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You won't find anything about Owain Glyndwr here. Nothing, either, about Aneurin Bevan, Dylan Thomas, Patagonia or rugby.

Instead, you'll learn how Wales was once home to thousands of Mormons, how the drinking culture was greater than anything we know now and how the people who lived here were once sold as slaves.

There will be a bit about the mines and the chapel, though hopefully some things you've never read before.

These are fascinating things from Welsh history that haven't necessarily been taught in schools.

They each tell a story about Wales at a particular time (and those times range from the prehistoric to the 20th century).

The vast majority of information comes from eminent Welsh historian John Davies' epic work, A History of Wales.

1. The banks of the Taff once had forts to guard against attacks by the Irish

The Irish were a menacing threat to Roman Britain and forts were built along what is now the Taff to guard against their attacks. Colonies of Irish existed in Wales long after the Romans. Names such as Llyn and Dinllaen are of Irish origin, as was the kingdom of Dyfed, where there are 20 stones inscribed with letters in ogham, from Ireland.

2. Vikings sold the people of Wales as slaves

(Image: Hans Splinter)

The Vikings repeatedly attacked Wales in the 10th century. From strongholds in the Isle of Man and Dublin they savaged communities along the coast. It's probably in this time that Scandinavian names, later adopted in English, were given to places like Swansea, Bardsey, Anglesey and Fishguard. There is evidence that the Northmen established small trading stations in Cardiff and there was an extensive stronghold in Anglesey, whose people were sold as slaves. In 987, 2,000 men of the island were captured and sold. The next year, places like Llantwit Major and St Dogmaels were among those plundered.

3. The word 'Sais' was first given to a Welshman who knew how to speak English

'Sais' is still used today in Welsh to describe someone English, sometimes in a derogatory context. However, it was first used in the 15th century to describe a Welshman who knew how to speak English. Welsh people had little reason to know the language in the middle ages, and the use of the word suggests the knowledge was rare and viewed with contempt.

4. A martyr was burnt at the stake for heresy in Cardiff

Thomas Capper's life was ended at Cardiff in 1542 when he was burned alive. He was a Protestant and the first religious martyr in Wales since Roman times, a victim of Henry VIII's persecution of those who denied the practice of Catholic mass. In 1584, Rice Jones of Gelligaer appeared before magistrates at Cardiff for playing tennis at the time of divine service.

5. There could have been a 'New Wales' on the east coast of North America

There's a New England in the USA and a Nova Scotia in Canada. And there might also have been a "New Wales". Between 1616 and 1632, William Vaughan of Llangyndeyrn, Carmarthenshire, sought to establish a Welsh colony in Newfoundland. His efforts were in vain.

6.These were once the 'four capitals' of Wales

(Image: National Library of Wales)

The "four centres of the Great Sessions" were Carmarthen, Caernarfon, Denbigh and Brecon - "the capitals, so to speak, of the four corners of Wales", says John Davies. Carmarthen was the biggest town in Wales in the 16th century, with around 2,000 people. The other three had around 1,000. Swansea, Tenby, Monmouth and Pembroke also had around 1,000 people and there were probably slightly more in Cardiff. By 1700, Wrexham was the largest town in Wales but Carmarthen had re-established its lead by 1770. By 1801, Swansea was the biggest town, with over 10,000 people living in what was Britain's main copper-producing area.

7. Here's when Welsh was first written down

(Image: Creative Commons)

The first surviving words in Welsh are those inscribed around 700 on a stone in a church in Tywyn. But the first Welsh may have been written down as early as 600. Early Welsh was the medium of Taliesin and Aneirin, poets of the time. This is particularly impressive as Latin was the only written medium throughout Europe and there was virtually no written French, Spanish or Italian until after 1000. The adoption of the word 'Cymru' may have been around the same time, with the word 'Kymry' used in a poem from 633. At that time, the word referred to the Old North as well as to Wales.

8. There were still places where no one could speak English in the 20th century

As late as 1921, 56% of the population of the parish of Llanddeiniolen, near Caernarfon, had no knowledge of English and there was one parish on the Llyn peninsula (Bodferin) where everyone was monoglot Welsh. In the 1930s there were nearly 100,000 people in Wales who could speak only Welsh.

