The politically and historically significant Welsh Church Act 1914 became effective from 18th September 1914.

It saw the disestablishment of the Church of England  in Wales and Monmouthshire and led to the creation of the Church in Wales.  the campaign to bring it to fruition was initiated in the mid-nineteenth century, by Welsh Nonconformists who objected to the paying of tithes to the Church of England and was later driven by the nationalist Cymru Fydd movement.

Red Sunday: 18th September 1927. 

This was a demonstration, ‘which took place on Penrhys Mountain  in Rhondda Valle, where the  General Secretary of the  Miners’ Federation , A J Cook called for a march to London on the 8th November to coincide with the opening of Parliament, in protest against the limiting of relief notes to unemployed miners and their families

Although the press generated hostility against the march, the 270 marchers gathered support from every town they passed through and were able to present their petition to Parliament.

The Welsh devolution referendum held on 18th September 1997 was to determine whether there was support for the creation of an assembly for Wales with devolved powers. The 1979 referendum had been such a resounding defeat that it killed off any prospects of devolution for Wales for a generation. However by 1992 The Labour Party, the Welsh Liberal Party and Plaid Cymru, were all committed to a Welsh Assembly with executive powers.  This combined with the unpopularity of the recently defeated Conservative government and their series of English based Conservative MPs that had been Welsh Secretaries since 1987, which included John Redwood and his infamous miming of the Welsh National Anthem at the Welsh Conservative Party conference,  encouraged people to vote for a Welsh Assembly.

The Death of Owain Glyndwr. 

Many believe that Glyndwr spent his last days disguised as a Franciscan friar and family tutor with his daughter Alice and her husband Sir John Scudamore at Monnington Straddel in Herefordshire.  Adam of Usk tells us that Glyndwr died in 1415 and was buried at night by his followers.  Another theory further suggests that his grave was discovered and that he was re buried in Carmarthenshire.

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Gwynfynydd Gold Mine near Ganllwyd, Dolgellau, Gwynedd, Wales, was discovered on 18th September  1860 and remained active until 1998, when it was closed due to Health and Safety problems, regarding the discharge from the mine into the River Mawddach.

Gold from the Gwynfynydd Mine was used in the Glyndŵr Award, which is presented annually for excellence in the arts in Wales. A kilogramme of the gold was also used for a present to Queen Elizabeth II on her 60th birthday.

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The notorious smuggler, William Owen, was born on 18th September 1717 in Nefern, Pembrokeshire.

Smugglers in the 18th century were hard, uncompromising men who lived under the constant threat of capture and imprisonment or death.  They, therefore, would kill rather than be captured and Owen, who operated mainly from his base on the Isle of Man, landing contraband brandy and salt along Cardigan Bay and the Llyn Peninsula, boasted about killing, at least, six men, in his autobiography, written during one spell of imprisonment.  Time finally ran out for Owen in 1747, when he was executed at Carmarthen Gaol, for murdering a man during a failed robbery attempt. 

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. 

Owain Glyndwr Day.

September 16th is the anniversary of the proclamation in 1400, of Owain Glyndwr as Prince of Wales and is now celebrated annually as Owain Glyndwr Day.

The revolt of Owain Glyndŵr began with dispute during 1399 and 1400, over a piece of land that Glyndwr claimed had been stolen by his neighbour, the Marcher Lord, Sir Reginald de Grey.  When Glyndwr received no justice from King Henry IV and his repeated appeals were ignored, he felt that he was left with no option other than to rebel against the unjust and oppressive rule of the English.

Word of Glyndwr's stance struck a chord with other disaffected Welsh people and he became the symbolic leader of the resistance movement against the crown and the arrogant Marcher Lords.  Glyndŵr raised his banner on the outskirts of Ruthin on 16th September 1400 and was proclaimed by his followers as Prince of Wales.

The men of Wales flocked in droves to Owain's banner as word of the revolt spread like wildfire throughout the country and many exiled Welsh people returned to join what had become a widespread national uprising.  The first attack in 1400, was on Ruthin, followed by those on Rhuddlan, Flint, Holt, Oswestry and Welshpool.  Glyndŵr held a Parliament at Machynlleth in 1404 and in 1406, wrote to King Charles VI of France, asking for his support in achieving Welsh independence, explaining his vision for establishing two Welsh universities and an independent Welsh Church.

