Early Welsh settlers in Patagonia.

On 27th July  1865, over 150 settlers from Wales arrived on The Mimosa, at Puerto Madryn in Southern Argentina, with the intention of establishing Y Wladfa (the Welsh Colony in Patagonia)

The notion of a Welsh colony in South America was proposed by Professor Michael D. Jones, a non-conformist preacher based in Bala, who had spent several years in the United States, where Welsh settlers had adapted to the new lifestyle very quickly. He advocated establishing a Welsh speaking colony, far from the influence of the English Language, in Patagonia. The destination was chosen for its isolation and the Argentines' offer of 100 square miles of land along the Chubut river.

The Mimosa sailed from Liverpool in May 1865 and after approximately eight weeks arrived at Puerto Madryn.  Unfortunately, the settlers found that Patagonia was not the fertile land they had been promised. They had been led to believe that it was similar to the fertile lowlands of Wales. In fact, it was a windswept pampas, with no water, very little source of food and no woodlands to provide building materials or shelter. Some of the settlers’ first homes were simply  dug out from the soft rock of the cliffs in the bay. At first, the colony looked as if it were doomed to failure. The settlers had to walk forty miles across the desert, pushing in wheelbarrows their meagre belongings and food, finally managing to reach the proposed site for the colony in the Chubut valley. It was here in 1865, where the river Camwy cuts through the desert from the nearby Andes, that the permanent settlement of Rawson was established. The settlers on The Mimosa included miners, carpenters, brickmakers, cobblers and tailors, but very few farmers. This proved to be a serious disadvantage, as the terrain was dry and dusty and it was difficult to grow crops.  Life for the settlers was made even more difficult by arguments over land ownership, bad harvests and floods. In addition, there was no direct route to the ocean to import necessities. Without the help of the Tehuelche Indians, who at first had been suspicious and unfriendly,  the settlement may not have survived the early food shortages.

Simple irrigation of the Chubut river was successful, and over the next several years new settlers arrived from both Wales and Pennsylvania. By the end of 1874, the settlement had a population of 270, with a patchwork of farms beginning to emerge. In 1875, the Welsh settlers were granted official title to the land by the Argentine Government, and this encouraged many more people to join the colony, with more than 500 arriving from Wales.  There were further migrations from Wales between 1880-87, and 1904-12.  The settlers had seemingly achieved their utopia with Welsh speaking chapels, schools and local government.

These now productive and fertile lands soon attracted settlers of other nationalities to Chubut, eroding its Welsh identity. By 1915, the population of Chubut numbered 20,000, with approximately half of these being from nationalities other than Welsh. Over the years, use of the Welsh language declined, and after 1914, there was little contact between Wales and Chubut. Change began to occur, however, when large numbers of Welsh people visited Patagonia in 1965 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the colony. There has recently been a co-ordinated attempt by the Argentine government and the National Assembly of Wales to promote and maintain Patagonia's Welsh heritage and identity. Teachers are being sent there to assist in keeping the language alive, eisteddfodau are being held, chapels are being supported and bara brith is being served in Welsh teahouses.  In 2006, sporting links were established when Wales played Argentina in a rugby international at Puerto Madryn.

On 27th July 1469, following the Battle of Edgcote Moor, near Banbury, during the Wars of the Roses, William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and his brother Richard were executed.

William Herbert had been the guardian of the young Henry Tudor, the future Henry VII, between the ages of 5 and 12.

Herbert, known as "Black William", was the son of William ap Thomas who founded Raglan Castle, and Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam. He was, therefore, a grandson of Dafydd Gam, who had been a loyal follower of King Henry V of England. Herbert was a Yorkist supporter in the Wars of the Roses and was rewarded in 1461 by King Edward IV with the title Lord Herbert of Raglan. 

Later in 1461, at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire, the Yorkist forces defeated the Lancastrians, led by Owen Tudor, who was subsequently beheaded at Hereford. His brother Jasper had to flee in disguise to Pembroke and was hunted mercilessly by Herbert. Jasper successfully eluded capture, eventually escaping to France via Scotland.

Herbert replaced Jasper Tudor as Earl of Pembroke and as guardian of the four-year-old Henry Tudor, who had been left behind at Pembroke Castle. Young Henry seems to have been treated kindly by the Herberts and was given a gentleman's education.

However, in 1469 Herbert fell out with "Kingmaker" Lord Warwick, because Warwick reneged on the King, leading the Lancastrian forces at the Battle of Edgecote Moor, after which William was executed, along with his brother Richard.

Hugh d'Avranches (born circa 1047 – died  27 July  1101), 1st Earl of Chester. Hugh, due to his gluttony, became so fat that he could hardly walk, earning him the nickname of le Gros (the Fat). He would also earn the nickname Lupus (Wolf) for his savage ferocity against the Welsh.

Following the Norman Conquest, King William I of England (William the Conquerer) installed Hugh d'Avranches, William FitzOsbern and Roger de Montgomerie as Earls of Chester, Hereford and Shrewsbury respectively.

These areas became known as the Welsh Marches and as a frontier society, the Earls were given special powers to bring their adjacent parts of Wales under Norman control. Absorbing  towns and villages and laying down their own laws and customs, they claimed these territories along the March as rights of conquest and built hundreds of small castles as assertions of power as well as defences against Welsh raids.

