Born on this day 1956 in Merthyr

Johnny Owen, the fourth of a family of eight children to working class parents Dick and Edith Owens.  He began to box at the age of eight and progressed to winning several Welsh titles. As a professional, he held the Bantamweight Championship titles of Europe, Great Britain and the Commonwealth.  Owen was a quiet, reserved, friendly character outside the ring, but inside it, he was a formidable opponent with determination and strength in contrast to his frail looking body, which earned him many epithets, including ‘the Bionic Bantam’ and ‘the Merthyr Matchstick’. He possessed an impressive stamina built by long hours running up the steep hills of the South Wales Valleys.

On 4th November 1980, boxer Johnny Owen, died, following a knock out by Mexican boxer Lupe Pintor, during a challenge for the World Bantamweight title at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles on 19 September 1980. Owen fell into a coma and never regained consciousness.  Owen’s family, far from blaming the World Champion, telegraphed him shortly after their loss and encouraged him to go on fighting. Twenty years later, a memorial to Johnny Owen was unveiled in Merthyr Tydfil and at the request of the late fighter's father, the unveiling was performed by Lupe Pintor.  

Today is the feast day of Saint Cwyllog

Born c.510, she was the daughter of King Caunus of Alt Clut in Yr Hen Ogledd and sister of St Gildas.  She fled with another brother, St Caffo to Anglesey where they were given land by King Maelgwyn Gwynedd, where she founded St Cwyllog's Church in Llangwyllog, Anglesey(pictured).  She is said to have been the wife of Mordred, the notorious traitor who fought and was killed by King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, after which she decided to follow a religious life.  

Edward "Celtic" Davies (7 June 1756 – 7 January 1831) was born in in Llanfaredd, Radnorshire.

Davies was a writer and clergyman who wrote on the origins of Celtic languages and mythology. He was a contemporary of Iolo Morganwg and their work became part of the 19th-century reinvention of the druidic tradition. However although popular in his time, he is now regarded as being wildly inaccurate, but unlike Iolo, this was not deliberate and in fact at the time, he was one of the very few who was suspicious of Iolo's work.

Born on this day 1873 in Maesteg

Christopher Williams - artist whose known best for picture entitled, "The Welsh at Mametz Wood", which he painted at the request of Lloyd George and depicts the charge of the Welsh Division at Mametz Wood, 11 July 1916 as part of the Somme offensive. 

His portrait of Sir Alfred Lyall exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1910 brought him an invitation to join the Royal Society of British Artists after which he received a commission from King George V to paint the Investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle in 1911. 

After the war, he painted many landscapes in Wales as well as, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, Morocco and Holland and was a frequent adjudicator at the National Eisteddfod.