Incumbents

• Prince of Wales
  Prince of Wales
  Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
  
   - Charles, Prince of Wales
  Charles, Prince of Wales
  Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
  
  
• Princess of Wales
  Princess of Wales
  Princess of Wales is a British courtesy title held by the wife of The Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1283.Although there have been considerably more than ten male heirs to the throne, there have been only ten Princesses of Wales. The majority of Princes of Wales...
  
   - vacant
• Secretary of State for Wales
  Secretary of State for Wales
  The Secretary of State for Wales is the head of the Wales Office within the British cabinet. He or she is responsible for ensuring Welsh interests are taken into account by the government, representing the government within Wales and overseeing the passing of legislation which is only for Wales...
  
   - George Thomas
• Archbishop of Wales
  Archbishop of Wales
  The post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England , and disestablished...
  
   - Glyn Simon
  Glyn Simon
  William Glyn Hughes Simon was the Anglican Archbishop of Wales from 1968 to 1971.Simon was born in Swansea, where his father was curate at St Gabriel's church. He was baptised by David Lewis Prosser, later to become the third Archbishop of Wales....
  
  
• Archdruid
  Archdruid
  The Archdruid is the title used by the presiding official of the Gorsedd.The Archdruid presides over the most important ceremonies at the National Eisteddfod of Wales including the Crowning of the Bard, The Award of the Prose Medal and Chairing of the Bard. From 1932 only former winners of the...
  
   of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
  National Eisteddfod of Wales
  The National Eisteddfod of Wales is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.- Organisation :...
  
   - Tilsli
  Gwilym Tilsley
  Rev. Gwilym Richard Tilsley , commonly known by his bardic name of "Tilsli", was a Welsh poet who served as Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales between 1969 and 1972....
  
  

Events

• 11 January - The last trolleybus
  Trolleybus
  A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
  
  es run on the Cardiff trolleybus system
  Trolleybuses in Cardiff
  The Cardiff trolleybus system once served Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Opened on , it gradually replaced the Cardiff tramway network.By the standards of the various now-defunct trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom, the Cardiff system was a medium-sized one, with a total of 14 routes,...
  
  , the last such system in Wales.
• 23 May - The 120-year-old Britannia Bridge built by Robert Stephenson
  Robert Stephenson
  Robert Stephenson FRS was an English civil engineer. He was the only son of George Stephenson, the famed locomotive builder and railway engineer; many of the achievements popularly credited to his father were actually the joint efforts of father and son.-Early life :He was born on the 16th of...
  
   across the Menai Strait
  Menai Strait
  The Menai Strait is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales.The strait is bridged in two places - the main A5 road is carried over the strait by Thomas Telford's elegant iron suspension bridge, the first of its kind,...
  
   is destroyed by fire.
• 2 June - During the construction of the Cleddau Bridge
  Cleddau Bridge
  The Cleddau Bridge is a toll bridge on the A477 road that spans the River Cleddau between Neyland and Pembroke Dock, Wales. It was originally called the Milford Haven Bridge, Due to errors in the box girder design it collapsed during construction in 1970 and did not become operational until...
  
  , a cantilever collapses, resulting in the deaths of four workers. It is the last major bridge disaster in the UK.
• 18 June - In the UK General Election
  United Kingdom general election, 1970
  The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...
  
  :
  • S. O. Davies
    S. O. Davies
    Stephen Owen Davies was a Welsh politician, and a member of the House of Commons from 1934 to his death....
    
    , having resigned from the Labour Party, retains his Parliamentary seat of Merthyr Tydfil
    Merthyr Tydfil
    Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...
    
    , standing as an Independent Labour candidate.
  • Gwynfor Evans
    Gwynfor Evans
    Dr Richard Gwynfor Evans , was a Welsh politician, lawyer and author. President of Plaid Cymru for thirty six years, he was the first Member of Parliament to represent Plaid Cymru at Westminster ....
    
     loses his seat at Carmarthen
    Carmarthen
    Carmarthen is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 14,648....
    
