Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1563
Church services begin to be held in Welsh. Before then the Reformation had seen services move from
one little understood foreign language (Latin) to another (English). Protestantism starts to catch on.
1642-49
Major battles are fought at St Fagans and Pembroke during the English Civil War between the forces
of King Charles I and the Parliamentarians led by Oliver Cromwell.
1759-82
With the Industrial Revolution gripping the South Wales valleys, Dowlais and Merthyr Tydil iron-
works start production and Bethesda's slate quarry opens for business.
1865
A Welsh colony is set up in Patagonia, Argentina. Welsh is the language of the courts, schools,
chapels and newspapers until 1896.
1900
James Keir Hardie, a Scotsman, becomes the irst Labour MP to enter parliament, after winning a
seat in the Welsh mining town of Merthyr Tydil.
1916
With WWI in progress, David Lloyd George becomes prime minister, the only Welshman to have ever
held the role. Welsh was his irst language, English his second.
1939-1945
WWII rages across Europe and much of Africa, Asia and the Paciic. Parts of Wales are bombed by
the Germans, notably Swansea, Cardif and the Rhondda Valley.
1955
After a ballot of members of the Welsh local authorities, Cardif is declared the irst-ever Welsh capit-
al, garnering three times as many votes as nearest contender, Caernarfon.
1959
Wales adopts the red dragon on a white and green background as its oicial lag. Henry VII, the irst
Tudor king, used this banner at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.
