Cardiff acheived city status on 28th October 1905 in recognition of its great economic and industrial success.

 A timeline history of Cardiff;

Long barrows such as those at Tinkinswood and Coedkernew demonstrate the presence of people in the area in Neolithic times. 

The area was populated by the Silures tribe by the first century AD. The origins of the name Cardiff most probably derives from the Welsh/Brythonic name Caerdydd - "fort on the Taff".

The Romans began to settle the area c 75 AD  and built a fort on the banks of the Taff, to protect the Severn estuary. 

In 1081, the Normans built a castle on the site of the old Roman fort.

In the Middle Ages, Cardiff had developed into a port and trading centre, with a population of approximately 1,500. In 1404, during the rebellion of Owain Glyndwr, the town and castle were burned.

Cardiff was created a free borough in 1542.

Cardiff, strategically positioned at the bottom of coal and iron valleys, benefited greatly from the Industrial Revolution, with the first dock being built in 1830.

By 1881, Cardiff was the most populous town in Wales.

Cardiff achieved city status on 28th October 1905

Cardiff was proclaimed the capital city of Wales on 20th December 1955.

The Empire Games  were held in Cardiff in 1958. 

Cardiff today is the home of the Welsh Assembly Government and the largest waterfront development in Europe.

How Green Was My Valley, released on 28th October 1941 is a drama film set in the South Wales Valleys and directed by John Ford.

The novel on which How Green Was My Valley is based,is a 1939 novel by Richard Llewellyn, telling the story through narration of the main character, of his Welsh family and the mining community in which they live.  

Released on DVD on 28th October 1997, Twin Town, set in Port Talbot and Swansea and featuring an almost exclusively Welsh cast.

In the film, Swansea, is shown as it is viewed by two disaffected young brothers played by real-life brothers Llyr and Rhys Ifans. They steal cars, smoke dope, and generally cause mayhem in the town.

Born on this day 1950 in Tylorstown in the Rhondda Valley.

John Charles Bevan, nicknamed "The Ox" - former Wales and Lions rugby international. 

Born on this day 1953 in Cardiff

Philip John Dwyer- former Wales soccer international, who played 471 times for Cardiff City, which is the club's all-time appearance record. 

Dylan Marlais Thomas was born on October 27, 1914, at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive in Swansea. His father was an English teacher at the local grammar school and would recite Shakespeare to Thomas before he could read.  

 He therefore excelled in English and reading but neglected other subjects and dropped out of school at sixteen to become a junior reporter for a local newspaper.  Then in 1932, he decided to concentrate on poetry full time. 

In 1934,  Thomas moved to London and published his first book of poems, to great acclaim. Two years later, Thomas met the dancer Caitlin Macnamara and married in 1937. The marriage however, was turbulent, with rumours of both having multiple affairs.  The couple left London in 1944 and eventually settled at the Boat House in Laugharne. 

In January 1950, Thomas engaged on a reading tour in America, which was a great success. However on a further tour in 1953, he collapsed in the Chelsea Hotel after a long drinking bout at the White Horse Tavern and on November 9th, he died at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City at the age of 39.

He is buried in Laugharne and has a memorial plaque in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey.  

Born on this day 1617 in Knucklas, Radnorshire.

Puritan preacher - Vavasor Powell

Powell was educated at Jesus College, Oxford, before returning to Wales as a schoolmaster during which time he also became an itinerant Puritan preacher, travelling throughout Wales.

In the build up to the English Civil War, Powell was forcibly removed from Llanyrne Church in Ross by the Royalist Bishop Hugh Lloyd and imprisoned.  At the end of theFirst Civil War in 1646,  Powell returned to Wales and resumed his itinerant preaching. 

In 1650, he was  appointed by Parliament to identify incompetent ministers, but was arrested again in 1653, for criticising Oliver Cromwell for  accepting the office of Lord Protector.  After the Restoration in 1660, Powell was arrested again and spent the majority of his last ten years in prison.  

On October 27th 1913, South Wales experienced a tornado which was described as 'unusually destructive'. 

The storm was short, but the damage it caused was extensive.  It was at its worst at Edwardsville, where a man and a small boy were killed, houses were destroyed, and trees uprooted. 