However in 1409, Glyndwr had become besieged at Harlech Castle and this in effect was the end of the rebellion.  He did make his escape and remained unbetrayed and uncaptured until his supposed death in 1416.

Born on this day 1958 in Llandudno

Neville Southall   – former Wales soccer international goalkeeper and winner of the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1985.

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Millicent Lilian "Peg" Entwistle  was the Port Talbot-born stage and screen actress, who on 16th September 1932, gained notoriety by jumping to her death from the "H" of the Hollywoodland sign at age 24.

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On this day in 1918, the steamship Serula was torpedoed by a German U-Boat off Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire with the loss of 17 lives.  

U-boat is the anglicised version of the German word U-Boot, a shortening of Unterseeboot, meaning undersea boat.  At the start of World War I, Germany had twenty-nine U-boats, but by its end, this had increased to 360.  They were most effectively used in an economic warfare role, with their primary targets being the merchant ships bringing supplies into Britain and to counteract their effectiveness, Britain  introduced escorted convoys.

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The Llandudno Pier Pavilion opened on 16th September 1886. 

The 2,000-seat theatre quickly became successful, with hundreds of top acts, such as George Formby, Petula Clark, Arthur Askey, the Beverley Sisters and Cliff Richard, appearing there over the years. 

The theatre also hosted political conferences, which were attended by such political heavyweights as Lloyd George, Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain, Oswald Mosley, Winston Churchill and Edward Heath. 

The basement of the Pier Pavilion housed what was then the largest indoor swimming pool in Britain, but it did not prove successful, as there were problems with the water quality.

The theatre closed in 1984 and was destroyed by fire in 1994.

The Vancouver Island Coal Strike began on 16th Sept 1912.

Many Welsh immigrant miners joined other miners at the Canadian Collieries, Dunsmuir Mines in Vancouver in declaring an unofficial holiday in protest to the sacking of Oscar Mottishaw, for reporting the presence of explosive gas in the mine. 

The mine owners proceeded to lock them out and hire in strikebreakers. They then evicted the striking miners from their company houses, which forced them and their families to live in tents over winter, on what became known as "Striker's Beach" the beach

 As a gesture of compassion, the provincial government sent supplies navy beans, to keep them alive, which later became known as "Big Strike Beans"

On Saturday 15 September 1984 a memorial stone was unveiled by a Prifardd (chaired or crowned bard) to mark the site in the churchyard at Talley where a deeply-rooted tradition asserts that the poet Dafydd ap Gwilym (c.1315 - c.1350) lies buried.  However, for many centuries, the rival claims of Talley and Ystrad Fflur have been debated as  his burial place.  It is generally regarded that he was born at Brogynin, Penrhyn-coch (Llanbadarn Fawr parish), Ceredigion.

He is regarded as one of Wales' foremost poets and was responsible for popularising the metre known as the "cywydd".  His main themes were love and nature, with his work full of his own feelings and experiences and the troubadour poetry of Provençal, seen as a significant influence on his work.  Around one hundred and seventy poems of his have survived, although many later ones are attributed to him.  

On 15th September 1939, the regular passenger service on the Ffestiniog railway ceased to operate. 

The Ffestiniog Railway was opened as a horse-drawn tramway in 1836 to transport slate from the Blaenau Ffestiniog quarries to the harbour at Porthmadog.  The increase in cargoes (100,000 tons by the 1890s) led to the introduction of steam locomotives from the middle of the 19th century.  However the subsequent decline in the demand for slate saw the complete closure of the line.  However, in 1954, a group of enthusiasts stepped in to reopen the line and with twisting turns, steep gradients and a complete spiral, the Ffestiniog is now regarded as one of the U.K's most spectacular narrow-gauge lines.  

The Gleision Colliery mining accident occurred on 15 September 2011 at a drift mine in the Swansea Valley of South Wales.

