Today is the feast day of six of the children of Brychan, the legendary 5th-century ruler and founder of the kingdom of Brycheiniog, namely his daughters, saints; Callwen, Gwenfyl, Clydai and Gwenrhiw and his sons, saints Dingad and Clydwyn.
1210 King John of England begins imprisoning Jews.
1765 Parliament enacted the Stamp Act on the 13 American colonies to help pay for British military operations there. The act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp.
1800 John Adams becomes the first US President to live in the White House.
1848 WH Smith opened its first railway bookstall, at Euston Station in London.
… On 1st November 1887, The Helvetia was wrecked off Worms Head, Rhossili, and its remains can still be seen at low tide.
A strong gale off the Gower coast caused two ships to be stranded off Mumbles' Head. They were unable to reach the safety of Swansea Harbour and were blown down the Bristol Channel. One of the ships reached the shelter of Lundy Island, but the Helvetia was swept around the Worm’s Head into the shallow waters of Rhossili Bay.
The Helvetia dropped anchor here and the captain was taken ashore by the coastguard. However, he left the crew aboard, as he was reluctant to leave the vessel at the mercy of thieves. Unfortunately, the wind did not die down, and eventually, the ship was abandoned and left to the elements. Her wreck and her cargo of 500 tons of wood were strewn along Rhossili beach, but no lives were lost.
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.. On this day in 1895, the last Turnpike toll gate in Wales, at Llanfairpwll on Anglesey, was removed. The Rebecca Riots were civil disturbances that occurred between May 1839and the autumn of 1843.
They began with an attack on the toll gate at Efail-Wen in Carmarthenshire and continued mainly in west Wales where they were typified by groups of dissenters dressing in women's clothing before destroying the gates of the despised Turnpike Trusts. The hated workhouses were also targeted, as was the home of tithe agent Rees Goring Thomas. …
The world-famous hymn tune 'Cwm Rhondda' by John Hughes was first performed on 1st November 1907. ….
On 1st November 1910, coal miners working for the Cambrian Combine began a 10-month strike, which was to lead to the ‘Tonypandy Riots’. The unrest had begun a year earlier when the pit managers at the Ely pit in Penygraig had devised a scheme to determine the exact output of the mine. They opened a new seam and allowed only 80 miners to mine it for a trial period. A miner's pay at this time was dependent on the amount of coal extracted by each individual, with an allowance paid by the company to bring the pay up to a 'minimum wage' if there was a shortfall.
After a few months of the trial period, the managers accused the men of deliberately working slowly, although the miners denied this, telling the company that this was a particularly difficult seam to work. When the test period was over, the company set an unrealistically low price for the coal being extracted from the new seam, below what was considered to be a living wage. The miners protested, and in retaliation the company posted 'lockout' notices on 1st August 1910.
The miners called a strike and were joined by miners from neighbouring collieries. By 1st November, a strike was called by the South Wales Miners Federation of 30,000 miners in the Cambrian Combine area, and by November 7, all the pits affected by the strike were being picketed.
The situation culminated in what is known as the 'Tonypandy Riots', when thousands of miners marched through the Rhondda valley, filling the streets, gathering at pitheads and in some cases, sabotaging the collieries by extinguishing boiler fires, making the mine unworkable. The local police were worried that they could not contain the situation and called for army reinforcements. On November 22 a group of picketing miners was entrapped by soldiers with bayonets drawn on a hill near Penygraig, where they fought for several hours with troops and police. Eventually, the prolonged lack of pay took its toll on the community and the miners were forced to capitulate. They returned to work in September 1911. …..
1922 The first radio licences went on sale in Britain at a cost of ten shillings (50p).
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S4C -Sianel Pedwar Cymru-was launched on 1st November 1982.
Prior to the launch of S4C, Welsh language television programmes had been limited to occasional broadcasts on BBC Wales or HTV Cymru, often at inconvenient or off-peak times. This was highly unsatisfactory to audiences in Wales, who either wanted a full service in Welsh or who wanted the choice to watch English language broadcasts during the times allocated to Welsh programmes.
The 1970s saw vigorous campaigning for a TV service in Welsh, and by the 1979 election, both major parties had pledged to introduce a Welsh-language fourth channel if they won the election. Shortly after the Conservative victory, the Home Secretary William Whitelaw decreed that Wales should not be granted its Welsh language channel.
Much civil unrest and disobedience ensued, with people risking prosecution and even prison by refusing to pay TV Licence fees, or taking part in sit-ins at BBC and HTV studios. More extreme action included attacking television transmitters. Then in 1980, Gwynfor Evans, a former president of Plaid Cymru, threatened to go on hunger strike if the Conservative government didn't fulfil its promise to establish a Welsh-language TV service. S4C started broadcasting on 1 November 1982, the night before Channel 4's opening.
The first episode of Super Ted was aired on 1st November 1982. ..
1 Nov 1963 The Beatles kicked off a UK tour performing two shows at the Odeon Cinema in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Their repertoire for the tour was ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, ‘From Me to You’, ‘All My Loving’, ‘You Really Got a Hold On Me’, ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, ‘Boys’, ‘Till There Was You’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘Money’, and ‘Twist and Shout’. Supporting The Beatles were The Rhythm & Blues Quartet, The Vernons Girls, Frank Berry, The Brook Brothers, Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers, and The Kestrels.
1 Nov 1968 George Harrison released his first solo album, Wonderwall Music, the first album issued on the band's Apple Records label. The songs which were mostly Harrison instrumentals, featured Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and an unaccredited banjo contribution by Peter Tork of The Monkees.
1 Microbes 3:44 2 Red Lady Too 1:57 3 Tabla and Pakavaj 1:05 4 In The Park 4:10 5 Drilling a Home 3:07 6 Guru Vandana 1:07 7 Greasy Legs 1:27 8 Ski-Ing 1:50 9 Gat Kirwani 1:15 10 Dream Scene 5:30 11 Party Seacombe 4:35 12 Love Scene 4:17 13 Crying 1:19 14 Cowboy Music 1:30 15 Fantasy Sequins 1:51 16 On The Bed 2:23 17 Glass Box 1:07 18 Wonderwall To Be Here 1:27 19 Singing Om
