May 22nd 1623British Forces made a treaty with the 'Potomac River tribes' proposing a toast to perpetual friendship. The Indian chief and 200 men then dropped dead from poisoned wine.
1795The Scottish explorer, Mungo Park, set sail on his first voyage to Africa which he would later relate in his book 'Travels in the Interior of Africa'.
1807Most of the town of Chudleigh in Devon was destroyed by a fire that started in the bakery. After the fire, only the church and seven houses were left standing.
1849 Future U.S. president Abraham Lincoln was granted a patent for a boat-lifting device; he was the only U.S. president to have a patent.
1906 Orville and Wilbur Wright obtained U.S. patent number 821,393 for their revolutionary aircraft design. This legal recognition secured their claim to aviation history.The patent protected their three-axis control system that made powered flight possible. This document became the foundation for the modern aviation industry.
1972: President Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit Moscow, marking a significant moment in U.S.-Soviet relations.
1987 – First Rugby World Cup Begins. New Zealand hosted Italy at Eden Park in Auckland for the inaugural Rugby World Cup match. This historic game launched rugby union’s premier international tournament.The tournament featured 16 nations competing for the first Webb Ellis Cup. New Zealand’s victory in the opening match set the tone for their eventual championship. Wales came third. Largely ignored by the BBC except in Wales…
Music
1997: Fleetwood Mac's classic late-70s lineup reunites for the first time in a decade, performing the first of two specials for the show MTV Unplugged.
And Finally
The Roman road Sarn Helen is named after Saint Elen whose feast day is celebrated today. Saint Elen is said to have been the daughter of the British King Octavius and the wife of Magnus Maximus (Macsen), Emperor in Britain, Gaul and Spain. She is said to have introduced into Wales the Celtic form of monasticism from Gaul. Elen's story is told in The Dream of Macsen Wledig, one of the tales included in the Mabinogion.
Elen is also remembered for having Macsen build roads across the country so that the soldiers could more easily defend it from attackers. She is a patron of the churches of Llanelan on the Gower and at Penisa'r-waun near Caernarfon.
Magnus Maximus was Western Roman Emperor from 383 to 388. He became part of Welsh legend as Macsen Wledig in the Mabinogion. In 383 Maximus took advantage of the increasing dissent against Roman Emperor Gratian by invading Gaul with a large army. He attempted to preserve the security of Britain by organising the peaceful settlement of the Irish Deisi tribe in Dyfed, and also organised Cunedda and the Votadini tribe from Yr Hen Gogledd (Southern Scotland) to deal with the aggressive Irish Ui Liatháin tribe in North Wales.
Maximus ruled the Western Roman Empire until he was killed in 388. There is no evidence to suggest that any Roman effort was made to regain control of the west or north so that year would be the effective end of the Roman era in Wales.
British Forces made a treaty with the 'Potomac River tribes' proposing a toast to perpetual friendship. The Indian chief and 200 men then dropped dead from poisoned wine...oh Brittania!