The accident occurred while seven miners were working underground with explosives.  An initial explosion caused the tunnel in which the miners were working to begin to fill with water.  Three of the men managed to escape but the rescue operation to find the remaining four men found them dead the following day. This disaster was the worst to occur in Wales for three decades.  

Edward Jeffrey Hamm (15 September 1915 – 4 May 1994) who was born in Ebbw Vale was a leading British Fascist and supporter of Oswald Mosley.  

Born on 15th September 1846, William Jones from Pencnwr Farm at Dinas was a Welsh soldier in the American army. He emigrated to the United States in 1870, where he found work in Chicago as a coachman before joining the Cavalry and was killed fighting with General Custer at Little Big Horn in June 1876 

Another Welshman escaped the same fate was Lord Dunraven of Dunraven Castle in Southerndown, near Bridgend.  He had been hunting for elk with  Buffalo Bill Cody when he was invited by Custer to join an expedition against the Native Indians.  However, fortunately for him, he received the invitation too late.  

Look Back in Anger, released on 15th September, is a 1959 film starring Richard Burton and Edith Evans and directed by Tony Richardson. 

It is based on John Osborne's play of the same name about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man, his upper-middle-class, impassive wife and her snooty best friend, with the Welsh lodger, attempting to keep the peace.

On 14th September, 1171 Rhys ap Gruffydd (The Lord Rhys) the ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth, established a lasting peace with King Henry II of England. 

A timeline of key dates in the relationship between Rhys ap Gruffydd and Henry II;

1155  - Rhys became ruler of Deheubarth. 

1158  - Rhys was forced to submit to Henry 

1163  - Henry invaded Deheubarth, stripping Rhys of  his lands and taking him prisoner. Rhys was released a few weeks later, but only given back a small part of his land holdings.

1165  - After another invasion by Henry, Rhys made an alliance with Owain Gwynedd and took back most of his lands. 

1171  - Rhys came to terms with King Henry and was confirmed in possession of his recent conquests as well as being named Justiciar of South Wales.

1189  - Rhys and Henry maintained good relations until Henry's death in 1189. 

1197  - Rhys died on 28th April.

Britain adopted the Gregorian Calender on 14th September 1752, with the notable exception of The Gwaun Valley, near Fishguard in Pembrokeshire!

The reason for the change was that by 1582, the previous Julian Calender had fallen ten days behind, so Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull that from  February 24, 1582, the new Gregorian calendar would be the one used by the Catholic world.  There were unsuccessful attempts in Britain to address the problem in 1645 and 1699 but in 1752 it was finally decided that October 4th would be followed by October 15th.

However, people in the Gwaun Valley did not accept the change and continued to celebrate New Year, which they called Hen Galan on 13th January. 

On 14th September 1914 the 'Cardiff Pals' marched to war. 

At the end of August 1914, it was decided that the British Army needed an additional 100,000 volunteers in the war against Germany, so in an experimental move, they allowed groups of friends to enlist and serve in units together.

These units proved extremely popular, becoming known as the Pals Battalions and on 14th September 1914, the Cardiff Pals were seen off to war by hundreds of people  lining the streets. The Cardiff Pals went on to fight in Salonika for three years, defending Macedonia, northern Greece and the Aegean ports from German and Bulgarian forces. Tragically they suffered almost 100 casualties in one assault on 18th September 1918, barely two months before the end of the war ended. The devastating impact of such losses to individual communities led to the disbanding of Pals Battalions for future conflicts.

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For risking his own life, by going under enemy fire to rescue his senior officer and then carrying him 100 yards to safety at the  First Battle of the Aisne   in northern France on this day in 1914, Lance Corporal William Charles Fuller,from Laugharne became the first Welshman of World War I to be awarded the Victoria Cross.

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The Bishop Gore Secondary school in Swansea was founded on 14th September 1682 by Hugh Gore (1613–1691), Bishop of Waterford and Lismore. 

Old Goreans include Martin Amis, Dylan Thomas, Wynford Vaughan Thomas and Alun Wyn Jones.

Born on this day in Llandaff, Cardiff in 1916, Roald Dahl, who was one of the most successful children's writers in the world, with in excess of thirty million book sales in the U.K.