Vice Admiral Sir Hugh Evan-Thomas (27 October 1862 – 30 August 1928)  was a British Royal Navy officer, who distinguished himself at The Battle of Jutland during World War I and of whom, Admiral of the Fleet John Jellicoe had the greatest admiration.

Thomas' family owned the Llwynmadoc estate near Beulah, Powys, the Gnoll in Neath and Pencerrig near Builth Wells. After his death, a memorial service was held at Eglwys Oen Duw church in Beulah and a year later, Neath council purchased the Gnoll estate, to serve as a public park, where a war memorial would later be erected. 

Guto Nyth Brân 

Griffith Morgan (1700–1737), -  “the fastest man of his time”, known better as Guto Nyth Brân.  It is thought that Guto was born on 26th October 1700, at Nyth Brân farm in Llwyncelyn, a small village, near Porth.

It was said that Guto's speed was first noticed when he managed to catch a wild hare.  Another legend has it that he could run the 7 miles, to the local town of Pontypridd and back home again, before his mother's kettle had boiled. 

 Seeing his potential the local shopkeeper, Siân o'r Siop (Siân from the Shop), became his trainer and manager and organised a race on Hirwaun Common against an unbeaten English Captain, for a £400 prize.  Guto won the race won easily and kept on winning, remaining unbeaten until he was 30.  Over the years, Guto and Sian had fallen in love and Guto decided to retire to enjoy a quiet life with Sian.

However in 1737, a new champion runner had emerged, called the "Prince of Bedwas" and Sian persuaded Guto to have one last race against Prince, for a prize of 1000 guineas.  The race was over the 12 miles  from Newport to Bedwas and was a very even contest.  Nearing the finish, Prince held a slender lead, however, one last lung bursting effort from Guto saw him cross the line first.  However in the celebrations after, Guto collapsed and died in Sian's arms.

In memory of Guto, the Ras Nos Galan is run every year on New Years Eve at Mountain Ash, over the course of Guto's first ever race.  It has become a tradition of this race for a mystery runner to compete and over the years, this has included Iwan Thomas, Linford Christie and Alun Wyn Jones  At the conclusion of the race, a wreath is then placed on Guto's grave in Llanwynno graveyard.  There is also a commemorative statue of Guto in Mountain Ash.

The first group of Welsh Mormons, led by Dan Jones from Halkin, Flintshire, arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 26th October 1849 after a voyage of more than eight months. More than one-fifth of them died of cholera on route and heavy snows, delayed them and killed many of their animals.

Today is the feast day of St Gwynno 

 According to local tradition, Gwynno was one of the disciples of the great Illtud, who founded the monastery at Llanilltud Fawr (Llantwit Major). The church at Llantwit Fardre, south of Pontypridd, is dedicated to Illtud, and the old church at Ystradyfodwg, in the Rhondda Fawr, is dedicated to another of his followers, Tyfodwg. Illtyd, Tydodwg and Gwynno are the ‘three saints’ of Llantrisant, the old hilltop town west of Pontypridd. John Morgans, the minister at Penrhys, liked to picture the old abbot and his young followers meeting at Penrhys, the holy place between their three churches. 

Another local tradition has Gwynno hailing from Britanny. When Illtud’s followers fled Wales because of the Yellow Plague in 547, they took refuge in Britanny. Returning to Wales, they brought with them several Bretons, including Gwynno and Tyfodwg.  Buried in the churchyard of Gwynno's church of Llanwynno near Abercynon, Pontypridd, is Guto Nyth Brân.  In recent years, the church and the churchyard of Llanwynno have been used as locations for the TV series Doctor Who.  

The Wreck of 'The Royal Charter' 

The Royal Charter was a steam clipper which was wrecked off the beach of Porth Alerth in Dulas Bay on the north-east coast of Anglesey on 26th October 1859.  With approximately 459 people killed, it is the highest loss of life in any shipwreck off the Welsh coast.

The Royal Charter was returning to Liverpool from Melbourne, when the wind rose to Hurricane force, grounding the ship on a sandbank before the rising tide, driven by 100mph winds, smashed her into rocks and she broke up.  There were only 39 survivors.  