    .
  • Jim Griffiths
    Jim Griffiths
    James "Jim" Griffiths CH , was a Welsh Labour politician, trade union leader and the first ever Secretary of State for Wales.-Background and education:...
    
     retires as MP for Llanelli
    Llanelli
    Llanelli , the largest town in both the county of Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed , Wales, sits on the Loughor estuary on the West Wales coast, approximately west-north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. The town is famous for its proud rugby...
    
    , to be replaced by Denzil Davies
    Denzil Davies
    David John Denzil Davies is a former British Treasury Minister . He served for 35 years as the Member of Parliament for Llanelli for the Labour Party from 1970 to 2005, and is a member of the Privy Council.-Early life:He attended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Boys in Carmarthen, and then...
    
    .
  • Nigel Birch
    Nigel Birch, Baron Rhyl
    Evelyn Nigel Chetwode Birch, Baron Rhyl, PC, OBE was a British Conservative politician.The son of General Sir Noel Birch and his wife Florence Chetwode, Nigel Birch was educated at Eton. He was a partner in Cohen Laming Hoare until May 1939 when he retired to study politics...
    
     retires from the House of Commons
    British House of Commons
    The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
    
    , to be created Baron Rhyl.
• Dr Phil Williams becomes the first Chairman of Plaid Cymru
  Plaid Cymru
  ' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
  
  .

Arts and literature

• Richard Burton
  Richard Burton
  Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
  
   appears in the stage version of Equus
  Equus (play)
  Equus is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious fascination with horses....
  
  .
• Robert Plant
  Robert Plant
  Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
  
   and Jimmy Page
  Jimmy Page
  James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
  
   retreat to Bron-Yr-Aur
  Bron-Yr-Aur
  Bron-Yr-Aur , sometimes misspelled as Bron-Y-Aur, is an 18th century cottage in South Snowdonia, Wales, best known for its association with the English rock band Led Zeppelin....
  
   to write songs for Led Zeppelin III
  Led Zeppelin III
  Led Zeppelin III is the third studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded between January and July 1970 and released on 5 October 1970 by Atlantic Records. Composed largely at a remote cottage in Wales known as Bron-Yr-Aur, this work represented a maturing of the band's...
  
  .

Awards

• Bernice Rubens
  Bernice Rubens
  Bernice Rubens was a Booker Prize-winning Welsh novelist.-Background:She was of Russian Jewish descent and born in Cardiff, Wales where she attended Cardiff High School. She came from a very musical family, both her brothers becoming well-known classical musicians. She was married to Rudi...
  
   wins the Booker Prize for The Elected Member
  The Elected Member
  The Elected Member is a Booker Prize-winning novel by Welsh author Bernice Rubens.-Plot:The novel's main character is Norman Zweck, who is addicted to amphetamines and is convinced that he sees silverfish wherever he goes.-References:...
  
  .

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Ammanford)

• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Tomi Evans
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Bryan Martin Davies
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - withheld

New books

• Marion Eames
  Marion Eames
  Marion Eames was a Welsh novelist.Marion was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, of Welsh parents, but was brought up at Dolgellau from the age of 4, where she attended Dr Williams's School...
  
   - Y Stafell Ddirgel
  The Secret Room
  Y Stafell Ddirgel is a novel by Marion Eames written in the Welsh language and first published in 1969. An English translation was published in 1975 under the title The Secret Room...
  
  
• Ron Berry
  Ron Berry
  Ronald Anthony "Ron" Berry was a Welsh author of novels and short stories. Born in the Rhondda Valleys where he remained for most his life, his books reflect the working class of the industrial valleys though his vision is more optimistic and there is less concern for politics and religion which...
  
   - So Long, Hector Bebb
• Tom Earley
  Tom Earley
  Thomas Francis Aloysius Earley is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played six seasons with the Boston Bees and Braves from 1938 to 1942 and 1945....
  
   - The Sad Mountain
• T. Wilson Evans - Iwan Tudur
• Menna Gallie
  Menna Gallie
  Menna Patricia Humphreys Gallie was a Welsh novelist and translator.She was born in Ystradgynlais. She married the philosopher W. B...
  
