The South Wales Miners' Federation, nicknamed "The Fed" was a trade union for miners in South Wales and was founded on 24th October 1898.

The Welsh coal industry, with its hundreds of thousands of workers, was ripe for the formation of unions. The Fed, was formed, following the defeat of the South Wales miners' strike of 1898 and was almost unique among British unions in that it dominated not only the working life but also the social and cultural interests of the South Wales coal valleys. Originally allied with the Labour Party, by 1914 the SWMF was the largest union of any kind in the UK, with 200,000 members and in 1945, became the NUM (South Wales Area).  

On 24th October 1055, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn allied with Aelfgar of Mercia, defeated a force led by the Earl of Hereford, Ralph the Timid and then sacked the city of Hereford and destroyed its castle.

Gruffydd at this time was asserting himself in his ambition to become the Ruler of the whole of Wales, he had just recaptured Deheubarth and was about to seize Morgannwg and Gwent.  In 1056, he won another victory over an English army near Glasbury and the following year, he claimed sovereignty over the whole of Wales - a claim which was recognised by the English.    

Born on this day 1948 in Felinfoel

Phil Bennett - former Wales and Lions rugby international and captain. His flair and famous sidestep and swerve, made him a firm favourite with crowds.  When Bennett made his debut against France in  1 969, he became the first ever Welsh substitute in international rugby.

 He played his club rugby for Llanelli RFC, whom he helped to the famous 9–3 victory over the 1972 All Blacks, with a brilliant tactical kicking display.  Then in January 1973, when Gareth Edwards scored an early try for the Barbarians against the All Blacks, Bennett started the move for what has been described as the finest try ever scored, by beating four players with his trademark sidesteps.

He now commentates on the game for television and radio and has been admitted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame and the International Rugby Hall of Fame.

Born on this day 1962 in Trimsaran, Carmarthenshire 

Jonathan Davies - former Wales rugby union captain and Wales and Great Britain rugby league international.

Since his retirement from playing, Davies has worked as a television covering both rugby codes, in both the English and Welsh.  

Cardiff University was founded on 24th October  1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, it is the second oldest university in Wales.

The Aberdare Report of 1881 recommended the foundation of university colleges in North Wales and South Wales to complement the already established University College, Wales in Aberystwyth.  There was considerable debate about whether the southern college should be located in Cardiff or Swansea and since it was stressed that the interests of Monmouthshire were to be taken into account, Cardiff was duly chosen.  Hence the name of the new body, the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire.

In recent decades, two mergers have fuelled the University’s expansion. The first in 1988, with UWIST ( University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology), followed in 2004 with a merger with the University of Wales College of Medicine.  A new Coat of Arms was obtained from the College of Heralds, following the full legal amalgamation of University College, Cardiff and UWIST, the most striking features being, the ‘supporters’ (rarely granted to universities or colleges) – the angel and the dragon- which derive from the crests of the parent institutions.  The motto from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer is "Truth, Unity and Concord" [" Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord."]

The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based university education and is held in high esteem both nationally and internationally. In 2007, Professor Sir Martin Evans of the School of Biosciences was named a joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his role in the discovery of embryonic stem cells.

Throughout its history, the University has maintained a commitment to equality of opportunity to men and women of all backgrounds and 1904 saw the appointment of the first female professor in the UK, Millicent McKenzie.