The infamous ‘Monk’s Blood’ manuscript 

On 24th July 2010 there was a special opening of  the exhibition "Thomas Phillips and the Greatest Little Library in Wales." at the University of Wales, Lampeter, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of its benefactor, Thomas Phillips.  

The exhibition included the many books and manuscripts which Phillips donated to St David’s College between 1834 and 1852; in excess of 30,000 volumes, all printed between 1470 and 1850.  The focal point of the collection is the 'The Monk’s Blood manuscript', which is reputed to have been spattered with the blood of one of the twelve hundred monks massacred at Bangor-Is-Coed in around the year 616 before the Battle of Chester. There, Aetelfrith, the King of Northumbria, conquered the Kingdom of Powys.  The manuscript was described in 1862 as  “The grand curiosity is a manuscript which once belonged to the monks of Bangor Is Coed.  It bears the marks of blood with which it was sprinkled when the monks were massacred by the heathen Saxons…”

The Window tax was abolished in England and Wales on 24th July 1851

"Daylight robbery"

The Window Tax was introduced in 1696, during the reign of William III, when Britain was burdened with expenses from The Glorious Revolution of 1868 and the costs of re-coinage necessitated by the "miserable state" of existing coins, which had been reduced by clipping small portions of the high-grade silver coins.  It was levied at two shilling on properties with up to ten windows, rising to four shillings for houses with between ten and twenty windows.  It was extremely unpopular and to avoid paying the tax some houses from the period can be seen to have windows bricked-up

The term "daylight robbery" is thought to have originated from the window tax as it was described by some as a "tax on light".

Born this day 1975 in Mufulira, Zambia

Dafydd James  - former Wales and Lions rugby international.  James won an ERC Elite Award for becoming the first player ever in Heineken Cup history to score twenty-five tries in the tournament. 

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On 24th July 1816, the Old Wye Bridge, Chepstow (rebuilt in cast iron) was opened across the River Wye.

The Old Wye Bridge at Chepstow crosses the River Wye between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England. There had been wooden bridges in the same location below the castle since Norman times, but the present cast iron road bridge was built in 1816 to an initial design by John Rennie, which was subsequently modified by John Rastrick who actually constructed it.

The river Wye has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world, and the bridge across it considerably shortened the journey distance between Newport and Gloucester. A new road bridge was opened alongside the railway bridge in 1988, with the old road bridge, which is a Grade l Listed Building, now carrying local traffic.

Born this day 1876 in Varteg Hill, near Pontypool

Viv Huzzey - former Wales rugby and baseball international. Huzzey left Wales to play rugby league for Oldham in 1900 after he had controversially been denied the captaincy of Cardiff.