Approximately 200 other ships were wrecked by the storm that night and it has become known as the "Royal Charter gale".

Many of the victims were buried at nearby St Gallgo's Church, Llanallgo, where there is a memorial.  There is also a memorial on the cliff top above the spot where the ship struck.

Interestingly, The Royal Charter was carrying a large cargo of Gold, much of which was washed ashore at Porth Alerth beach and the disaster was described by Charles Dickens, working as a journalist at the time, who visited the scene and spoke with the rector of Llanallgo, the Rev. Stephen Roose Hughes.  It is thought that the trauma of the incident probably led to the rector’s own premature death soon afterwards.    

Born on this day 1947 in Chicago

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton.

Both her father, Hugh Rodham, and her mother, Dorothy Howell were of Welsh descent.

The Battle of Agincourt occurred on 25th October 1415   

Welsh involvement at The Battle of Agincourt;

In 1415, Henry V took an army into France as part of his ambition to take over the rule of France and captured the key city of Honfleur.  He then marched his 5000 soldiers  towards Calais to sail back to England but was persued by a French army 20,000, which caught up with them near the village of Agincourt.  Hungry, tired and outnumbered, the situation looked bleak for Henry and his army.   However, a number of factors worked to Henry's advantage which resulted in him being able to secure an unlikely victory.  Firstly the French were a disunified group relying on the traditional armored knight, weighed down by their heavy armour,  while the English had a large contingent of foot soldiers armed with the Longbow, the ultimate defensive weapon of the day. Also, heavy rains overnight had created soggy ground conditions that negated the advantage of  the French cavalry.

In the battle itself, the French attempted to press home massive cavalry charges against the English across a narrow front of a wet field.  In response, Henry set up his archers in a half moon formation around the field, so that they were able to fire not only straight into the onrushing French, but also from both sides.  The thousands of high velocity, armor piercing arrows across a narrow front soon reduced the French attack to a mass of dismounted and crippled men and horses.  English infantry then attacked, killing many and taking a vast amount of prisoners, most of whom Henry controversially ordered to be executed.

 Welsh longbowmen are considered to have played a significant role in securing victory at the battle and their presence was mainly due to the fact that in 1415, Henry V had a great control over lands in Wales, he held several Marcher lordships in South Wales, notably Brecon, Kidwelly, Monmouth and Hay, there were also the lands of the principality which were  under the king’s control.  Through his years spent combating Owain Glyndwr's rebellion, Henry was familiar with the skill and expertise of the Welsh archers, so it stood to reason that he would wish to recruit them for his French campaigns.  It is thought that approximately 460 Welsh troops joined Henry's army, from all parts of South Wales, however, it is recorded that there were manyfrom Llantrisant.   They were mustered in Carmarthen and Brecon, on 26 June 1415. The combined force met at Brecon before marching to Hereford and then south to Southampton.

The French often amputated the index and middle fingers of captured bowmen, so that they would be unable to draw their bow, hence during the battle, Welsh bowmen taunted the French by giving them a two-fingered salute of defiance. 

 Among the Welshmen who fought, Dafydd Gam, an opponent of Owain Glyndwr during the Rebellion of 1400, is the only one known to have been killed.  It is said that he was struck down whwn he intervened to save Henry's life. 

On 25th October 1415, Dafydd Gam was Killed on the field of The Battle of Agincourt, reportedly saving the life of King Henry V

Sir Dafydd ap Llewelyn ap Hywel (c. 1380 – October 25, 1415), better known as Dafydd Gam or Davy Gam,  (The name "Gam" is a Welsh word meaning "crooked" or "bent", as it is recorded that Gam had a characteristic squint), was a member of one of the most prominent Welsh families in Breconshire, from Pen-pont on the river Usk, where his family's power base had developed from their consistent support for the marcher Lords of Brecon of the de Bohun family.  S0 when Henry Bolingbroke (the future Henry IV) married the de Bohun heiress Mary and became Lord of Brecon, Dafydd Gam's family's allegiance transferred to him.  Dafydd himself was in Henry's service, being paid the substantial annuity of 40 marks by Henry’s estate in 1399,

