The Snowdon Mountain Railway opened this day in 1896.

*      The railway runs from Llanberis to the summit of Snowdon.

*      A railway to the summit  was first proposed in 1869 when Llanberis was linked to Caernarfon by the London & North Western Railway. 

*      The total cost of the railway was £63,800 (£5,474,000 as of 2013)

*      On the official opening one of the locomotives ran out of control and fell down the mountain. A passenger died from loss of blood after jumping from the carriage.

*      After the Second World War, the shortage of coal led to the railway attempting to burn old army boots as fuel.

*      A new visitor centre, 'Hafod Eryri'' was officially opened by First Minister Rhodri Morgan on 12 June 2009.

*      The journey takes an hour to reach the summit and an hour to descend again, with an average speed of five miles an hour.

*      Swiss engineers were employed as advisors in the planning, as they were the only ones who had significant experience in building this type of railway.

 

Today is National Tartan day

The kilt, which is widely held to have Norse origins, was originally a long garment which could be used also as a cloak or used to cover the head. In the 16th century, it became the usual dress of males in the Scottish Highlands and has since become associated with the wider culture of Scotland.  There is no evidence that the Welsh used tartan but kilts have recently become popular in Wales, demonstrating a desire to appear connected to the Celtic world.  The red, white and green Welsh National tartan was designed by D.M. Richards in 1967.  

The first and largest Hindu temple in Wales, the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Grangetown, Cardiff  was first opened on 6th April 1982.  

*          The 25th anniversary of the temple's founding was celebrated inSeptember 2007 with a parade of over 3000 people, including Hindus from across the United Kingdom and members of Cardiff's other religious communities.

*          The 2011 Census showed that there were more than 10,000 Hindus in Wales.

*         Most Welsh Hindus are of Indian origin, especially from the Punjab region.

*         Skanda Vale is a Hindu monastic centre, based in Llanpumsaint, Carmarthenshire and attracts around 70,000 devotees annually.

Born this day 1981, in Mufulira, Zambia, grew up in Bedwas,

Robert Earnshaw  is a Wales soccer international who has made in excess of 200 appearances at Cardiff City, scoring over 100 goals for the club. He is renowned for having scored a hat-trick in all three divisions of the Football League, the Premier League and for his country. He is well known for his acrobatic frontflip goal celebration.

Marcher Lord William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1190 – 6 April 1231) - enemy of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth. 

William was born in Normandy, son of William the Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke.  During the First Barons War of 1215, William sided with the rebel faction supporting King Louis VIII of France, while his father was fighting for the English King John and was one of the Magna Carta sureties. In 1216, the younger William was warned by his father to flee, and in March 1217, he was pardoned.

In April 1222, whilst away in Ireland, Llywelyn ap Iorwerth attacked and took Marshal’s castle at Carmarthen.  Marshal returned to recapture it and built a new stone castle at Cilgerran, also reestablishing his hold on Cidweli during this time.  For the next two years, there was sporadic warfare between Llywelyn, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, and Marshal until Llywelyn was forced to accept terms by the king.  In 1226, Marshal was ordered to surrender the castles of Cardigan and Carmarthen which he had captured from Llywelyn to the crown.

William died on 6 April 1231, but as he had no male heir, his titles were inherited by his younger brother Richard Marshal, who became 3rd Earl of Pembroke.  All of William's brothers inherited the title successively but none had children which resulted in the male line ending with the death of Anselem Marshall in 1245.

William Penn's personal lawyer and Pennsylvania's great law maker,

David Lloyd (1656 – April 6, 1731), was born in the parish of Marrayon, Montgomeryshire. After receiving a legal education, he was sent by Penn to Pennsylvania where he served as Attorney General from 1686 until 1710. He was a member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly for 23 years between 1693 and 1728, serving as Speaker for thirteen of those years. In 1703, he accepted the office of deputy judge and advocate to the admiralty, and in 1717, he became Chief Justice of the province, an office he held until his death in 1731.

Edward Morgan was tried and hanged at Monmouth Jail on 6th April 1835; he was a member of the Tarw Scotch or the Welsh Cattle movement.

The movement was formed in the 1820s by discontented coal miners of the Monmouthshire valleys.  Their aims were to improve pay and working conditions of local workers, with direct action being taken against  any person or group who opposed their cause. They were a secret society, with members swearing allegiance under pain of death. Each town and village had its own group, with the leader usually being a person respected and feared for his aggressiveness and physical strength, known as the 'Bull' or in Welsh 'Tarw'.  Their meetings were always clandestine, being held at night in secret locations.

Victims were usually workers who refused to join strike action or workers who were prepared to work for less money. A warning would be issued, with failure to comply resulting in offenders being 'scotched' which involved a visit by the Cattle from another area to avoid recognition by local residents, with their faces blackened and dressed in animal skins, the 'Tarw' wearing a headdress bearing a bull's horns.  The punishment dealt out was physical attack and the ransacking of property; however, the Cattle's code dictated that any foodstuffs found in the household would always be left intact. Despite attempts by the authorities to penetrate the movement, their activities continued for many years mainly due to the secrecy of their organisation and the reluctance of the general population to speak against their actions. The movement declined after the hanging of Edward Morgan in 1835.