On 7th December 1203, Geoffrey de Henlaw was consecrated as Bishop of St David's.

His appointment is significant, as it ended Gerald of Wales's (Giraldus Cambrensis) own ambitions for the job and sealed the final subjection of the Welsh bishops to the archiepiscopal jurisdiction of Canterbury.

From 1199 to 1203 Gerald’s life was clouded by his frustrated ambition to become bishop of St. David’s.  This ambition led him to reject four Irish and two Welsh bishoprics, before being nominated for St. David’s in 1199, however, the archbishop of Canterbury promoted a rival candidate and Pope Innocent III quashed both elections in 1203, after King John of England had declared that Gerald was an enemy of the realm.

On 7th December 1916, with the support of the Conservative and Labour leaders, David Lloyd George replaced Herbert Asquith as British Prime Minister.  Lloyd George was 54 and at the height of his powers. His energy, eloquence, and ability had already made him the leading statesman of the day, and his accession to the premiership was highly popular in the country generally. He was the first and to date, the only Welshman to hold the office of Prime Minister.

 Though Lloyd George was not on good terms with the generals fighting the campaign on the Western Front, they respected the energy he brought to the political side of the campaign and his achievements in persuading the Royal Navy to introduce the convoy system and the unification of the Allied military command under the French general Ferdinand Foch, were both instrumental in him being acclaimed as the man who had won the war.

Penarth pier was opened in 1894 by the Penarth Promenade and Landing Pier Company.

The pier proved an immediate success, attracting thousands of holiday makers.  However, this was dramatically affected by the outbreak of World War One, when all the paddle steamers that used the pier, were commandeered as mine sweepers and the pier itself was used to protect the approach to Cardiff Docks. 

After the war, the pier was in a bad state of repair and in order tp repair the damage, the Pier Company claimed £7,228 from the War Compensation Court.   However on 7th December 1922, a decision was made to issue only £353.  The people of Penarth were outraged, but even an appeal to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Stanley Baldwin, did not see the decision reversed.   Undeterred the work of repairing the pier was undertaken and the paddle steamers returned, but the heyday of the pier was over and it was sold to the council in 1924.   

Born on this day 1912 in Pembroke 

Daniel Jenkyn Jones - one of the most distinguished classical composers of the 20th century, whose song settings were used in Dylan Thomas's play, "Under Milk Wood" 

Jones attended the Bishop Gore School in Swansea, where he formed a close friendship with Dylan Thomas, both becoming part of the informal group of aspiring artists called the Kardomah Gang.  Jones left Swansea to study music at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he won the Mendelssohn Scholarship in 1935, which allowed him to study in Czechoslovakia, France, the Netherlands and Germany, where he was also able to develop his linguistic skills.

During the War, he served as a captain in the Intelligence Corps at Bletchley Park as a decoder of Russian, Romanian and Japanese texts.  After the War, Jones published his memoir, My Friend Dylan Thomas, his fourth symphony, which is dedicated to the poet and also edited a collection of Thomas' poetry.  Charles Fisher another member of the Kardomah gang, described Dan Jones as a genius.   

Born on this day 1963 in Neath

Mark Bowen - former Wales soccer international who earned 41 Welsh caps as left-back.  In club football, he most associated with Norwich City, for whom he made 399 appearances and was voted their fans, the clubs best ever left-back.  Since retiring in 1999, he has worked as assistant to Mark Hughes with Wales and at Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Fulham and Stoke.