Born on 12th July 1947 in Gwaun-cae-Gurwen, nr Pontardawe, Welsh rugby legend Sir Gareth Edwards.  

Described as the greatest player of all time, Gareth Edwards is a former Welsh rugby union footballer. The ultimate athlete, Edwards played scrum-half and is referenced as the scorer of the greatest ever try when he played for Barbarians against the All Blacks in 1973.  Edwards was the spearhead of the highly successful Welsh rugby team in the 60's and 70's. He is Wales' youngest ever captain, appearing in his first match as captain at the age of 20 in February 1968 against Scotland - a game which the Welsh side won 5 - 0. 

During an era of Welsh dominance, Edwards made 53 appearances for Wales, scoring 20 tries. Edwards also won 10 caps for the Lions and was part of the 1971 legendary team that won a series in New Zealand. He also played in the unbeaten 1974 side that toured South Africa.  A supreme athlete, he is acknowledged worldwide for his speed, passing and reading of the game. He was also known for his moments of brilliance and an ability to score truly magical tries. In a poll of international rugby players conducted in 2003 by Rugby World magazine, Edwards was voted the greatest player of all time, "I've never considered myself a sporting icon," he admits, " You get a lot of attention when you walk down the street or attend functions, but grandchildren soon bring you down to earth." Edwards was made a CBE for services to sport in the 2007 New Years Honours List and was awarded his Knighthood in June 2015.

Died on this day in 1982 aged 67, Kenneth More, actor, whose mother was from Cardiff.

Kenneth More depicted characters who were generally affable, sporting and decent; qualities which were considered particularly ' British ' in the 1950s when More was at the height of his fame. He was, during this time, Britain's most popular film actor, appearing in box office successes such as Genevieve (1953), Doctor in the House (1954), Reach for the Sky (1956) and A Night to Remember (1958).

Later in his career he enjoyed television success where his interpretations of Jolyon in BBC's "The Forsyte Saga" (1967) and the title role in "Father Brown" (1974) made him a well known figure to a new generation of viewers.

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The annual Barmouth Kite Festival provides quite a spectacle, with kite flyers from all over the UK and many from overseas converging on this picturesque seaside town .

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On 12th July 1891, world famous soprano Adelina Patti opened her private theatre at Craig-y-Nos Castle in the Swansea Valley.

Adelina Patti (19 February 1843 – 27 September 1919) was one of the most famous sopranos in history. The composer Giuseppe Verdi described her as being perhaps the finest singer who had ever lived.  Patti's career was one of continuous success , inspiring frenzied acclaim and critical adulation. Her youthful good looks gave her an attractive stage presence, which considerably enhanced her celebrity status.  At the peak of her career, Patti demanded to be paid, in gold, the equivalent of $5000 a night, before she even deigned to perform.

When she retired from the stage, Patti settled in the Swansea Valley, where she bought Craig- y-Nos Castle. She commissioned a private theatre to be built, emulating in miniature the theatre at Bayreuth. The theatre remains intact to this day, and the stage is in all probability the only surviving example of original 19th century 'backstage' equipment.

Patti also had a railway station built at Craig y Nos/Penwyllt on the Neath and Brecon Railway,  and additionally, in 1918, she presented the Winter Garden building from her Craig-y-Nos estate to the city of Swansea. This was rebuilt near the Guildhall and renamed the 'Patti Pavilion.' The Castle itself became a chest hospital in 1921, which remained in use until 1986 when it was sold and converted into a hotel.

On 12th July 1916 – Railway worker James Dally was awarded the Edward Medal by King George V for his actions in saving a colleague from falling 170ft from the Crumlin Viaduct.

On 28 October 1914, the Crumlin viaduct, near Newport, south Wales, was being painted by using a staging of planks timber supports when one of the supports broke, and the foreman, Mr Skevington, fell 52m (175 feet) to his death into the goods yard below. The second man, Thomas Bond, just managed to grip onto the main bridge structure in time, but was left dangling in mid air.  

Bridgeman James Dally, of Crumlin, was nearby, supervising the operation. He immediately crawled out from the gangway on to the diagonal bracings - which were a mere eight centimetres wide:

"I asked him to swing his legs in an upward direction, so as to get them around the stretcher, if possible. This he succeeded in doing. I then got hold of Bond's legs; & told him to move one hand at a time & by that means he was drawn nearer to the gangway & when he was near enough I got a better hold of him, & eventually landed him safely on the gangway."

In the event, Dally was awarded the Edward Medal, which he received from King George V on 12 July 1916. This medal had been created in 1907 to reward "heroic acts performed by miners and quarrymen" and in 1909, its award was extended to acts of courage in other industries.

The Crumlin Viaduct was 512m (1,680 feet) long and rose some 60m (200 feet) above the valley of the Ebbw. The viaduct was opened on 1 June 1857 and by 1863 was part of the Great Western Railway network; it was demolished in 1965-66.

On 12th July 1946 – The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act was passed by Parliament, which legislated for the nationalization of the entire British coal industry. The National Coal Board was established as a result, acting as the managing authority for all coal mining activities.

The NCB, as it became known, was one of several public corporations established during Labour's post-war government, led by Clement Attlee.  By 1950, the NCB employed  more than 700,000 people, but successive governments reduced the size of the industry by closing remotely situated or 'uneconomic' coal mines. Closures in the 1960s were initially confined to pits in Scotland, but gradually included mines in Lancashire, North East England and South Wales. Closures spread rapidly across all coalfields during the 1980s as a consequence of falling demand for British coal. This was, in part, the result of large subsidies offered by other European countries to their coal industries, but was also due to the availability of cheaper coal from Poland, The United States, Australia and Colombia. The NCB saw three major national strikes. In 1972 and 1974 the strikes were over pay disputes and both saw success for the National Union of Mineworkers. The miners strike of 1984 - 1985 culminated in a defeat which is still bitterly resented in many parts of Britain, including Wales, where the closure of pits caused huge suffering and demographic upheaval.