The Taff Vale Railway strike occurred in August 1900.

The Taff Vale railway workers moved a quarter of the eighteen million tons of coal dug out by South Wales miners.  So they were greatly impacted by the series of coal mining strikes between 1893-98.  Then the Boer war increased the demand for South Wales coal and the miners won pay increases but rail workers did not even though the cost of living increased.

The Chairman and General Manager of the Taff Vale Railway refused to meet with the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (thw workers union), so in 1900 1,327 workers of the Taff Railway Company went on strike, preventing coal trains from running.  The company then brought in strike breakers and ordered strikers and their families to vacate rented company cottages.

The strike lasted eleven days, before a convoluted settlement was agreed.  However in 1901 the Taff Vale Railway Company successfully sued the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants for  losses caused by the strike. This proved to be a landmark decision, as it shattered the belief that unions could not be held responsible for damages as a result of the actions of their members, but it did lead to  the election of the Liberal Party in the general election of 1906, who introduced the Trade Disputes Act 1906, which guaranteed union immunity.  

Ruth Manning Saunders was born in Swansea on 21st August 1886. 

Ruth Manning-Sanders was a prolific poet and author who was perhaps best known for her series of children's books in which she collected and retold fairy tales from all over the world.  

Born this day 1954 and from Kenfig Hill, near Bridgend

Alan Phillips - former Wales and Lions rugby international. Phillips scored 162 tries in 481 appearances for Cardiff RFC, a very impressive total considering that his position was hooker.  He is currently Wales Team Manager and a Selector. 

On 21st August 1883, five miners were killed in a gas explosion at the Gelli Colliery, in the Rhondda Fawr valley.