   - You're Welcome to Ulster!
• J. Gwyn Griffiths
  J. Gwyn Griffiths
  John Gwyn Griffiths , was a Welsh poet, Egyptologist and nationalist political activist who spent the largest span of his career lecturing at Swansea University.-Early history:...
  
   - Cerddi Cairo
• John Robert Jones
  John Robert Jones
  John Robert Jones , was a Welsh philosopher.He was born in Pwllheli, and went to school there before going on to study philosophy at University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He went on to take his D.Phil. at Balliol College, Oxford...
  
   - Ac Onide
• Sally Roberts Jones
  Sally Roberts Jones
  Sally Roberts Jones is an English-born Welsh poet, publisher and critic.She was born Sally Roberts in London; her father was Welsh.. She studied history at University College Bangor, then qualified as a librarian, before moving to South Wales in 1967...
  
   - Turning Away
• John Ormond
  John Ormond
  John Ormond , was a Welsh poet and filmmaker.Ormond was born in Dunvant, near Swansea, and was educated at Swansea University.He joined the staff of Picture Post in 1945. He returned to Swansea in 1949 and, in 1957, began what was to be a distinguished career with BBC Wales as a director and...
  
   - Requiem and Celebration
• Harri Webb
  Harri Webb
  Harri Webb was an Anglo-Welsh poet, journalist and Welsh nationalist.Harri Webb was born on 7 September 1920 at 45 Ty Coch Road on the outskirts of Swansea, but before he was two the family moved to Catherine Street, much nearer the city centre...
  
   - The Green Desert
• Gwynne Williams
  Gwynne Williams
  Gwynne Williams is a Welsh writer of poetry and prose as well as a translator of numerous literary works from English into Welsh.A strong proponent of Cymraeg, the native language of Wales, Williams has been writing since the 1950s, with several volumes in print, including Rhwng gewyn ac asgwrn ,...
  
   - Rhwng Gewyn ac Asgwrn

Music

• Badfinger
  Badfinger
  Badfinger were a British rock band consisting originally of Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, Mike Gibbins and Tom Evans, active from 1968 to 1983, and evolving from The Iveys, formed by Ham, Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales, in the early 1960s. Joey Molland joined the group in 1969,...
  
   - No Dice (featuring the original recording of "Without You")
• John Cale
  John Cale
  John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
  
   - Vintage Violence
• Meic Stevens
  Meic Stevens
  Meic Mortimer Stevens is a Welsh singer-songwriter often referred to as "the Welsh Dylan" and has been compared favourably with musicians like Syd Barrett. Stevens's songs have a mystical, faintly psychedelic flavour, and are mostly sung in his native Welsh language...
  
   - Outlander
• Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets
  Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets
  Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets were a rock and roll group formed in Cardiff, Wales in 1969. Although most notable now for their lead singer Shakin' Stevens, who went on to become one of the UK's most popular artists of the 1980s, the band released several records and toured extensively throughout...
  
   - A Legend

Film

• Stanley Baker
  Stanley Baker
  Sir Stanley Baker was a Welsh actor and film producer.-Early career:William Stanley Baker was born in Ferndale, Rhondda Valley, Wales. In the mid-1930s his parents moved to London, where Baker spent most of his formative years...
  
   stars in The Games
  The Games (film)
  The Games is a 1970 film based on the Hugh Atkinson novel and adapted to the screen by Erich Segal. It was directed by Michael Winner.The plot concerned four marathon competitors at a fictitious Olympic Games in Rome, played by Michael Crawford, Ryan O'Neal, Charles Aznavour, and Athol Compton...
  
  .
• Hugh Griffith
  Hugh Griffith
  Hugh Emrys Griffith was a Welsh film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Griffith was born in Marianglas, Anglesey, Wales, the son of Mary and William Griffith. He was educated at Llangefni County School and attempted to gain entrance to university, but failed the English examination...
  
   appears in Start the Revolution Without Me.