Dahl's Norwegian parents had moved to Cardiff, but his father and sister died when he was only three years old.  After school Dahl worked for Shell Petroleum in Africa, before joining the RAF as a pilot during World War II.  He was shot down in Libya, which inspired his first story, 'A Piece of Cake'.  After the war, Dahl married American, Oscar-winning actress, Patricia Neal and settled in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire It was here that in 1961, inspired by the bedtime stories he told his daughters, he wrote " James and the Giant Peach".  He followed this with his best sellers "Danny the Champion of the World", "The Big Friendly Giant" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" among many others.

Dahl's private life was struck by the tragic death of his daughter Olivia and Patricia, nearly died during the pregnancy of their fifth child and Dahl devoted himself to nursing her back to health.  Later they separated and Dahl married Felicity

Dahl, who died in 1990, wrote for four hours everyday in his little hut in the garden and was particular in using the same brand of pencil and special yellow paper.

Born on this day 1520

William Cecil  - chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I.  At one time or another, he held all the major political posts in the land 

Although born in Bourne, Lincolnshire, Cecil's continued interest in Wales appears in;

i)   The pains he took to establish his Welsh pedigree.  The ancestral name,  ‘Sitsyllt’ was softened down to ‘Sissild,’ ‘Cyssel,’ ‘Cecild,’ and ‘Cecil’ in the course of the 15th and 16th cent. The Seisyllt's ancestral home is Allt yr Ynys, near Abergavenny and his family had fought for Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth. 

ii)   His introduction into princess Elizabeth 's household of one of his Brecknock connections, Thomas Parry, who became her Comptroller. 

iii)   His investment in trials for copper in Anglesey.

iv)   His association with Morys Clynog,   who wrote him a letter in Welsh from Rome ( May 1567), warning him of the queen 's impending excommunication.

v)   Cecil's elder son Thomas Cecil, earl of Exeter was equally anxious to establish his Welsh descent and deplored the change in spelling that obscured it. 

Cecil worked very long hours and impressed his colleagues with his ability to hold a seemingly vast amount of information. He became a trusted and indispensable advisor to the Queen whose opinions she relied on.  Although Britain was protestant, Cecil believed in toleration where religion was concerned, as long as Catholics and Puritans remained loyal to the Queen.    However, anyone who betrayed the Queen had to expect the most severe of consequences.  This is thought to be the reason that, Cecil, who saw  Mary, Queen of Scots as  a figurehead that disloyal Catholics could rally around, was instrumental in putting her on trial.

It was Cecil who first employed the Queen’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, whose evidence led to Mary’s execution for treason.  Cecil was also highly influential in foreign policy and saw France and Spain as threats to England  and was content to support one at the expense of the other.

Born on this day 1755 in Newport, Delaware, to a Welsh family. 

Oliver Evans -  inventor of the automobile

At the end of the 18th century, Philadelphia had become a very busy port, but the harbour was prone to silting up, so Evans was Evans was commissioned by the Philadelphia Board of Health to help dredge out the city's dockyards. In 1804, he designed and built the  Oruktor Amphibolos ( Amphibious Digger),  but at 15 tons and 30 feet long, it was a challenge in itself to get it to the dockyards.  On the first attempt it had collapsed in Philadelphia's Centre Square, proving too heavy to be pulled by horses, so Evans, who had  and had built steam engines for the flour industry previously used one of his steam engines to transport the monstrous digger to the docks.  In so doing he had created the first automobile.  He was, however, unable to capitalise on his invention, due to difficulty in getting financial support and patents and it was left to men such as Richard Trevithick, to further the development of steam-powered transport.

Evans also designed a refrigeration machine which ran on vapor in 1805 and as such is often called the inventor of the refrigerator, although he never built one and his design was modified by Jacob Perkins, who obtained the first patent for a refrigerating machine in 1834.

On 13th September 2010, archaeologists digging at a site in south Wales uncovered an entire suit of Roman armour and some weapons. 

The discovery was made at the fortress of Caerleon and was only the third or fourth to be found in the UK, and the first in Wales. 

The suit was found alongside a number of copper and bronze studs and hinges and was in remarkably good condition considering Roman armour was usually made of iron.

