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26th February
The first Welsh Morman emigration was on the "Buena Vista" which left from Liverpool and was organised by Captain Dan Jones, originally from Halkyn, Flintshire, who had emigrated to the United States in 1840 and found work as a ship's captain on the Mississippi River.
After first arriving in America, Jones came into contact with the Mormons and was soon converted, becoming a leader within the community. Notably, he was with the Morman's founder Joseph Smith just before he died, when he was told by Smith that he would return to Wales to fulfill an appointed mission.
Subsequently, Jones was asked by the New Mormon leader, Brigham Young to return to his native country as a missionary of the church. At this time, there were only approximately 200 Mormon's in Wales, but under Jones's leadership, 3,600 new converts were baptized between 1845 and 1848 and then in 1849 he organised the first emmigration. He came back again to Wales in 1852 and converted a further 2000, most of whom also emigrated to Utah with Jones.
Mormons are a religious and cultural group, commonly called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints, who trace their origins to the visions of Joseph Smith in New York in 1823. Smith said an angel directed him to a buried book written on golden plates referring to the religion of an ancient people. Smith published a translation of these plates in 1830 as the Book of Mormon, named after Mormon, the ancient prophet-historian who had compiled the book.
Smith and the original Mormon converts, tried to establish what they call Zion ( or the New Jerusalem ) , a utopian society of the righteous and made several unsuccessful attempts to settle as a community, resulting in Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum being killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois.
This resulted in their new leader, Brigham Young, leading the Mormon pioneers to what became the Utah Territory in 1847, where they began to construct a society in isolation in a large desert region now known as the Mormon Corridor. From 1849–52, the Mormons greatly expanded their missionary efforts into Europe, which resulted in over seventy thousand new converts emigrating from all over the world to America.
Born this day 1977 in Morriston, raised in Glanaman
Shane Williams - Welsh and Lions rugby international
Williams is the record try scorer for Wales and was IRB International Player of the Year in 2008, renowned for his side step and acceleration.
On this day 1942, the film How Green Was My Valley, directed by John Ford and based on a novel by Richard Llewelyn, won 5 Oscars including Best Picture. The film follows the lives of a hard working Welsh coal mining family at the turn of the twentieth century.
Born this day 1916, in Swansea.
Lady Joan Curran , a scientist who along her husband, Sir Samuel Curran, played an important role in the defence of the allied forces in World War II.
Joan devised a technique, later to be known as "Window" or"Chaff"' by cutting up strips of tinfoil which would be scattered in the path of enemy planes, thus disrupting their radar. Perhaps Window's most spectacular success was when it was dropped with great precision by Lancasters to synthesise a phantom invasion force of ships which kept the Germans unsure of whether the brunt of the Allied assault would fall on Normandy or in the Pas de Calais.
On Monday, 26th February 1990, the sea wall at Towyn was breached due to a combination of high tides and extreme weather, resulting in flood damage to 2,800 homes, and the evacuation of over 2,000 people.
The Welsh Guards came into existence on 26th February 1915.
Rhys Maengwyn Jones - Welsh-Australian archeologist
After graduating from Cambridge, in 1963 Jones initially took up a teaching position at the University of Sydney, where he also completed his Ph.D. on Tasmanian Aboriginal archaeology, before moving to the Australian National University in Canberra.
Jones is recognised as being was a key figure in dating the migration of Indigenous Australians from Africa to Asia around 70,000 years ago and then their arrival in Australia around 50,000 years ago. In his memory, the Australian Archaeological Association awards the prestigious Rhys Jones Medal annually.
