Born on this day 1988 in Cardiff

Sam Warburton - Grand Slam winning captain of Wales and series winning captain of the British and Irish Lions. 

Warburton  played soccer Whitchurch High School, alongside Gareth Bale, but he excelled at rugby, represent Wales at all school levels.  At the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Warburton became the youngest World Cup captain ever and in 2013, the youngest ever Lions captain at the age of 24.

Warburton was sent off controversially in the Semi Final of the 2011 Rugby World Cup against France for a tip tackle on Vincent Clerc, but despite this, he was still named as the player of the tournament.  

5th October 1839 saw the opening of West Bute Dock in Cardiff, which resulted in Cardiff becoming the biggest coal exporting dock in the world by 1913. 

Following the discovery and development of coal found in the Cynon and Rhondda valleys and the rapid expansion of Merthyr's iron operations in the wake of the Industrial revolution, their export required a sea connection to the Bristol Channel. 

The Glamorganshire Canal was opened in 1794, linking Cardiff with Merthyr and by the 1830s, Cardiff was shipping almost half of Britain's iron exports, which led in 1839 to  John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute and Cardiff's foremost landowner, being instrumental in the construction of the (West) Bute Dock, which was opened on 5th October 1839.

Two years later, the Taff Vale Railway was opened and with the construction of the new East Bute Dock from 1855, coal supplanted iron as the industrial foundation of South Wales, with coal exports increasing from 44,350 to 2.219 million tonnes, between 1840 and 1870. 

However, frustration at the lack of further development at Cardiff led to rival docks being opened in 1865 at Penarth and in 1889 at Barry.  These developments eventually resulted in the opening of the Roath Dock in 1887 and the Queen Alexandra Dock in 1907, which saw coal exports from the South Wales Coalfield via Cardiff rise to 10,700,000 tons by 1913, making Cardiff the biggest coal exporting dock in the world.  

  Marcher lord Roger de Mortimer de Chirk was appointed Justiciar of North Wales in October 1316. 

Following Edward I of England's conquest of North Wales (1277-1283), the counties of Anglesey, Caernarfonshire and Merioneth were created out of the Kingdom of Gwynedd by the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 and placed under direct royal control. The Justiciar was responsible for the royal administration in these counties as well as the administration of justice. English law applied to criminal cases, but Welsh law was allowed to continue in most other matters. 

Roger Mortimer de Chirk was said to be a lecherous and violent man.  In 1277, the Lord of North Powys died leaving two young sons and de Mortimer was appointed by Edward I as their guardian.  However their bodies washed up in the River Dee four years later and Mortimer who was suspected of their murder was granted their lands. 

In 1282, Chirk was a Captain in the royal army in the conflict against Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 when William Wallace was finally defeated. He was subsequently created Lord of Chirk and acquired huge estates taking ruthless control of Welsh strongholds. He had begun work on Chirk Castle sometime after 1295. 

On 28 January 1316, the Sheriff of Glamorgan and his men holding court outside the walls of Caerphilly Castle were attacked by a gang of Welshmen led by Llywelyn Bren, who had declared war on the maladministration of Payn de Turberville, a new royal appointee. Years of famine and punitive taxation led Llywelyn to desperate measures in defence of his people.  Mortimer and the Earl of Hereford were ordered to raise men to crush the rebellion and marched an army of 2,150 from Bristol, relieving Caerphilly and forcing Llywelyn to surrender. Subsequently, Chirk was appointed to post of Justiciar of North Wales in October 1316. 

In 1321, Chirk and his nephew, Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, the lover and ally of Queen Isabella, were leaders of a baronial revolt against Edward II of England, which was initially unsuccessful and led to their imprisonment in the Tower of London, where Chirk died. However, his nephew, Roger Mortimer, managed to escape the Tower and fled to France to join Isabella, from where they launched a successful rebellion against Edward II in 1326.  

Born on this day 1923 in Pretoria, South Africa

Glynis Johns - actress and singer  particularly remembered for "Send in the Clowns"

Husky-voiced Glynis is the daughter of actor Mervyn Johns, best known for her light and flirtatious comedy roles.  Glynis was born in South Africa while her parents were on tour there (her mother was a concert pianist) but was always proud of her Welsh roots and took delight in playing the female lead (opposite Richard Burton) in the classic Under Milk Wood (1972). Glynis is probably best known for her role as the suffragette mother in Mary Poppins (1964) although she is probably best loved for her roles in Miranda (1948) and Mad About Men (1954). She had earlier showed she could take on the serious roles as well as in Frieda (1947) and showed her longevity, with her role in Superstar (1999).  

Born on this day 1890 in Amlwch on Anglesey

William Williams who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his role in the sinking of a German submarine on 7th June 1917.

The award was given to the crew of the HMS Pargust  as a whole, the first time a ship's company had been honoured for act of collective gallantry and t he citation on Williams's award read

'selected by the ship's company under Rule 13 of the Royal Warrant'.  In the case of a gallant and daring act in which all men are deemed equally brave and deserving of the Victoria Cross a secret ballot is drawn.  In this case, the crew of  HMS Pargust  selected William Williams to be the recipient of the award, by secret ballot. 

During World War I, the German Navy attempted to blockade Great Britain, using its submarines (U-boats) to cut off food and vital supplies.  In response the British used Q-ships, which were armed ships disguised as merchant ships, to encourage enemy attacks and then use their hidden guns against the submarine.

The H.M.S. Pargust was one such Q-ship and when the crew were seen to abandon their vessel a German submarine prepared to attack.  However unknown to them, a small number of men were hidden on board and Seaman Williams managed to hold the starboard gun port in place for over 30 minutes even though it had been released from its securing weights.  This action allowed the gun to be successfully used against the submarine when it emerged.