Caerleon (Isca), which dates from AD 75 and was occupied for between 200 and 300 years, was one of three permanent legionary fortresses in the UK and was built to house 5,500 Roman citizens. 

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13th September 1972- Hypermarkets made their debut in the United Kingdom some twenty years after first appearing in France, when French retail giant Carrefour opened a hypermarket in Caerphilly.

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On the Black Hill, directed by Andrew Grieve and based on the novel of the same name by Bruce Chatwin was premiered on 13th September 1988. 

On the Black Hill begins in 1900 with the marriage of dour, puritanical Welsh farmer Amos Jones (Bob Peck) to his social superior, vicar’s daughter Mary Latimer (Gemma Jones).  Through her connections, they are able to rent a local farm, 'The Vision', which causes resentment in their relationship. Their twins Lewis (Robert Gwilym) and Benjamin (Mike Gwilym) grow up through wars, romance and separation and are still farming at 'The Vision' eighty years later. 

Welsh locations for the film included The Black Mountains, Hay-on-Wye and Crickhowell, with props and furniture loaned from local people and appropriate garments knitted by the local WI.

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Born on this day 1964 in Cardiff

Paul Bodin  former Wales soccer international, who played the majority of his career for Swindon Town.  He memorably missed a penalty in the decisive 1994 World Cup qualifier at home to Romania. With the score at 1-1, victory would have secured qualification and Wales were awarded a penalty.  Bodin, normally an excellent penalty taker, took on the responsibility of the kick, but under the immense pressure caused by the enormity of the outcome, hammered the penalty against the bar. Wales went on to lose the match 2-1 and it has been  judged one of the most heartbreaking moments in Welsh sporting history.  Bodin was distraught, but in time has found peace with what had happened.   He is a sensible, dignified man who commendably states that  "I became a better person for what happened"

Born on this day 1951 in Kidwelly

Ray Gravell - former Wales and Lions rugby international

Born in Kidwelly, the son of a collier, Gravell moved to Mynydd Y Garreg at a young age with his family and was educated at Burry Port Secondary Modern School and Carmarthen Grammer School.  He played club rugby for Llanelli and was a member of the team that beat the All Blacks in 1972, eventually going on to captain the club for two seasons from 1980 to 1982.   He made 23 appearances for Wales and played in two Grand Slam winning sides.  In his later career, he would become a respected broadcaster and was also the Grand Sword Bearer of the Gorsedd of Bards, known by his bardic name Ray o'r Mynydd. 

In 2000, he was diagnosed with diabetes which resulted in his right leg being amputated below the knee.  Just six months after the operation, Gravell died of a heart attack on 31 October 2007.  A public funeral was held at Stradey Park, attended by up to ten thousand mourners from all over Wales. Gravell's coffin was carried on to the field by six Llanelli players and during the ceremony, the scoreboard read "Llanelli 9 Seland Newydd 3", just as it did at the end of that famous match in 1972.

At the Wales v France match at the Millenium Stadium in March 2008, Gravell's daughters, Gwenan and Manon, led the Wales team on to the pitch carrying the Triple Crown plate and in the same match, members of the coaching staff wore number 13 shirts bearing Gravell's name .  

Born on this day 1942 in Bancyfelin, near Carmarthen

Delme Thomas - former Wales and Lions rugby international.   As a player Thomas never took a backward step and is best remembered as a warrior like captain of Llanelli RFC.

A quietly spoken man who led by example, his emotional pre-match speech before Llanelli's famous victory against the All Blacks in 1972, moved players to tears and has gone down in rugby legend.  

At the National Eisteddfod in Llanelli in 2000, Thomas was inducted into the Gorsedd of the Bards, in recognition of his contributions to the Welsh language and to Welsh sport .

Born on this day 1939 in Carmarthen

Dennis Coslett - political activist and a member of the Free Wales army, who along with Cayo Evans was imprisoned for 15 months for public order offences in the period just before the Investiture of Prince Charles at Caernarfon in 1969.

At 18, Coslett joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers and later became a coal mine shot firer, where after an industrial accident, he lost the sight of his left eye.

