardent competitor in the eisteddfod and he frequently asked Iolo for advice with his poems. His poem 'Y Derwyddon' (The Druids) won at the Cardiff Eisteddfod in 1834 and his essay on the Bardic Alphabet was successful at the eisteddfod at Abergavenny (1838).

Mettoy introduced Corgi Toys model cars on 9th July 1956.  The manufacturing base was at Fforestfach in South Wales.

Mettoy's first factory was in Northampton which within six years had 600 employees. Such was the success of the company that by 1956 a new production plant was constructed at Fforestfach in Swansea in order to meet the manufacturing demand for the new range of Corgi Toys. 

The name 'Corgi Toys' was named after the iconic Welsh Corgi dogs by designer Philip Ullmann to recognise the company's new home. The name, which is short and memorable, together with the appealing 'Corgi dog' emblem, was intended to rival that of a similar company, Dinky Toys. Corgi Toys were the only ones at this time to feature plastic glazing, which gave the models more authenticity and aesthetic appeal, and which gave rise to the advertising slogan "the ones with windows".

On 9th July 2011, The Welsh National Museum of Art opened, featuring a wide range of the nation's world-class art collected under one roof at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff. 

The pieces exhibited range from Tudor times to modern Wales, renowned European Old Master paintings from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries alongside well-known paintings of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. The items displayed are drawn primarily from the world-class collection of French art bequeathed by Gwendoline and Margaret Davies, and include silver and ceramics from Wales and across the world, together with an inspiring collection of contemporary works.

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On 9th July 1929, the Royal Navy submarine H47 sank off the Pembrokeshire coast, killing 21 crewmen.