Broadcasting

• Coverage of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod is the first colour programme to be made by BBC Wales
  BBC Wales
  BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
  
  .

Sport

• BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
  BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
  The BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year is a televised sporting competition, broadcast on BBC Two every year; and the most prestigious annual sport award in Wales. It was first awarded in 1954, and is currently organised by BBC Cymru Wales...
  
   - David Broome
  David Broome
  David McPherson Broome CBE is a retired Welsh show jumping champion.Broome was born in Wales, attended Monmouth School and still maintains his stables at Mount Ballan Manor, Crick, near Chepstow in Monmouthshire...
  
  
• Boxing
  Boxing
  Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
  
   - Eddie Avoth
  Eddie Avoth
  Eddie Avoth is a former boxer and actor.He was British and Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion, with a record which reads: Fights Won 53 , Lost 9, Drawn 0.Eddie Avoth was born in Cardiff, Wales...
  
   wins the Commonwealth lightweight title.
• Snooker
  Snooker
  Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
  
   - Ray Reardon
  Ray Reardon
  Ray Reardon, MBE is a retired Welsh snooker player. He dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning six World Championships in that decade...
  
   wins the World Professional Championship for the first time.
• Show Jumping
  Show jumping
  Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...
  
   - David Broome wins the individual Show Jumping World Championship.

Births

• 1 January - Brian Law
  Brian Law
  Brian John Law is a Welsh former professional footballer and Wales international.-Club career:Law began his career with Queens Park Rangers but spent the majority of his time at Loftus Road in the reserve side before being forced into retirement in 1991 due to a tendon injury...
  
  , footballer
• 7 March - Cameron Toshack
  Cameron Toshack
  Jonathan Cameron Toshack is a Welsh former professional footballer. He is the son of the former Wales manager John Toshack.-Playing career:...
  
  , footballer
• 2 April - Jason Perry
  Jason Perry (footballer)
  Jason Perry is a Welsh former professional footballer and Wales international. A centre-half, he was highly regarded by supporters for his strong tackling and uncompromising style...
  
  , footballer
• 19 May - Stuart Cable
  Stuart Cable
  Stuart Cable was a Welsh rock drummer and broadcaster, best known as the original drummer for the band Stereophonics.- Early life :...
  
  , rock musician and television presenter
• 25 May - Robert Croft
  Robert Croft
  Robert Damien Bale Croft is a Welsh cricketer who has played international cricket for both England and Wales. He is an off-spin bowler who plays for Glamorgan and captained the county from 2003 to 2006...
  
  , cricketer
• 22 June - Paul Davies, snooker player
• 18 July - Gruff Rhys
  Gruff Rhys
  Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
  
  , musician
• 27 July - David Davies
  David Davies (politician)
  David Thomas Charles Davies, MP is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Monmouth in South Wales. Davies is also a special police constable, and volunteers with his local police force....
  
  , politician
• 30 July - Alun Cairns
  Alun Cairns
  Alun Hugh Cairns is a Welsh Conservative Party politician. A member of the National Assembly for Wales for the in the South Wales West region since 1999, he was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for the Vale of Glamorgan.-Background:Brought up in Clydach near...
  
  , politician
• 9 August - Lee Jones
  Lee Jones (goalkeeper)
  Lee Jones is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Morecambe.Jones was signed in 2003 from Stockport County, and also played for Bristol Rovers and Swansea City....
  
  , football goalkeeper
• 26 September - Kevin Lloyd
  Kevin Lloyd (footballer)
  Kevin Gareth Lloyd is a Welsh former professional footballer.-Career:An attacking full-back, Lloyd began his career playing in the Welsh Premier League with Caersws. His performances persuaded Hereford United to bring him to Edgar Street in November 1994 and he quickly established himself in the...
  
  , footballer
• 14 November - Derwyn Jones
  Derwyn Jones
  Derwyn Jones is a former professional Welsh rugby union player and Welsh international. A mountain of a player, he is 6 ft 10 inches tall and weighed over 20 stone at his peak...
  
