On 19th February 1881, Wales played their first ever rugby international, against England at Blackheath’s, Richardson ’s Field.

The game is noted for it's chaotic organisation and it didn't help that the RFU insisted that the match was played on the same day that Swansea were playing Llanelli in a semi-final cup-tie thus depriving Wales of several players. The players had never played together before and one player, Major Richard Summers from Haverfordwest was selected on the performances for his school.

As no formal invitations to play were sent out, two of those expected to play didn't turn up and two bystanders, with tenuous Welsh links were roped in to play, so the final team that took to the pitch consisted of 8 Welshmen, 4 Englishmen, 2 Irishmen and an Australian.

Major Summers described the playing kit as being light walking boots, high-necked jerseys and buttoned blue knickers.  The changing rooms were in a pub and the teams had to walk half a mile to game, before which, rumour has it that the Welsh team had been drinking heavily.

Needless to say, the Welsh team lost heavily, 82-0 under modern scoring values.  It could have been worse as England had a try disallowed when England captain Lennard Stokes put Hunt in for a score by throwing a colossal pass, the umpires deciding that a long pass was not fair play.

The Welsh connection to Kellogg's Corn Flakes;

Kellogg's was founded as the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company on February 19th 1906, by Will Keith Kellogg.

On one of her overseas trips in 1922, Nansi Richards, the internationally acclaimed Welsh harpist, visited the home of Will Kellogg, who was looking for a marketing idea for his cornflakes. It is said that Nansi suggested a pun on the name Kellogg and the Welsh word "ceiliog", meaning "cockerel". Will Kellogg liked the idea and Cornelius Rooster was born and has appeared on packs of Kellogg's Corn Flakes ever since.

Born this day 1942, in Cardiff

Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman of the Board and former CEO of Sony Corporation.

After graduating from Oxford University, he moved to the United States, where after six weeks he was draughted into the United States Army and served in the Vietnam War.  Afterwards he joined CBS and rose from a job answering backstage phones for The Ed Sullivan Show to become president, during which time he won nine Emmys.  In 1997, he joined Sony and in 2005, was appointed as chairman and CEO.

Born this day 1906, in Barry

Grace Williams, who is regarded as one of Wales' most important composers.

Williams was a pupil at the Royal College of Music and at Wellesz in Vienna.  She wrote mostly orchestral and choral music and early in her career was influenced by Vaughan Williams and Elgar. She is best known for her orchestral  Fantasy on Welsh Nursery Tunes  (1940) and  Sea Sketches  (1944) and became the first British woman to score a feature film, with Blue Scar.  In 1966, she turned down an offer of the OBE for her services to music.

On 19th February 1766, Thomas Kymer was granted an Act of Parliament allowing him to construct the Kidwelly and Llanelli Canal. 

The Kidwelly and Llanelli Canal with an adjoining tramroad was, built to carry anthracite coal from Little Gwendraeth River, near Kidwely to the coast for onward transportation.  It originally linked pits at Pwll y Llygod, near Trimsaran, to a dock near Kidwelly, but as the entrance to the dock was subject to silting, an extension of the canal to Llanelli was authorised in 1812.   

On 19th February 2011, the first public passenger train operated between Caernarfon and Porthmadog Harbour over the restored Welsh Highland Railway.

The Welsh Highland Railway or Rheilffordd Eryri is a 25-mile long restored narrow gauge heritage railway which passes through  Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass.

The original Welsh Highland Railway was formed in 1922 as a replacement for the horse pulled Croesor Tramway which had run from Porthmadog since 1863 up into the Croesor Valley and the slate quarries in the area.  It closed in 1933 as its carriages were outdated and uncomfortable and the service had a reputation for being unreliable. 

On 19th February 2013, the sky above the Brecon Beacons National Park became the first area in Wales and only the fifth in the World to be granted the status of international dark sky reserve by the International Dark-Sky Association.