Held on this day in 1929 at Corwen in North Wales, the first Urdd National Eisteddfod.

It is one of the biggest youth festivals in Europe and is hosted by a different area of Wales each year, with over 15,000 young people competing during the week in a variety of events including dancing, singing and drama. The competitors are the winners of local and regional rounds contested earlier in the spring. The pavilion, seating 1,800 people is the focal point of the event, but the eisteddfod field, the ' maes', has stalls, live music and sporting events, making it one of the most popular events in Wales, attracting 100,000 visitors each year.

On 26th May 1568, a congress of "bards and musicians" took place at Caerwys on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I.

In ancient Celtic times, a bard composed verses to honour heroic achievements, with poems and tales being passed from generation to generation.

The tradition continued in Early Medieval times through bards such as Taliesin and Aneurin. 

Later Medieval bards fulfilled three functions: they continued to celebrate victories, but they also chanted the nation's laws and recited genealogies. They were treated with respect and were exempt from taxes. Festivals were held, at which the most renowned bards from  various districts  contended in song.  This form of bardic tradition ended in the 13th century when the 1282 conquest ended the rule of the Welsh princes.  

However, the poetic traditions were continued throughout the Middle Ages, by noted 14th-century poets such as Dafydd ap Gwilym and Iolo Goch.  The tradition of assembling bards at an eisteddfod never lapsed and was bolstered by the formation of the Gorsedd by Iolo Morganwg in 1792, establishing Wales as an upholder of the bardic tradition even in modern times.  

On 26th May 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the evacuation of a third of a million Allied troops from Dunkirk. Several of the small boats and ships involved in that historic rescue operation sailed from Welsh ports; these included the paddle steamer Glengower and the ferry boat The Scotia.

In May 1534, the notoriously anti-Welsh bishop Rowland Lee was appointed President of the Council of Wales and the Marches.  Lee claimed to have hanged 5000 Welshmen in his five years in charge, which resulted in him being referred to as the "hanging Bishop".  

The Council was first convened in 1472 by Edward IV  to act on behalf of his son, the infant Edward, Prince of Wales, who he established at Ludlow Castle.

Under Henry VIII, the Laws in Wales Act of 1542 gave the Council statutory recognition. It continued to convene at Ludlow and had jurisdiction over the whole of Wales, along with Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.

It was to hear all civil and criminal suits; it was to try all cases of murder; it was to investigate charges of misgovernment, and to deal with disputes.

The Council was abolished in July 1689, following the "Glorious Revolution" which overthrew James II and established William III as king.