On 17th September 1944, the wartime 'blackout' was lifted over much of Wales. 

Most Luftwaffe air raids were undertaken at night, thousands of feet above ground level, which made it hard for them to identify their targets. To aid their difficulty a total blackout was imposed in built-up areas by the British Government during the war.  All house owners were expected to use thick black curtains or to paint their windows with blackout paint.  

Owain Glyndwr: The decline of the rebellion 1405-1409 

In February 1405, the Tripartite Indenture was signed in Bangor North Wales. This was an agreement between Glyndwr, Edmund Mortimer and the Earl of Northumberland in which they divided Britain into three parts.  Glyndwr was to take Wales and the areas of England to the rivers Severn and Mersey including most of Cheshire, Herefordshire, and Shropshire.  The Mortimers would take all of Southern and Western England, Thomas Percy, the Earl of Northumberland, would take the North of England and as far South as Leicester, Northampton, Warwick and Norfolk.  With a treaty having been signed with the French promising substantial support, Owain's fortunes seemed set to rise even further. 

However,In the valley of the river Monnow on March 11th Owain suffered a major set back. Having attacked the little township of Groment, he was surprised when a vast contingent of armour clad troops arrived from young Prince Henry's newly established headquarters at Hereford. There was much slaughter that day. Again there was Welsh slaughter at the hill of Pwll Melyn near the town of Usk in early May. That day Owain's son Gruffudd led the Welsh force and Lord Grey of Condor commanded the Englishmen. Having driven Gruffudd's men from the hill, lord Grey harassed the fleeing survivors through the river Usk and into the forest of Monkswood. There Gruffudd and many of his ablest commanders were taken prisoner, transported to Monkswood castle and executed. 

Owain retreated to Harlech castle where on August 1st, he convened his second parliament. He announced that the French were coming. Some 800 men at arms, 600 crossbow-men and 1,200 lightly armed troops had embarked and sailed from France on the 22nd of July. On receiving the news that his allies were coming and that they were to land at Milford Haven, parliament was put into recess and Owain marched south at all speed.  With French support  he attacked Haverfordwest castle.  However the castle garrison held the initial attack, and realising that time was of an essence, Owain left a small besieging force and advanced to the east.  The walled town of Tenby was well-defended, and Owain made no attempt to break in, preferring instead to starve them out. However, some thirty English ships hove to and anchored in the harbour, causing Glyndwr and his allies to withdraw.   Owain marched next to Cardigan, where both the castle and town fell after a short bloody fight, followed by victories at the southwest capital of Carmarthen and at Brecon  before he smashed his way into Hereford. He advanced to Woodbury hill eight miles from the city of Worcester, there entrenched in an extremely strong position we awaited the coming of Henry of Lancaster. The decisive battle for Wales and perhaps England was about to commence.  However, Owain soon realised that he had advanced too far too quickly and could not renew his supplies. There was nothing else left than to retreat. As he withdrew into the hills and mountains of central Wales so Henry advanced after him; first to Hereford then despite being driven back with heavy losses, he slowly gained ground; albeit a few miles each month. 

By the middle of 1406, things had taken a turn for the worse. With no further gains and the expected breakthrough into England not achieved, the French forces were recalled home. Any help that could be expected from the Scottish quarter also disappeared when young James, the heir to the Scottish crown, was captured en route to France by an English man of War patrolling the north seas. Once again Wales stood alone. Young Prince Henry at nineteen took over the command of the English army, with a warrant from Parliament to bring an end to the Welsh problem. As the year of 1406 wore on, Owain lost control of the Gower, Tywi and Ceredigion regions: all submitted to English control. Next the English made determined attacks to regain the castle in Wales. Young Henry himself sailed into the mouth of the river Rheidol, to attempt to retake Aberystwyth. When requested by Rhys Ddu for support, Owain marched south and Henry was forced to abandon the idea.  Time, however, was running out, King Louis had already been murdered in France and the French were in negotiations with England in a bid to end their war. The lords Northumberland and Bardolf, seeing that Owain was losing ground, withdrew their support. Both were killed at the battle of Bramham Moor against the Sheriff of Yorkshire and his men on Feb 19. Now there would be no more support through the Percy connection. Owain suffered two crushing blows in the year following the death of the two lords; both Aberystwyth and Harlech fell to the English advance. 

It was a disaster of the greatest magnitude when Harlech fell, for Owain's wife, two daughters and three granddaughters were seized and carried off to London. They were all to die in the Tower by 1415. His great ally Mortimer died in the siege, during which English ships pounded the castle with cannon ball from the sea. So the end was nigh, for in 1409 Owain had no solid foothold left in the region.   

The Battle of Montgomery took place on 17th September 1644, during the First English Civil War of 1642–1646.  It was the first battle of this conflict to take place on Welsh soil.  A Parliamentarian force commanded by Sir John Meldrum engaged a Royalist army led by Lord Byron which was besieging Montgomery Castle which controlled the access into Mid-Wales.  The result was a victory for the Parliamentarians. 

The man-made sea wall at Porthmadog known as 'The Cob' was opened on 17th September 1811.   It was built by William Alexander Madocks' and  was instrumental in the emergence of the towns of Porthmadog and Tremadog.  

Crossing of the sands had always been very dangerous, with people using guides to cross safely.  Madocks had begun building the town of Tremadog in 1798 and when the Act of Union, combining the Kingdoms of Britain and Ireland came into force in 1800, it was anticipated that traffic in North Wales would increase as links with Ireland were developed.

Maddocks saw an opportunity to increase the accessibility of Tremadog and to reclaim thousands of acres of land by building the Cob across the River Glaslyn estuary.  The project began in March 1805 and employed approximately 400 people.  The Cob was opened on 17 September 1811, with a four-day celebration including an Eisteddfod.   

Born on this day 1831 in  in Rhandir-Mwyn, Llanfair-ar-y-bryn, Carmarthenshire.

Morgan B. Williams who was a Republican member for Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives.

 Williams, who had emigrated to Australia in 1856, left for the United States in 1862, settling in Pennsylvania and working in the coal mines.  He was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1884, and the Fifty-fifth Congress in 1897.  He failed to be reelected in 1898 and returned to the coal mining industry, becoming both vice president and general manager of the Red Ash Coal Co.   

Born on this day 1971 in Bangor.

Ian Whyte - actor, stuntman and former professional basketball player, who at the height of 7 ft 1 is in demand for characters requiring an actor of above-average stature.