Dafydd Gam is regarded as a traitor by many Welsh people as he was  a prominent opponent of Owain Glyndwr.  When the Glyndwr rebellion broke out in 1400, Gam played a leading role in its opposition in the area and his lands in and around Brecon became a target for Glyndŵr's attacks.  In 1404, according to legend Gam tried to assassinate Glyndŵr at his parliament at Machynlleth, but was released soon after the Parliament.  If true this generous gesture would come back to haunt Glyndwr, as in 1905, Dafydd is named as a leader in the crushing defeat of Glyndŵr's men at the Battle of Pwll Melyn, near Usk, at which 300 of Glyndŵr's men were executed .  His loyalty being rewarded with the gift of some of Glyndŵr's supporters' confiscated estates in Cardiganshire.  In 1412 Gam was captured by Glyndŵr’s men and his ransom was paid directly and speedily from the King’s estates in Wales, indicating the esteem in which Gam was held by Henry.  Glyndŵr had made Gam swear an oath to never bear arms against him again or oppose him in any other way, but on his release Gam immediately reneged on this oath, which resulted in  Glyndŵr having Gam's Brecon estates attacked and burned in retaliation.

When Henry IV died in 1413, Henry V became ruler and Gam again was a loyal servant to the new king.  Gam went with Henry V on campaign to France in 1415 and met his death on the field of Agincourt.  Many reports of the battle suggest that in the late stages of the battle, with the result in the balance, Henry V was engaged in hand to hand fighting with the Duke of Alençon, who supposedly cut an ornament from Henry’s crown with a sword blow.  Gam is said to have personally intervened to save Henry's life, only to have been struck a fatal blow in doing so and that as he lay dying on the field, he was knighted by King Henry.  

Today is the feast day of St Canna

Saint Canna (Born c.520)  Canna was a daughter of the Breton King Tudur Mawr, she came to Wales with her husband Sadwrn, who soon after left to become a hermit on Anglesey.  She became a nun at Llangan, nr Cowbridge, where the church is named after her and where also stands a sculptured wheel-head cross,dedicated to her.  It shows Christ on the cross and a person at either side, the right hand figure is thought to be St Longinus the centurion piercing the side of Christ with his lance, whilst the left side figure is thought to be the devil with a strange-shaped head.

Canna's name is also associated with two suburbs of Cardiff, Canton and Pontcanna and there are many depictions of her in art holding a staff which miraculously flowers, which may refer to the legend whereby, upon feeling the pangs of childbirth, she grasped at a dry rowan stick which immediately burst into leaf. 

On 25th October 1970, The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales were canonized by Pope Paul VI.

The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales comprise a group of Catholic men and women who were executed for treason and related offences in the Kingdom of England between 1535 and 1679.  This religious repression existed in part because faithful Roman Catholics were required to rebel against the English Crown and they are considered by the Catholic Church to be Christian martyrs.  Six of those canonized were Welsh and the Catholic Church in Wales, keeps 25th October as the feast of the 'Six Welsh Martyrs and their companions'.

The Welsh Martyrs are the priests Phillip Evans, John Lloyd, John Jones, David Lewis, and John Roberts and the teacher Richard Gwyn.   

On 25th October 2012, Archbishop Desmond Tutu visited Wales, as a guest of the First Minister.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate and anti-apartheid campaigner, made his historic visit to recognise the achievements of volunteers and organisations who supported the Wales for Africa movement.  In his address at City Hall- Desmond Tutu particularly thanked Wales for helping to free South Africa from Apartheid.

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.

On 23rd October 1739 the War of Jenkins' Ear Began

The War of Jenkins' Ear was a conflict between Great Britain and Spain that lasted from 1739 to 1748.

Robert Jenkins, from Llanelli, was captain of a British merchant ship, returning home from the West Indies when his ship was boarded by the Spanish on suspicion of smuggling.  The Spanish commander bound Jenkins to the mast and cut off one of his ears.  He then told him to tell his King, that he would get the same.

