On 31st March 1406, Owain Glyndwr composed the famous Pennal Letter to the French King, Charles VI, setting out his plans for an independent Wales.  Pennal is a village on the north bank of the River Dyfi, near Machynlleth.

In the letter,  Glyndwr asked for French help in his rebellion against English rule and called for recognition of Wales as an independent nation.  He also stated his aims for establishing an independent Welsh church and university.

Glyndwr had been a loyal soldier for Henry IV of England and when in 1399 Henry did not support him in a dispute with Reginald de Grey, Lord of Ruthin, over land which de Grey had stolen from him, he rose up in rebellion on 16th September 1400, he rose up in rebellion, raised his standard outside Ruthin and was proclaimed Prince of Wales.  

Thousands of Welsh people, angered by unjust English rule rose up with him, including Welsh students at Oxford and Welsh workers in England.  Ruthin was attacked and the castles at Harlech and Aberystwyth were taken.

Henry retaliated by burning and looting across North Wales, forcing Glyndwr into the hills.  Then in 1401, Glyndwr's supporters took Conwy Castle and he took the fight into Mid and South Wales, securing a significant victory at Pilleth near Knighton in June 1402, where he also captured the English leader Edmund Mortimer, who then became Glyndwr's ally.

By the end of 1403, Glyndwr was in control of most of Wales and in 1404 he called a parliament at Machynlleth in which he drew up treaties with France and Spain.  The following year, Glyndwr made plans with Mortimer and Thomas Percy, earl of Northumberland and to partition the Kingdom of England and Wales with Mortimer  taking South and West England, Percy taking the Midlands and North England and Glyndwr taking Wales and the Marches. Then in 1406  Glyndwr sent his famous letter to France.

The rebellion was now all out war, with the English launching attack after attack, which the Welsh defended by using hit and run guerilla tactics.  However by 1415, the revolt was exhausted and Glyndwr forced into hiding.  Glyndwr was offered and refused a royal pardon but was never betrayed and died uncaptured.

Born this day, 1944 in Caerwys, Flintshire

Myfanwy Talog , actress and long term partner of Sir David Jason.

Talog worked as a teacher before taking up an acting career, in which she appeared in the series Ryan and Ronnie and The Magnificent Evans with Ronnie Barker, she also did voices for Super Ted and the BFG episodes and sang the theme tune to Danger Mouse, which was narrated by David Jason.  She died of breast cancer in 1995.  

On 31st March 1920, the majority of the Welsh section of the Church of England became known as the Church in Wales.

The Church of England had been separated and disestablished in Wales and Monmouthshire by an act of parliament in 1914, which led to the creation of the Church in Wales. However, it's implementation was delayed until after the First World War and commenced on 31st March 1920.  There were, however, a small number of churches within Wales, but close to the Wales - England border, that remained within the Church of England.  

March 1944 saw the final air raid in Wales by the Luftwaffe.  

The industrialised cities of Cardiff and Swansea bore the brunt of the attacks in Wales, with 355 people losing their lives in Cardiff and 227 in Swansea during an intense three-night raid in February 1941.  However, there were also attacks in Caernarfonshire, which was on the flight path to Liverpool and Cwmparc in the Rhondda, where in April 1941 27 people were killed during a bombing raid.