On this day in 1976 Gwynfor Evans unveiled a plaque at Nant y Moch Dam to commemorate Owain Glyndwr's victory at The Battle of Hyddgen in the summer of 1401.

Gwynfor Evan's words that day;

"The followers of Glyndwr remained faithful to the end.  In 1415 Grufudd Young was still working for him in France; it was he who maintained in the Council of Constance, the assembly which ended the scandal of papal schism, that the Welsh were a nation and that they should have a voice there. There was not one attempt to supplant Owain as leader throughout his career, nor one attempt to betray him at the end of his life.

Not one Welsh word of  criticism of him has survived from that century. It is known that he was not alive in 1417 but no one knows where he died. He disappeared in dignified silence. The poets refused to believe that he was dead; so not one of them composed an elegy to his memory. To them and to a host of Welsh people he will never die. His spirit lives on like an unquenchable flame, a symbol of the determination of the Welsh to live as a free nation. The Welsh believed he would return when needed by his people.  His spirit is needed today.  As the nation matures in loyalty towards its own country, it can echo the words used by Dafydd Iwan in his great song:- Myn Duw, Mi Wn y daw - By God I know he will come"

Owain Glyndwr's victory against overwhelming odds over the King's forces at The Battle of Mynydd Hyddgen in the summer of 1401 is considered his first victory in the field, and it set the tone for the spread of the rebellion in its early stages and turned him from a local rebel to a national leader. 

Not much is known of the battle, but the probable site is a remote area of the Pumlumon Mountain range. It is thought that Owain's force of just 120 men would have been made up mostly of archers mounted on hill ponies that would have been well suited for travelling across boggy or mountainous regions. The English-Flemish army meanwhile would have generally consisted of infantry with some light cavalrymen supporting them. Despite having decent equipment, many of the English-Flemish soldiers were lacking in military experience, and there was a general lack of discipline within their army.

The solely written source is The Peniarth Manuscript 135 written by the poet Gruffydd Hiraethog many years later in 1550 and based on earlier accounts that have not survived;

"Owain rose with 120 reckless men and robbers and brought them in warlike fashion to the uplands of Ceredigion; and 1500 men of the lowlands of Ceredigion and of Rhos and Penfro assembled there and came to the mountain with the intent to seize Owain,  The encounter between them was on Hyddgen Mountain and no sooner did the English troops turn their backs in flight than 200 of them were slain.  Owain now won great fame and a great number of youths and fighting men from every part of Wales rose and joined him, until he had a great host at his back" 

Born this day 1989 in Cardiff.

Gareth Bale  - Wales soccer international, whose talent has earned him superstar status world-wide.  During the 2012-2013 season, he was awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year award.

Bale attended Whitchurch High School in Cardiff, where he played football alongside Wales rugby captain Sam Warburton. Because of the exceptional skill he demonstrated in football, the school's PE teacher, Gwyn Morris, had to take measures to ensure that other pupils had a chance to compete during lessons, such as restricting Bale to playing with his non-dominant foot!  Morris said of him "Gareth has a fierce determination to succeed and has the character and qualities to achieve his personal goals. He is one of the most unselfish individuals that I have had the pleasure to help educate.

Born this day 1944 in Edgware, Middlesex to Welsh parents

Angharad Rees, Lady McAlpine  CBE  was an actress, famous for her portrayal of Demelza in the BBC drama Poldark in the 1970s. Among her many roles, she appeared in the 1972 film version of Under Milk Wood alongside Peter O'Toole, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. She was also an accomplished stage actress, appearing in a number of West End productions in London.  Angharad married twice, to actor Christopher Cazenove in 1973 and in 2005 to  Sir David McAlpine of the construction family. She died on 21 July 2012,of pancreatic cancer.

Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes led the tributes at her memorial service. He said "If there was one thing she was superb at, it was friendship and not just sympathetic friendship but hard-working, useful, practical assistance. She was anxious, I think, that she should not be defined, entirely, as the star of a popular series, as one half of a golden couple, as a mother and hostess, although she excelled in all of these. She wanted also to be remembered as a serious actress whose early career might have gone on to greatness had she not made the personal decision to change direction [by having a family].”