Inigo Jones (15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652), was born in London and was the son of a Welsh cloth-maker. He is widely considered as the first significant British architect of the 'early modern' period.   Jones' influence on the evolving landscape of London can be seen at the city's Covent Garden, where he created London’s first real 'square’ in 1630, and where he designed the church of St Paul. Inigo Jones also was also involved in the design of St Paul’s Cathedral, although his contribution to the restorative works and architectural additions were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666.  Jones’ visits to Europe influenced not only his architectural concepts but also gave him valuable insight into a significant new way of constructing roofs. This innovation was called the king post truss, whereby a central post held up the rafters, allowing much larger roofs to be built. The same idea was further developed by Christopher Wren and the technique was used in some of his most celebrated designs. Jones designed 49 buildings in total, but unfortunately, only seven survive as testament to his architectural brilliance. His constructions were noted for being cool and sophisticated on the outside but full of colour and drama inside. More importantly, they were intrinsically different from what came before, introducing a style of architecture that is still influential today.

Gwyn Nicholls, the captain of the Welsh team that beat NewZealand 3-0 in 1905, was born 15th July 1874.

Nicholls, known as the "Prince of Threequarters"was born in Westbury on Severn and played the majority of his career with Cardiff.  His 24 caps for Wales were won between 1896 and 1906 and included ten matches as captain. He also captained Wales when they won the Triple Crown in 1902 and was the only Welsh player who toured Australia with the British Isles team. team of 1899.

Beheaded this day 1685 (It is said that it took eight blows of the axe to sever his head); James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, regarded by many as the true heir of Charles II, King of England and Wales's connection to The House of Stuart.

A popular legend claims that a portrait was painted of Monmouth after his execution: the story being that it was realised after the execution that there was no official portrait of the Duke — so his body was exhumed, the head stitched back on the body, and the corpse was seated for its portrait to be painted.

1649   Born in Rotterdam, to Charles II  (who was living in continental exile following his father's execution and the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell) and his lover, Lucy Walter who was born at Roch Castle near Haverfordwest.

1658   During The Protectorate  Monmouth was  sent to Paris for protection as, although he was illegitimate, there were rumours that Charles and Lucy had, in fact, married secretly, which made young James a potential heir to the throne of England.

1660   Restoration of the Monarchy.  Charles II becomes King of England.

1663    Monmouth is brought back to England and created Duke of Monmouth and a Knight of the Garter. As a Protestant, he was popular with the general populace, whereas the King's brother James, Duke of York, who was the official successor, was a convert to Catholicism.

1665 - 1678    Monmouth gained a considerable reputation as one of Britain's finest soldiers, fighting in the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the Franco-Dutch War and also putting down a rebellion in Scotland.  King Charles II directed that all military orders should be brought to the Duke for his examination, effectively giving him  command of the King's forces.

1679   As his popularity with the masses increased, Monmouth began to be seen as a threat to both King Charles II (his father) and the future James II (his uncle).Monmouth was consequently obliged to go into exile.

1683   Monmouth was named as a conspirator in the Rye House Plot, which was a plan to assassinate both King Charles II and the future James II.

1685    On King Charles II's death  Monmouth declared himself King and led the Monmouth Rebellion, in an attempt to take the throne from his uncle James II. The two armies met at the Battle of Sedgemoor, the last clearly defined battle on open ground between two military forces fought on English soil. Monmouth's unregulated force was no match for the disciplined army of the king, and he was unilaterally defeated.  Monmouth himself was arrested and beheaded on Tower Hill on 15 July 1685.

There are many theories regarding the identity of The Man in the Iron Mask; one claims that he was Monmouth on the reasoning that James II would not execute his own nephew, so someone else was executed, and James II arranged for Monmouth to be taken to France and put in the custody of his cousin Louis XIV of France.

The 15th July marks the anniversary of two of Wales' worst mining disasters;

On 15th July 1856  — 114 men were killed in a mining accident at New Cymmer Pit, Porth, Rhondda. The explosion in Insole's pit was the first on the coalfield to take more than a hundred lives, as a consequence of which the inquest sent the manager and overmen to be tried for manslaughter. The bitterness which was felt when they were acquitted was remembered in the community for more than a generation. 

On 15th July 1880 — 120 miners were killed when a gas explosion ripped through the Risca New Mine, Waunfawr. The force of the blast was so great that it buckled the ventilation fan, delaying the rescue effort.  Before this explosion, mine deputies would always use the “Davy” safety lamp while conducting their inspections of the mine, but the colliers themselves preferred to use the older style "Clanny” lamp because it emitted a better light. Many years prior to this, Sir Humphrey Davy had strong doubts about the safety of these older lamps because the gauge was unprotected against strong air currents. Davy's pronoucement was later proved accurate, and the use of the Clanny lamp underground was banned.

On 15th July 1874, the foundation stone was laid for the clock tower at Machynlleth, built to mark the coming of age of Viscount Castlereagh, the eldest son of the 5th Marquess of Londonderry of Plas Machynlleth.

A history of Machynlleth;

* Radiocarbon dating shows that copper mining was taking place in the Early Bronze Age (c. 2,750 years ago), within a mile of the town centre.

* The Romans settled in the area; they built a small fort at Pennal (Cefn Caer) four miles west of Machynlleth, and are reputed to have had two look-out posts above the town at Bryn-y-gog and Wylfa.

* One of the earliest written references to Machynlleth is the Royal charter granted in 1291 by Edward I to Owen de la Pole, Lord of Powys. The charter awarded him the right to hold a market at Machynlleth " every Wednesday for ever and two fairs every year". The market on Wednesday is still a busy and popular day in Machynlleth 700 years later. sdfsdf

* Machynlleth was the seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404 and as such claims to be the "ancient capital of Wales".

* According to local tradition, Dafydd Gam, a Welsh ally of the English, was imprisoned in Royal House from 1404 to 1412 for attempting to assassinate Owain Glyndwr.

*  The weekly market and biannual fair thrived, so much so that there were complaints from other towns whose cloth trade was being adversely  affected. A document dated 1632 shows that animals for sale came from all counties of mid Wales and prospective buyers came from Flintshire, Radnorshire, Brecknockshire, Herefordshire and Shropshire.

* The Dyfi Bridge was first mentioned in 1533, but by 1601 "Dyfi bridge in the Hundred of Mochunleth" was deemed to be too narrow for the amount of traffic passing through and the current bridge was built in 1805.  Fenton describes it in 1809 as "A noble erection of five large arches. The piers are narrow and over each cut-water is a pilaster, a common feature of the 18th century".

* The Royal House is derived from the to the belief that Charles I stayed at the house in 1643.

* On 29 November 1644, a Civil War battle took place near Dyfi Bridge between Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army and the Royalists. A great many were killed and the nearby manor house Mathafarn as well as many houses in Machynlleth occupied by Royalists were burned down.

* Machynlleth hosted the national Eisteddfod in 1937 and 1981.

* Machynlleth applied for city status in 2000 and 2002, but was unsuccessful.