9. Here's when 'the first Welshman' lived

Human teeth have been found in Wales belonging to a human who lived 225,000 years ago. Even though these have been described as belonging to 'the first Welshman', their owner was unlikely to be an ancestor of the Welsh and was probably part of a Neanderthal tribe roaming between Wales and the Netherlands. There were tens of thousands of years since during which Wales was wholly uninhabited, including an Ice Age. Wales was free of ice by 8,300BC. When that happened, Wales became part of an island and a sea, not a strait, separated it from Ireland.

10. There were bitter protests against the Irish across Wales

In 1851, there were 20,000 people in Wales who had been born in Ireland. They were in desperate circumstances and therefore prepared to work for wages lower than the Welsh. As a result there were "bitter protests" against them. These happened in Swansea in 1828, in the Rhymney Valley in 1825 and elsewhere at different times. They lived in slums and John Davies writes that "the belief arose that uncleanliness and unruliness were an intrinsic part of their character".

11. There were at least 5,000 Mormons in Wales around 1850

(Image: Creative Commons)

Daniel Jones had emigrated to America in 1840 where he became a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints. He came back to Wales in 1845 and set up in Merthyr, where he converted at least 5,000 people. The religious census of 1851 records 28 Mormon congregations in Wales. In 1849, 326 Welsh Mormons emigrated to Salt Lake City, now the world capital of Mormonism. It was estimated in 1949 that there were 25,000 Mormons of Welsh descent in America. By 1872, there were 384 Welsh-language chapels (not Mormon) in the US.

12. A place in England is to thank for our national anthem

Hen Wlad fy Nhadau was composed in 1856 by Evan and James James of Pontypridd. But it was thanks to the National Eisteddfod in Chester in 1866 that it became the national anthem. It was sung with such passion it was immediately adopted as the anthem. A visitor to that Eisteddfod wrote: "When I see the enthusiasm which these Eisteddfods [sic] awaken in your whole people I am filled with admiration."

13. In Blackwood in 1842, there was one pub for every five people

Following the Beer Act of 1830, there was a huge increase in the number of places people could go to drink. As well as that startling figure on the number of places to drink in Blackwood, there were also 200 taverns around the Dowlais Ironworks alone. And it didn't take long for temperance societies to be established as a response. The first among the Welsh was actually set up in Manchester - but by 1835 there were 25 in Wales itself. The first teetotal society in Wales was founded in Llanfechell, Anglesey in 1835. A poll in Mountain Ash claimed to have established that 90% of people backed closing pubs on Sundays.

14. Cardiff was the 25th biggest town in Wales in 1801

Fifty years later, it was the fourth biggest, smaller only than Swansea, Merthyr and Newport. And by 1881 it was the biggest in Wales. It was also the first town in Wales to get electricity - in 1885.

15. The extinction of the Welsh language was predicted in 1682

William Richards prophesised the imminent death of the Welsh language ("Englished out of Wales" was the phrase he used). Bardic schools were failing, parents no longer gave their children Welsh names and many customs were being looked at as meaningless. At the same time, Thomas Jones went further, predicting that Welsh people would be "expunged from history". The anglicisation of the Welsh gentry was among the root causes. But within 100 years, literacy in the Welsh language was spreading rapidly, as the result of the work of Griffith Jones, who set up schools devoted entirely to teaching people to read in Welsh. By the second half of the 18th century, Wales was one of the few countries with a literate majority.

16. People in Haverfordwest were the last people to suffer from the plague

This was recorded in 1652. And later, around 1700, the death rate was three times its normal level, though this was due to a critical food shortage.

17. There were once way more women than men in the countryside

By 1880, and for 50 years after that, between a quarter and a third of the male workforce worked in the coal industry. But the pits offered virtually no jobs for women. So in the Rhondda in 1891 there were 1,314 men for 1,000 women. But the situation was reversed in the countryside - in Cardiganshire there were 776 men for every 1,000 women.

