1146 European leaders outlaw the crossbow, intending to end war for all time That worked! …. On 30th August 1682, the first group of Welsh settlers set sail for Pennsylvania, including Thomas Wynne from Ysceifiog in Flintshire, personal physician of William Penn. In the late seventeenth century, the persecution of the Quakers led to their search for a new land. When William Penn was given a grant of land in Philadelphia by Charles II in 1681, there was a large emigration of Welsh Quakers to Pennsylvania, where a Welsh Tract was established in the region immediately west of Philadelphia. By 1700, the Welsh accounted for about one-third of the colony’s estimated population of twenty thousand. This is evident by the number of Welsh place names in this area. The second wave of immigrants in the late eighteenth century, led to the Welsh colony of Cambria established by Morgan John Rhys. It is now Cambria County, Pennsylvania. The Welsh were especially numerous and politically active in Pennsylvania, where there was a large emigration of Welsh coal miners to the anthracite and bituminous mines. Many became mine managers, executives and union leaders, such as John L.Lewis of the United Mine Workers labor union, who was born in a Welsh settlement in Iowa. Pennsylvania still has the largest number of Welsh-Americans; approximately 200,000 are concentrated in the Western and North Eastern regions of the state. …..
1791 HMS Pandora sinks after running aground on a reef the previous day on her return from her search for the Bounty and the mutineers who had taken her …. Fishguard Harbour was officially opened on 30th August 1906. Following the Fishguard and Rosslare Railways and Harbours Act, 1899, Goodwick, near Fishguard was to become the main destination for travel to Ireland. The overlooking village of Harbour Village was built to accommodate workers. The necessary 27 acres site and 900-metre breakwater were provided by blasting 1.6 million tonnes of rock from the cliff face. The Great Western Railway (GWR) had initially intended for the harbour to be used as a main transatlantic port and built the luxurious ‘Fishguard Bay Hotel’ to accommodate passengers. The Cunard liner RMS Mauretania called at Fishguard on 30th August 1909, however, further transatlantic travel was prevented by the frequent silting up of the harbour, caused by the breakwater having been built at the incorrect angle. Local legend has it that because of this, the engineer responsible for the mistake committed suicide by jumping off the end of it.
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1918: Fanny Kaplan shoots and seriously injures Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin prompting in part his decree for "The Red Terror" – a campaign of mass killings, torture, and systematic oppression. …. 1940 The Soviet Union imposes a Soviet constitution upon the recently annexed Baltic state of Latvia …. On 30 August 1937, Tommy Farr, ' The Tonypandy Terror' fought Joe Louis for the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship at Yankee Stadium, New York. Louis was one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. He was at the height of his career, having won 8 of his previous 9 fights by knock outs and was to go on to win the following 7, the same way. However this epic fight went the full 15 rounds, after which, to the annoyance of the 50,000 crowd, Louis was awarded a controversial victory on points, even though the referee appeared to raise Farr's glove initially. Despite losing, Farr gained massive respect worldwide for his performance. ….
1963: Dutch electronics corporation Philips introduces the compact audio cassette and the first cassette recorder, the Philips EL3300, at the 1963 Berlin International Radio Exhibition. …. Cardiff-Neuadd Dewi Sant, St David's Hall, opened on 30th August 1982. The Hall proved to be an enormous success. It's acoustics are very highly rated and as a result it becameone of the premier performance venues in the world, attracting many high profile performers. I saw many shows there. Sadly it is now closed due to being built with cheap concrete. ….
2013: A signed copy of John Lennon’s 1964 book In His Own Write sells for more than $5,600 after a flurry of 47 bids on eBay. Consisting of short stories and poems, line drawings and surreal humour, its initial UK print run sold 50,000 copies the first day.