On his return, Jenkins exhibited his severed year in Parliament and this was the spark that ignited a simmering resentment towards the Spanish, who had reneged on an agreement for Britain to sell slaves in Spanish America

 After 1742, this war became part of the much larger, War of the Austrian Succession, in which most of the states in Europe became involved. In particular, France and Britain, who were fighting each other for control of the American and Asian Colonies.

Born on this day 1926 in Tonypandy. 

Glyn Houston - film and television actor, who served in the army during World War II.  He is the brother of the late film actor Donald Houston. 

Houston is perhaps best remembered for his role as "Duncan Thomas", in the 1980s British sitcom Keep It in the Family.  His other credits include My Good Woman, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Softly, Softly, Minder, Inspector Morse,  and Doctor Who.  

The Guildhall in Swansea was formally opened on 23rd October 1934.

The Guildhall is one of the main office buildings of the City and County of Swansea Council.   The complex comprises the City Hall, Brangwyn Hall (concert hall) and the County Law Courts for Swansea.  The building is finished in white Portland stone and includes the landmark, tall art deco clock-tower.  

The Claerwen reservoir and dam in the Elan Valley in Powys was formally opened on 23rd October 1952.

It was the last addition to the Elan Valley Reservoirs  system built to provide for the increasing water demand of Birmingham.  During its construction, it was necessary to employ the services of Italian Stonemasons as British ones were still at work in London during the post-war rebuilding process of the late 1940s.  The dam took six years to complete and is almost the size of all the other reservoirs in the Elan Valley system combined.   

On 23rd October 1863, Festiniog Railway, was the first public narrow gauge railway in the world, to introduce steam locomotives into general service.

The line was constructed between 1833 and 1836 to transport slate from the quarries around the inland town of Blaenau Ffestiniog to the coastal town of Porthmadog where it was loaded onto ships. The railway line was was sloped, so that loaded wagons could be run by gravity downhill all the way from Blaenau Ffestiniog to the port. The empty wagons were then hauled back up by horses.

During the late 1850s, it became clear that the line was reaching its operational capacity while the output of the Blaenau Ffestiniog slate quarries continued to rise. In 1860, the board of the company began to investigate the possibility of introducing steam locomotives to increase the carrying capacity of the railway. In 1862 the company advertised for manufacturers to tender to build the line's first locomotives. In February 1863, the bid of George England and Co. was accepted and production of the first locomotives was begun.

These steam locomotives allowed much longer slate trains to be run and this also enabled the official introduction of passenger trains in 1865: the Ffestiniog was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain to carry passengers.

Today, the Ffestiniog Railway is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park, travelling through both forested and mountainous scenery.

On 22nd October 1942 the Welsh Courts Act 1942 was enacted.

Since the Acts of Union in 1536, only English had been used in the law courts, ignoring the fact that most people in Wales only spoke Welsh.  The 1942 act gave Welsh people the right to use Welsh in courts providing that the Welsh speaker was under a disadvantage in having to speak English.

This was by no means an ideal situation, as such a disadvantage had to be proved and there was a problem in finding a judge or magistrate who understood the Welsh language.  However, it can be seen as a slackening of legislation which ultimately led to the Welsh Language Act 1967, which  gave rise to the concept of 'equal validity' between the Welsh and English languages and was a much more robust and useful piece of legislation.

Today is the feast day of Saint Mellon

Saint Mellon (Mellionius) was born c.229 in Cardiola (Cardiff), the son of local Welsh nobility.

Whilst in Rome accompanying taxes due from the province, he heard Pope Stephen I preaching and was converted to Christianity, being baptized by Stephen shortly afterwards.

He sold his property and gave the profits to the poor, studied Christianity and was ordained.  He then received a vision of an angel telling him to evangelize the area of Rouen in modern France, where he became its first bishop and performed many miracles including an exorcism where he cast out devils from monkeys.  He died in 311 and is buried in St Gervais Church, Rouen.

On 22nd - 23rd October 1916,  at Macukovo (now called Evzonoi) in Greece, during the First World War, Hubert William Lewis, from Milford Haven, a private in the 11th Battalion, the Welch Regiment, single-handedly attacked and captured three enemy soldiers and despite being wounded himself, went under heavy shell and rifle fire, to bring a wounded colleague back to safety. 

