On 10th February 1056, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn defeated an English army at Glasbury and claimed sovereignty over the whole of Wales.
….. 10th Feb 1355: The St. Scholastic’s Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England. 62 scholars and 30 locals lost their lives in the riots in two days.
The disturbance began when two students from the University of Oxford complained about the quality of wine served to them in the Swindlestock Tavern, which stood at the crossroads now known as Carfax, in the centre of the town.
The students quarrelled with the taverner; the argument quickly escalated to blows. The inn's customers joined in on both sides, and the resulting mêlée turned into a riot. The violence started by the bar brawl continued over three days, with armed gangs entering the town from the countryside to assist the townspeople.
University halls and students' accommodation were raided and the inhabitants murdered; there were some reports of scholars being scalped. Around twenty townsfolk were killed, as were up to sixty-three members of the university.
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On 10th February 1557, Robert Recorde, a physician and mathematician born in Tenby,was imprisioned. He is best known for introducing the equals sign = and the plus sign + into mathematics in his textbook "The Whetstone of Witte" published in 1557.
Recorde graduated from Oxford University in 1531 and in 1545 he moved to London where he practised medicine. In 1549, he was appointed controller of the Bristol Mint, where he refused to give money to Sir William Herbert, who was governor to the young king Edward VI. In 1551, Recorde was appointed by the King to be general surveyor of the mines and monies in Ireland and in this capacity he was in charge of silver mines in Wexford and technical supervisor of the Dublin mint.
On his return in 1553, he attempted to regain his court position, by charging Herbert with misconduct, this was a misjudgement as Recorde, who was a supporter of the Reformation was unlikely to get a positive result against someone so close to the Catholic Queen Mary. Herbert countered Recorde's charges by successfully suing him for libel and Recorde was ordered to pay Herbert £1000 which he could not pay and was therefore sent to prison, where he died in 1558.
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…1567: Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is found strangled following an explosion at the Kirk o' Field house in Edinburgh in a suspected assassination. ….. On 10th February 1722, Black Bart (Barti Ddu) the pirate was killed by grapeshot. Barti Ddu, born John Roberts in Little Newcastle, near Fishguard in about 1682, was one of the most successful and the last great pirate of the Golden Age of piracy. ……
1816 (10th February) - The first two ships were launched from the Pembroke Doc dockyard – HMS Valorous and HMS Ariadne. Over the span of 112 years, five Royal Yachts were to be built, along with 263 other Royal Navy vessels. …
1962: Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. …. 10 Feb 1967 The Beatles recorded the orchestral build-up for the middle and end of ' A Day in the Life At the Beatles' request, the orchestra members arrived in full evening dress along with novelty items. One violinist wore a red clown's nose, while another, a fake gorilla's paw on his bow hand. Others were wearing funny hats and other assorted novelties. The recording was filmed for a possible 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' television special which was ultimately abandoned. Mick Jagger,Keith Richard,Mike Nesmith from The Monkees and Donovan also attended the session.
1977: The Clash start to record their debut album at CBS's London studios. With punk rock fast becoming the latest big thing record companies were prepared to pay big money, with The Clash reportedly being offered a £100,000 deal.
…. Thanks to the History of Wales for much of todays post