  , rugby union player
• 27 November - Stephen Evans, actor and comedy writer
• 29 December - Aled Jones
  Aled Jones
  Aled Jones is a Welsh singer and television/radio personality, broadcaster and television presenter who first came to fame as a treble...
  
  , singer and radio presenter
• date unknown
  • Rebecca John
    Rebecca John
    Rebecca John is a presenter and reporter for Wales Today, BBC Wales on British television.She read for a degree in French and German at Robinson College, Cambridge University between 1989–1993, before completing a postgraduate course in journalism at Trinity & All Saints College...
    
    , BBC reporter
  • Lucy Owen
    Lucy Owen
    Lucy Owen is a Welsh television news reader.-Early life:Owen attended Howell's School in Llandaff, Cardiff, and graduated from the Royal Holloway, University of London in English.-Career:...
    
    , TV presenter
  • Gary Pritchard
    Gary Pritchard
    Gary Pritchard is a professional broadcaster and journalist. He currently reports on sport, especially football, in the Welsh language for the BBC ....
    
    , sports reporter

Deaths

• 4 January - David John Williams (D. J. Williams), author and Plaid Cymru politician, 84
• 23 January - Ifan ab Owen Edwards
  Ifan ab Owen Edwards
  Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards , was a Welsh academic, writer and film-maker, best known as the founder of Urdd Gobaith Cymru, the Welsh League of Youth....
  
  , founder of the Urdd, 74
• 26 January - Albert Evans-Jones
  Albert Evans-Jones
  Sir Cynan Evans-Jones CBE , more commonly known within Wales by his bardic name of Cynan, was a Welsh poet and dramatist.-Early life:...
  
   (Cynan), poet, 74
• 2 February - Bertrand Russell
  Bertrand Russell
  Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
  
  , philosopher, 97
• 20 April - Thomas Iorwerth Ellis
  Thomas Iorwerth Ellis
  Thomas Iorwerth Ellis OBE was a Welsh classicist, who wrote many books on Welsh literature and Welshmen, , including a biography of his father, Thomas Edward Ellis.-Life:...
  
  , academic, 70
• 29 April - Bryn Evans, Welsh rugby international, 68
• 7 May - Jack Jones
  Jack Jones (novelist)
  Jack Jones was a Welsh novelist and playwright who began writing in the 1930s.-Early years:Jack Jones was born in 1884 at Tai-Harri-Blawdd in Merthyr Tydfil, the son of a coal miner. He joined his father to work in the mine aged 12. At the age of 17 he joined the army and was posted to South...
  
  , novelist, 75
• 3 June - John Robert Jones
  John Robert Jones
  John Robert Jones , was a Welsh philosopher.He was born in Pwllheli, and went to school there before going on to study philosophy at University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He went on to take his D.Phil. at Balliol College, Oxford...
  
  , philosophy professor, 58
• 9 June - Billy Spiller
  Billy Spiller
  William John "Billy" Spiller , was a Welsh rugby union player and cricketer. His greatest achievements were in rugby, where he won ten international caps at centre for Wales between 1910 and 1913, but his short first-class cricket career was also notable as he was the first man to score a century...
  
  , cricketer and rugby player, 83
• 10 July - Isaac Griffiths
  Isaac Griffiths
  Isaac Bertie Griffiths was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1922 to 1941, and was a cabinet minister in the government of John Bracken....
  
  , politician in Canada, 78
• 7 November - Naunton Wayne
  Naunton Wayne
  Naunton Wayne , was a British character actor, born in Llanwonno, South Wales. He was educated at Clifton College....
  
  , actor, 69
• 9 November - Huw T. Edwards
  Huw T. Edwards
  Huw Thomas Edwards was a Welsh trade union leader and politician.Edwards was trade unionist who was for many years was the most influential figure in the Labour Party in north Wales. He was appointed the first chair of the Council for Wales and Monmouthshire in 1949...
  
  , trade union leader and politician, 77
• date unknown
  • John Edward Jones, Plaid Cymru leader
  • Alwyn Lloyd, architect
  • Trefor Morgan, financier