For this action, he was awarded the Victoria Cross and later the Medaille Militaire by France.  

On 22nd October 1644 Powis Castle near Welshpool was captured by Parliamentary troops during The English Civil War.

A timeline of the history of Powis Castle;

Powis Castle (Castell Powis) near "Pool' (Welshpool) was the stronghold of the ancient kingdom of  Powys,  whose rivalry with Gwynedd combined with their proximity to England, resulted in their leaders switching allegiance when necessary to ensure survival 

1196  Gwenwynwyn ap Owain Cyfeilog Prince of Powys was driven out of his castle by a combined force of English and Welsh but recovered it during the following year.

1218  Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) of Gwynedd conquered Powys, forcing Gwenwynwyn into English exile, where he died.

1240  Gwenwynwyn's son Gruffydd returned on Llywelyn's death to retake Powys.

1257  Gruffydd was forced to flee when Llywelyn ap Gruffydd retook the area for Gwynedd.

1264  Gruffydd gave his allegiance back to Llywelyn after the success of Llywelyn and Simon de Montfort against Henry III.

1274  Gruffydd was discovered plotting against Llywelyn and Powis Castle was reportedly razed to the ground, forcing Gruffydd to flee once more.

1277  Gruffydd returned with Edward I's victorious English army in the first Welsh campaign and subsequently regained his lands from the English crown.

1286  Gruffyd's son Owain ap Gruffydd ap Gwenwywyn renounced his title as Prince of Powys and was granted the title of Baron de la Pole.

1579  Sir Edward Herbert bought the lordship and castle from Owain's descendants.  Sir Edward’s wife was a Roman Catholic and held allegiance to the Stuart kings of England.  Powis castle, therefore, became a Royalist stronghold, during the English Civil War. 

1644 ( 22nd October)  Powis Castle was captured by Parliamentary troops, during the English Civil War.

1660  The castle was returned to the Herbert family on the restoration of Charles II and many improvements were made, including, the extraordinary terraced gardens, the grand staircase and the state ballroom.

1784  Edward Clive, the eldest son of Clive of India, married into the Herbert family and the Clive fortune paid for many repairs and improvements,  A collection of Clive mementoes from Indua is on display in the old ballroom.

1952  Powis Castle was bequeathed to the National Trust and is renowned for it's grand terraced gardens and lavish Elizabethan-furnished rooms   

On 22nd October 2009, the second phase of "The St David's Centre" in Cardiff opened, putting Cardiff within the top five shopping destinations in the United Kingdom.

The second phase consists of 3 main buildings in total; the Central Library building, the John Lewis department store, and the main shopping area, which is built on the form Oxford Arcade. It has added an extra 967,500 sq ft of retail space, 3,000 car parking spaces and 4,500 permanent jobs to the city centre at a total cost of £675m.

In 2008-9, the centre attracted 27 million people, making it one of the busiest shopping centres in the European Union, exceeding Birmingham's Bull Ring.

St David's was crowned the international shopping centre of the year in 2010 by Global Retail Leisure International.  

From 22nd - 31st October 1998, a series of storms hit Wales bringing substantial rainfall to all parts with the highest daily rainfall recorded at Treherbert, with 92.2 mm.  Elsewhere, rivers overtopped their banks, inundating their flood plains and causing extensive flooding in many Welsh towns

Since then many flood defence schemes have been undertaken,  however, the Environment Agency has warned that due to changing weather patterns, flooding will remain a real threat and is likely to increase. 

At 9.15 am on Friday, October 21, 1966, a waste tip above the mining village of Aberfan began to slide down the mountainside, firstly destroying a farm cottage and killing all its occupants. It then approached Pantglas Junior School, where the children had only just returned to their classes after singing All Things Bright and Beautiful at their morning assembly. The slide then engulfed the school and about 20 houses in the village, killing 144 people, including 116 school children

Workers up in the mountain had seen the slide start, but could not raise the alarm because their telephone cable had been stolen and down in the village, everybody heard the noise, but could see nothing, because of thick fog.