18. The Law of Wales was way ahead of its time

It dates to the 10th century but the Law of Wales took women and children into account in ways that weren't seen in English law until recently. The earliest surviving manuscript is in Latin but there are several copies, including those written in Welsh. One example of its fairness is its recognition that the union of a man and woman was a contract and that it could come to an end. As a result, it detailed how property and responsibility for children should be shared if that happened. It was later condemned as the work of the devil by Canon Law.

19. There were around 18 schools in Wales in 1603

Grammar schools for the less wealthy were established in Welsh market towns (though you could find Welsh pupils at Eton and Westminster). They were established to teach the basics of Latin. Welsh was not tolerated in the schools - it was deemed irrelevant to ambitions in the gentry and a career.

20. Sex outside marriage was a major issue before the courts

Between 1633 and 1637, a third of the punishments meted out by the Council of Wales related to these offences, which were considered as serious as violence and subversion. Around 10% of children were born outside of wedlock.

21. Every bank in Pembrokeshire failed in 1825

In 1825 a banking crisis permanently closed many Welsh banks that had been established in Welsh market towns from around 1770. These included all the banks in Pembrokeshire. It led to many farmers losing all their savings. The conditions at the time (which also included low wages, poor working conditions, a fall in the price of meat and dairy products) led to riots in the countryside, including at Carmarthen, Abermule and Maenclochog.

22. A chapel was built every eight days for 50 years

(Image: Steve Criddle)

Between 1801 and 1851, it is estimated that a chapel was completed every eight days. There were enough chapels in the 19th century to seat half the country's population. A leading Christian historian has claimed religion "had been more successful in retaining the informed allegiance of the mass of the population in Wales than in any other country in Europe".

23. Better food was served in prisons than in workhouses for the poor

The years 1834-45 were "among the most troubled in the history of Wales", says John Davies. There was social unrest and extreme poverty and each of Wales' 48 "unions" (parishes were grouped into unions) was obliged to build a workhouse. A Poor Law said no one could be helped at home - so they had to move to a workhouse to get help. And married couples were not allowed to go there together - so families were split up. Workhouses were awful and it was claimed in Carmarthenshire that "people preferred to die than enter it".

24. The Romans found it difficult to subdue the people of Wales

There were at least 13 campaigns between AD48 and 79 and the Romans weren't used to the guerrilla fighters of the Welsh mountains. But they did manage to form a network of forts, with corners at Carmarthen, Caernarfon, Caerleon and Chester.

25. The first railway line in Wales went from Llanelli to Pontarddulais

It was opened in 1839 to serve the iron industry. But it was soon outdone by the more famous Taff Vale Railway from Merthyr to Cardiff in 1841. Between 1840 and 1870, 2,300 kilometres of railway were built across the country.

26. Jewish shops were attacked in Tredegar in 1911

(Image: Tonypandy Riots - Policemen line the street in Tonypandy outside the offices of the South Wales Echo)

These attacks also spread to places including Bargoed and Brynmawr. This was at the same time as anti-Semitism in Russia, but there are doubts as to whether the attacks in Wales were specifically directed at Jews. The wider context was the "Great Unrest" which saw strikes around working and pay, and riots at Tonypandy and Llanelli, where two people were shot dead on August 19.

27. In 1932, nearly half of Welsh men were unemployed

The depression that began in the 1920s was "the central happening in the history of 20th century Wales," says John Davies. People left the country in huge numbers and there were fewer people here in 1931 than in 1921. In 1932, 42.8% of insured men were out of work. Although the depression affected every developed country "the experience of Wales was exceptional in severity and length". In most countries it was over by the mid-1930s but in 1939 there were still 100,000 men out of work in Wales. In 1926, the miners of South Wales lost a combined £15 million in wages - that's more than £1 billion in today's money.

28. In 1966 you could travel from Holyhead to Chepstow without leaving a Labour constituency

(Image: Creative Commons)

The Labour party dominated Welsh politics in the 1960s. In 1966, it won 32 of the 36 constituencies, taking Monmouth from the Conservatives and Cardiganshire from the Liberals, who had held it since 1880. You could travel from Holyhead to Chepstow without leaving a Labour constituency, using the ferry from Ynyslas to Aberdyfi.