"Golden Rule" Jones 

Born this day 1846 at Tŷ-mawr near Beddgelert, Caernarvonshire 

Samuel Milton Jones  -  Mayor of  Toledo, Ohio 1897 - 1904 and regarded as the 5th best mayor in American history.

 His "Golden Rule" was "Do unto others as you would do unto yourself".  

Jones emigrated with his family to the United States in 1849 and had many jobs from an early age to help support his family.  His fortunes changed after he began  working in the oilfields of western Pennsylvania, where he progressed to owning his own oil company by 1870.  However after the tragic deaths of his wife and two year old daughter,  Jones moved to Lima, Ohio, where he established the Ohio Oil Company, which he sold to John Rockefeller, making him a very wealthy man. 

In 1892, Jones started the S.M Jones Company in Toledo, Ohio, making tools for the oil industry.  He was very popular with his workforce, due to the implementation of his Golden Rule, where by he gave his employees fair wages and safe working conditions in exchange for their honesty and hard work.

In 1897 Jones became interested in politics and was elected mayor of Toledo, using his "Golden Rule" philosphy to improve conditions for working people by  opening free kindergartens and introducing an eight-hour working day.  He was also instrumental in building many parks around the city.  Jones had little time for party politcs and was not nominated by The Republican Party for the mayor's election in 1899, however his popularity with working people ensured that he was re-elected as an Independant  

Rebecca visits Aberaeron! 3rd August 1843 

In the early part of the 19th century, toll-gates were operated by trusts who charged tolls in order to maintain the roads. However, many of the tolls were considered unnecessarily high by the local financially burdened farming communities and people suspected the trusts of corruption.  In protest, gangs of men dressed as women, calling themselves Merched Beca (Rebecca's Daughters) arrive to destroy the toll-gates.  On 3rd August 1843, Rebecca and around a hundred of her followers visited Aberaeron and destroyed two gates.  

On 3rd August 1914 Newport police captured the German freighter 'Belgia', anchored in the Bristol Channel ten miles from Newport, taking prisoner 20 crew and 75 naval reservists.   This incident may well have been the first strike of the war by the British on the Germans.

On this day in 1957 Swansea-born Wales international  John Charles moved from Leeds to Juventus for £65,000.  

Charles was dubbed as ‘Il Gigante Buono’ (The Gentle Giant) during his five seasons with Juventus. The respect the Juventus fans had for Charles was evident  when he was voted the best-ever foreign player to play for Juventus.

On 3rd August 1880, nine miners were killed in an underground explosion at the Bersham Colliery in Rhostyllen, near Wrexham. 

The Wrexham area in the 19th Century was highly industrialised. At its peak there were 38  collieries in the Wrexham area, producing over 2.5 million tonnes of coal annually.  The first shaft at the colliery was sunk in 1864 and it was deepened in 1871 with coal production starting in 1874.  It is recorded that by 1896, there were 711 men working at the colliery.

The first Royal Welsh Show was held  on 'Vicarage Fields' Aberystwyth on 3rd August 1904.

It is now the biggest agricultural show in Europe, attracting more than 200,000 visitors annually and since 1963, it has been held at a permanent site at Llanelwedd near Builth Wells.