News of the tragedy travelled fast and hundreds of people stopped what they were doing and headed to Aberfan to try and help with the rescue. It was futile, as nobody was rescued alive after 11am and it was nearly a week before all the bodies were recovered.

On Mynydd Merthyr, directly above Aberfan. several tips containing millions of cubic metres of mining debris from the Merthyr Vale Colliery had been deposited over the years, onto highly porous sandstone that contained numerous underground springs. The NCB's area management had been made aware of the concerns regarding the tipping of spoil above the primary school, but these were largely ignored. In the days leading up to the disaster, there had been substantial bursts of heavy rain, which had caused 3–6 metres of subsidence on one of the tips. This then led to more than 150,000 cubic metres of debris breaking away and flowing downhill at high speed.

On 26th October 1966, a tribunal was appointed to inquire into the causes of and circumstances relating to the Aberfan disaster, which was chaired by Welsh barrister and Privy Councillor Lord Justice Edmund Davies.

The Tribunal's report found that

* The blame for the disaster rested entirely with the National Coal Board, and their "total absence of a tipping policy"

* Repeated warnings about the dangerous condition of the tip had been ignored.

* The tips had never been surveyed and were continuously being added to in a chaotic and unplanned manner. The disregard for the unstable geological conditions and the NCB's failure to act after previous smaller slides were found to have been major factors that contributed to the catastrophe.

On 21st October 1993 the Welsh Language Act 1993 was enacted.  It put Welsh and English on an equal basis, when providing services to the public in Wales and represents a milestone in the modern history of the language.

The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 - 1542 had made English the only language of the law courts and other aspects of public administration in Wales. The Welsh Courts Act 1942 had given the right to use Welsh in courts providing that the Welsh speaker was under a disadvantage in having to speak English and The Welsh Language Act 1967 gave rise to the concept of 'equal validity' between the Welsh and English languages, which resulted in Governmental Departments issuing documents in Welsh.  Then following a campaign of vandalising unilingual English road signs by members of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, local councils were allowed to provide many bilingual signs.  However it was the Welsh Language Act 1993 which established that 'in the course of public business and the administration of justice that both languages are to be treated on the basis of equality.'

The Act achieved three things:

* Setting up the Welsh Language Board, with the duty of promoting the use of Welsh and ensuring compliance with the other provisions.

* Giving people the right to use Welsh in court proceedings.

* All organisations in the public sector in Wales, being obliged to treat Welsh and English on an equal basis.  

Born on this day 1930 in Abersychan

Bryn Meredith - former Wales and Lions rugby international. Meredith was a mobile hooker, who played club rugby for Newport and London Welsh and is generally considered to be one of the finest forwards of all time.  

Born on this day 1944 in Pontyates

Mandy Rice-Davies - best known for her association with Christine Keeler and her role in the Profumo affair.

As a child, Rice-Davies moved to Solihull with her family and at 16 she went to London, where she appeared as 'Miss Austin' at the Earls Court Motor Show. She then got a job as a showgirl where she met Christine Keelor who introduced her to the well-connected osteopath Stephen Ward. Then in December 1962, while Keeler was visiting Rice-Davies, one of Keeler's former boyfriends, John Edgecombe, attempted to enter and fired several times at the door with a gun. His subsequent trial brought attention to the girls' involvement with many influential people, including the then Viscount Astor and the War Minister John Profumo. It was Profumo's relationship with Keeler that discredited the Conservative government of Harold Mcmillan and caused Profumo to resign.

Later Ward was brought to trial, charged with living off the immoral earnings of Keeler and Rice-Davies and it was whilst giving her evidence that Rice-Davies made her now famous riposte, when the prosecuting counsel pointed out that Viscount Astor denied an affair or having even met her, she replied, "He would, wouldn't he?" and by 1979, this phrase had entered the third edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.

Later in life, Mandy Rice-Davies traded on the notoriety the trial brought her, she converted to Judaism and married the Israeli businessman, Rafi Shauli. The pair opened nightclubs and restaurants in Tel Aviv, called Mandy's Candies, Mandy's Singing Bamboo and Mandy's. Rice-Davies also made a series of unsuccessful pop singles in the mid-1960s.