Recently Rated:
Stats
20th February
SWANSEA BLITZ
The Swansea Blitz was a heavy and sustained bombing of Swansea by the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany between the 19–21 February 1941. The Luftwaffe unleashed 1273 high explosive bombs and 56,000 incendiary devices, targeting the port, docks the oil refinery at Llandarcy, ironically the Three Night Blitz left the industrial area virtually unscathed but almost completely obliterated the town centre destroying 857 properties and damaging 11,000. 230 people were killed, 409 were injured.
bb
bb
mm
RICHARD TECWYN WILLIAMS
bb
nn
Born this day 1909, in Abertillery
Richard Tecwyn Williams, who has been described as the founding father of drug metabolism.
Williams was the first scientist to really study how drugs are metabolised in a living body and his book "Detoxication Mechanisms", described as "a marvel of organisation and enlightenment" helped in prescribing drugs to provide the maximum effect and minimum side effects. He was awarded honorary degrees from Paris, Germany and Nigeria. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and an honorary member of The Mark Twain Society USA.
nn
mm
m
nnkg
ST DAVIDS CATHEDRAL EARTHQUAKE IN 1247
On 20th February 1247 St David's Cathedral suffered earthquake damage.
A History of St David's Cathedral;
6th century - The monastic community was founded by Saint David ( Dewi Sant; c. 500 – c. 589)
Between 645 and 1097, the monastery suffered many attacks, including those by Vikings and several of the Bishops were murdered, including in 999, Bishop Moregenau and in 1080, Bishop Abraham.
c.885 - The cathedral was of such note as both a religious and intellectual centre that Asser, a Welsh monk from St David's was asked by King Alfred the Great to join his court and help rebuild the intellectual life of the Kingdom of Wessex. Asser later wrote a biography of Alfred in 893.
1081 - William the Conquerer visited St David.
1090 - Welsh scholar, Rhigyfarch wrote a Life of St David.
1123 - Pope Calixtus II bestowed a Papal privilege on St David's, making it the object of pilgrimages.
1131 - A new Cathedral was completed.
1171 - King Henry II's visit saw the following of David increase – and the need for a larger Cathedral.
1247 - Reported earthquake damage to the cathedral.
1540 - During The Dissolution of the Monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII, the body of Edmund Tudor, father of Henry VII, was brought to St David's from the dissolved Greyfriars’ Priory in Carmarthen, for reburial.
1649 - 1658 - During the Puritan Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell, the Cathedral was all but destroyed by Cromwell’s forces, and the lead stripped from the Bishop’s Palace roof.
1793 - The Welsh architect John Nash was commissioned to restore the West Front, to repair the damage done one hundred and fifty years previously.
1862-70 - Within a century the Nash West Front had become unstable, and the whole building was restored by George Gilbert Scott.
1995 - The British Government reinstated the title of "City" to St Davids.
THE GOVERNER FENNER SINKS IN 1841
lll
pp
On 20th February 1841, The Governor Fenner, carrying emigrants to America, sank off Holyhead with the loss of 123 lives. It has been described as one of the most appalling calamities that ever occurred off the shores of Britain.
bbb
BRITAIN'S FIRST POST BUS - LLANIDLOES TO LLANGURIG
mmm
Britain's first Post Bus service was introduced on 20th February 1967. It ran between Llanidloes and Llangurig, North Wales.
Post Buses covered 300 routes at their peak, where they provided a lifeline for isolated communities by combining mail delivery and collection with passenger transport. However recently the services have declined and there are now less than twenty Post Buses remaining.
kk
zzz
vvvll
BORN THIS DAY - MIKE ROBERTS
Born on this day 1946 in St Asaph
Mike Roberts, former Wales international rugby union player, who toured New Zealand with the British and Irish Lions in 1971.
