On 16th September…

1400 - Owain Glyndwr began a Welsh revolt against the rule of King Henry IV of England. He was declared Prince of Wales by his followers and was the last native Welshman to hold the title. He re-conquered and ruled Wales for several years before the English regained control. Not much is known of Owain Glyndwr after 1412 but he remains a Welsh national hero.

1620 - The Mayflower set sail for a third time bound for America with 102 pilgrims on board, this time they were successful and continued on their journey without having to return to port. This year marks the 400th anniversary of their journey to America where they planned to establish the first permanent colony. The pilgrims were seeking religious freedom and a fresh start in a country where they would be able to worship God without the persecution of the Church of England; religion was a strict business in the times of the Tudor and Stuart monarchies, and you could be executed for not following the same religion as the king or queen. The Mayflower had originally been accompanied by the Speedwell, but disaster and damage had struck the Speedwell twice after setting out on their journey. This third time the Mayflower set off for America alone, carrying all passengers and cargo that had been originally shared between the two ships. This made the ship a lot heavier and slower than before and their journey across the Atlantic took them a lot longer than anticipated; they arrived during a cold harsh winter.

1736 - Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit died. He was a Polish-born Dutch scientist who is best known for inventing the thermometer and the Fahrenheit temperature scale.

On 17th September…

1877 - William Henry Fox Talbot the English pioneering photographer died. He discovered that by using light sensitive paper instead of bitumen or copper-paper he could produce better quality images. Fox-Talbot went on to develop the three primary stages of photography: developing, fixing and printing. He made the earliest known surviving photograph at his home in Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire.

On 18th September…

1914 - The Government of Ireland Act 1914 was given royal approval. This Act, also known as the Home Rule Bill, would give Ireland self-government. The Act was suspended for a year because of the outbreak of World War I. Further developments in Ireland led to a postponement of the Act and it eventually never came into force. In 1922 instead of Home Rule being introduced, Ireland was divided into two: the south became a democratic republic whilst the north remained a part of the United Kingdom.

On 19th September…

86CE - Antoninus Pius the Roman Emperor who ordered the construction of the Antonine Wall in Scotland was born in Italy.

1356 - Edward the Black Prince, son of King Edward III of England, defeated the French and captured their king, John II, at the Battle of Poitiers in the Hundred Years War. The French king was held prisoner until 1360 when the French nobility finally raised enough money to pay the ransom being asked for by the English. It took so long because most of the nobility had been killed in the battle. The Hundred Years War was fought from 1337 to 1453 between England and France over the succession of the French throne. The argument stemmed from the time of William the Conqueror who was Duke of Normandy when he became King of England.

1879 - The Blackpool Illuminations lit up for the first time. The original lights were just eight arc lamps which bathed the Promenade in artificial daylight. This was a time when people were still lighting their homes with candles and oil lamps, so the illuminations were a marvel to see. There are now over one million lightbulbs in the six miles of displays.

1893 - New Zealand became the first country to grant women the right to vote. All women who were British subjects and aged 21 or over, including Maori women, were able to vote in political elections.

On 20th September…

1486 - Prince Arthur the older brother of King Henry VIII was born in Winchester. He married Catherine of Aragon at the age of 15 years but died less than a year later.

1643 - The first Battle of Newbury took place during the English Civil War. There was no outright winner of the battle with the Royalist forces led by King Charles I and the Roundheads or Parliamentary forces led by the Earl of Essex and Philip Stapleton. This meant that the Parliamentary forces were able to continue on their march to London.

1854 - The first major battle of the Crimean War took place. The British and French forces defeated the Russians at the Battle of Alma.

On 21st September…

1538 – The Shrine of St Swithun in Winchester was smashed up in the middle of the night by King Henry VIII’s commissioners as part of the dissolution of the monasteries during the English Reformation. St Swithun was an Anglo-Saxon bishop who was chosen as patron saint for the Benedictine monastery at Winchester a century after his death.  His bones were housed in a reliquary which is a special container for ancient relics and were famed for their healing powers. His tomb became a major site for pilgrims who would travel far and wide to be healed of their illnesses. The English Reformation began when Henry VIII declared himself Head of the Church of England.  To help him take control quickly, Henry VIII had to seize control of the Catholic churches and monasteries; to do this he took the Church’s property, demolished buildings for building materials, and sold off or reclaimed the Churches and their lands.  These acts were called the dissolution of the monasteries. 

On 22nd September…

1870 – Charlotte Cooper the first female Olympic champion was born in Ealing, London England.  She won a gold medal in tennis at the 1900 Olympics held in Paris, France.  Unlike today, athletes back then wore clothing on the court similar to the clothing they wore off court; a skirt down to the ground with a buttoned-up long sleeved blouse and tie. It must have been very difficult to play tennis in without tripping over your skirt.