Following, what he saw as Plaid Cymru's insufficient protest to the flooding of the Tryweryn valley in 1965 to provide water supplies for Liverpool, he joined the Free Wales Army, with its aim of independence for Wales.

After his release from prison, Coslett began writing as a career having two books published,"Rebel Heart" and "Patriots and Scoundrels"  

Born on this day 1954 in Cardiff

Sir Michael Jonathan Moritz -  Wales' richest person, estimated as having a fortune of £558 million.

Moritz was educated at Howardian High School in Cardiff before graduating from Christ Church, Oxford with a BA in history. Soon after leaving university he headed to the USA where he worked as a journalist for Time magazine before joining venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, where he is now chairman.  He gave the founders of YouTube rooms at Sequoia's offices as they attempted to work out how to share videos in the company's early days, noting that it amused him that they never made it to work before lunchtime. He made his fortune by investing in internet companies such as YouTube, PayPal, Yahoo, Google, eToys and Zappos.

Moritz is a signatory of "The Giving Pledge", committing himself to give away at least 50% of his wealth to charitable causes  and has donated £75m to Oxford University to support students from families with an income below £16,000 per year.   the largest single donation in the college’s history.

Sir Michael has said he would not even be here today if it were not for the "generosity of strangers", his father had been "plucked" from Nazi Germany and able to attend a good London school on a scholarship, before going on to study at Oxford and settling in Cardiff and maintains that "My personal circumstances have been defined and shaped by where I started in Wales"  

Born on this day 1914 in Newport and raised in Betws.  

Desmond Llewelyn - actor, famous for having played Q in 17 of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1999.  

Llewelyn, the son of a coal mining engineer originally wanted to be a minister but discovered acting by working as a stagehand in school productions.  At the outbreak of World War II, he halted his acting career and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Welch Fusiliers.  In 1940, he became a prisoner of war at Colditz Castle for five years, when captured by the Germans.

 The  Newport Transporter Bridge was opened on September 12th, 1906.  It is one of only six such bridges in the world still operating.

A transporter bridge is in effect, a suspended ferry operated by a high-level boom, which is suspended from towers at each end.

By 1900, Newport's industry had expanded on the east side of the river Usk, but the population was largely based on the west side.  The transporter bridge was seen as the most economical way of carrying the workforce, to their place of work, as a conventional ferry had proved not to be practical, due to the extreme tides and a conventional bridge would have needed a long approach ramp in order to gain enough height to allow tall ships to pass under. 

 On 12th September 2013, The Church in Wales made the historic decision to create women bishops.    

On its completion on 12th September 2008,  The Tower, Meridian Quay in Swansea, became the tallest building in Wales at 107m (351ft).

The tower, which has 29 storeys, houses mainly residential apartments, with a restaurant on the top three floors.  It is reported that a penthouse apartment on the 26th floor was sold for £1 million.  

Born on this day 1933 in Swansea

Len Allchurch - former wales soccer international, whose playing career spanned almost twenty years, most notably he played in the top flight with Sheffield United and had lengthy spells with Swansea City and Stockport County. He is the brother of the late Ivor Allchurch and had the distinction of never receiving a booking or a caution throughout his entire Football League career.  Allchurch earned 11 caps for Wales and was part of the Welsh squad at the 1958 FIFA World Cup.  On his retirement Allchurch became an hotelier in Swansea before running a leather goods business.

The first Women's Institute meeting in Britain was held in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch on 11 September 1915

The WI movement had begun in Canada in 1897 for the wives of members of the Farmers' Institute.  In the UK,  it was originally set up to revitalise rural communities and to encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War.  After the first year, there were 40 WIs across the UK and has since grown to become the UK's largest women's voluntary organisation. There are in excess of 200,000 members in over 6,500 branches, offering women the chance to take part in a range of  various activities and to campaign for important  local issues.

The Abercarn colliery disaster occurred following an explosion within the Prince of Wales Colliery in the village of Abercarn, on 11 September 1878, killing 268 men and boys.