Hugh inherited a large estate in northern France and Normandy and was an important councillor of William the Conquerer, probably fighting with him at the Battle of Hastings, after which he was given the command of Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire.

1071 - Hugh was given the Earldom of Chester.

1081 - Gruffudd ap Cynan King of Gwynedd was captured at a meeting with Hugh at Rug, near Corwen. and imprisoned at Chester. Earl Hugh and Robert of Rhuddlan, his cousin, went on to take possession of Gwynedd, building castles at Bangor, Aberlleinog and Caernarfon.

1094 - Gruffudd ap Cynan escaped from captivity and regained Anglesey and much of the rest of Gwynedd.

1098 - Joining forces with Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, Hugh attempted to recover his loss in Gwynedd. Gruffudd ap Cynan took refuge in Anglesey but fled to Ireland when a fleet he had hired from the Danish settlement in Ireland changed sides. The situation was turned around when a Norwegian fleet arrived, under the command of King Magnus III of Norway, also known as Magnus Barefoot. He attacked the Norman forces, and Earl Hugh of Shrewsbury was killed by an arrow, reputedly shot by Magnus himself. The Normans evacuated Anglesey, and in the following year, Gruffydd returned from Ireland to recover possession. Hugh apparently came to an agreement with him and did not try to recover these lands.   

The 27th July 1967  is a significant and vitally important date in the history of the Welsh language.

The Welsh Language Act 1967 was passed and became law. It was based upon part of the Hughes Parry Report (1965), which "advocated equal importance and significance, in both writing and speech, for Welsh and English in the court system" and was the beginning of a process of replacing out of date legislation that dated back to Henry VIII and the Acts of Union in 1536.  It had been passed only after extensive campaigning by members of Plaid Cymru and  Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society) 

*  The act gave the right to use Welsh orally in court proceedings in Wales provided that the person who wishes to do so has notified the court in advance

*  The act allowed the appropriate and relevant government ministers to authorise Welsh versions or translations of any documents.

*  The act repealed the part of the Wales and Berwick Act of 1746 that stated that the term English should be used to include Wales as well as England.

*  The significance of the 1967 Welsh Language Act lay in the fact that only English was used in the law courts, disregarding the fact that most people in Wales in the 16th and 17th centuries spoke only Welsh. Very few had any real understanding of English.  The new act put Welsh on equal terms with English in public life.

However, some campaigners saw it as toothless and continued a pro-active campaign of protest, eventually leading to a new Welsh Language Act in 1993, which gave much more importance to the Welsh language. Significantly, however, it could not have been passed had it not been for the 1967 act.  

Born on this day 1926 in Merthyr

Eddie Thomas was a brilliant welterweight boxer with a fast left jab, who won the European, Empire and British boxing titles and came close to a world championship. He is best remembered, however, for his success as a manager. His protégée Howard Winstone won the WBC Featherweight title and Ken Buchanan became undisputed World Lightweight Champion a decade before Colin Jones, from Gorseinon, came heartbreakingly close to giving him a third world champion.

 As a young man, he joined his father and three of his six brothers in the mines at Cwmddu and continued working underground even after he became a successful professional fighter. All seven of the boys boxed, but his father opposed Eddie taking up the sport professionally as he considered it 'too dangerous'. In an ironic twist, his father was to lose an arm in a mining accident, while Thomas survived nearly fifty professional bouts without sustaining any damage.  He was known as the 'Singing Boxer' for entertaining the crowd with the song "Bless This House" after every fight. 

 He was considered a hero outside the ring as well, being among the first at the scene of the Aberfan mining disaster in 1966, and using his mining expertise to organise the rescue attempt. He salvaged many of the children's bodies himself, and the people of his community never forgot this, giving him the freedom of the town in 1992 and electing him mayor in 1994.  

Born on 27th July 1911 and raised in Abertillery

Air Vice Marshall Wilfred Oulton  - The Welshman who tested the H- Bomb

After University College, Cardiff, he became a pilot officer, joining a flying boat squadron at Southampton. In 1935, he attended the School of Air Navigation at Manston where he was recognised as an exceptional navigator.

During the Second World War, the most critical campaign of all, as conceded by Churchill, was the one fought against the German U-boats, who were eventually defeated by the Royal Navy and Coastal Command of the RAF.  Among the RAF pilots in that campaign, none was more expert and successful than Wilfred Oulton, who was awarded the DFC and the DSO for his courage, and who was mentioned three times in dispatches.

After the war, Oulton was deputy director of the newly-formed Air Traffic Control, helping to establish early systems at Heathrow, before being appointed as the Air attaché covering the southern part of the South American continent. At that later post, as Joint Commander of Operation Grapple at Christmas Island from 1956 to 1958, he organised and conducted nuclear tests.  

On 27th July 1946, the cause of an outbreak of typhoid in Aberystwyth was traced to locally-made ice cream.  During the outbreak, up to 210 people contracted the disease and four died.

The outbreak ruined the town's attempt to re-establish itself after the war as a viable holiday destination. At the time, one national newspaper carried the banner headline “Typhoid Town” above a story covering the infection, and the resulting bad national publicity reduced the number of visitors to Aberystwyth that summer and the following year.

The disease was found to have originated from a Bitchell’s ice cream cart; it appears that Bitchell’s power supply failed and they were unable to heat up the cream properly before freezing it.