Shortly after midday, the inhabitants of the valley were startled by the reverberation of three distinct explosions, followed by the sight of fierce flames and dense  smoke issuing from the mouth of the shaft.   The colliery’s steam whistle blew, signalling an emergency  and in a remarkably short space of time the roads leading to the pit were crowded with men, women, and children hastening to ascertain what had happened. Search parties were organised without delay.  The rescue was hampered by the fact that  the explosion had caused significant damage to mine’s roadways and supporting timber structures, the shaft was full of smoke and overturned trams were strewn all around.  By the faint light of the safety lamps rescuers saw dead human bodies intermingled with those of  horses, but incredibly there were survivors.  Badly shook and severely burned,  82 colliers were  drawn up the shaft to the safety of the open air.  But the rejoicing of those outside was short-lived, as most of the survivors were suffering from the effects of the toxic after-damp and death soon released them from their sufferings 

The cause of the disaster was assumed to have been the ignition of firedamp by a safety lamp and it is the third worst for loss of life to occur within the South Wales Coalfield.

Today is the feast day of Saint Deiniol (died 584)  the first Bishop of Bangor.

Saint Deiniol  was the grandson of Pabo Post Prydain a King of Yr Hen Ogledd, and when the family lost their land in the North of England, they were given land by the King of Powys, Cyngen ap Cadell.  Deiniol is said to have studied under St Cadoc and to have been later given land by Maelgwyn Gwynedd to found a monastery on the site where Bangor Cathedral now stands.  He attended the Synod of Llanddewi Brefi c.545 with Saint David and was also consecrated by David the same year. He is buried on Bardsey Island and is also venerated in Monmouthshire, Herefordshire and Brittany.

On September 11th 1297, The Battle of Stirling Bridge occurred.  It was the scene of William Wallace's greatest triumph against the English.

The 'name' Wallace is an old Scots term meaning Welsh speaking or 'of Welsh stock' and although William Wallace was born and raised in Scotland, it is almost certain that his ancestors were Welsh. The Wallace's left Oswestry, which up until that time was in Wales, for Scotland around the year 1170.

The town of Stirling was the key entry point to the north of Scotland and a mighty English Army under the command of the Earl of Surrey, had arrived in Stirling on a mission to put down Scots resistance to English rule.  The Scots waited until half of the English force had crossed the bridge. Then William Wallace led a charge that cut into the unprepared English, splitting their army in two, and reinforcements from the far bank could only be sent in twos across the bridge. Most of the men who had crossed were killed by the Scots and the English baggage train was captured. Surrey fled south to Berwick. 

Wallace went on to lead a destructive raid into northern England and by March 1298, he had emerged as Guardian of Scotland. His glory, however, was brief, for Edward I, who had returned from Flanders, led a force north himself.  The two men finally met on the field of Falkirk in the summer of 1298, where Wallace was defeated and forced to go on the run.

Wallace evaded capture until 5 August 1305 when he was turned over to the English and transported to London, where he was tried and found guilty of treason.  In his defence, his stated that he was never Edward's subject and, therefore, could not be a traitor. However on 23rd August 1305, he was stripped naked and dragged through the city at the heels of a horse to the Elms at Smithfield, where he was hanged, drawn and quartered, released whilst still alive, emasculated and his bowels burnt in front of him.  He was then beheaded and his preserved head (dipped in tar) was placed on a pike on top of London Bridge.

Born on this day 1977  in Carmarthen

Matthew Stevens  - Professional snooker player. Stevens has won the Benson and Hedges Masters (2000) and the UK Championship (2003).  He was also  runner-up in the World Snooker Championship in 2000 and 2005.

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46 people, including 14 from South Wales, died on 11th September 1982 when a Chinook helicopter crashed into a motorway in Mannheim in Germany. 

Members of the Swansea Skydiving Club had been invited to take part in an air show to celebrate the 375th anniversary of the city of Mannheim.  They were part of a group trying to set a free-falling world record. 

Thousands of spectators gathered to watch parachutists from the twinned cities of Swansea, Mannheim and Toulon in France, trying to form the largest ever joined-circle of free-falling skydivers.  However, the helicopter developed problems and an emergency landing was attempted when the rear rotor blade detached and the aircraft crashed on a nearby motorway.