History of Aberystwyth
2000+
2000
Genome
'Rough Draft' of Human genome map completed
World Population
- -6000
- 0.01
- -4000
- 0.02
- -2000
- 0.03
- -1000
- 0.05
- - 500
- 0.10
- 1
- 0.20
- 1000
- 0.31
- 1750
- 0.79
- 1800
- 0.98
- 1850
- 1.26
- 1900
- 1.65
- 1950
- 2.52
- 1955
- 2.76
- 1960
- 2.98
- 1965
- 3.33
- 1970
- 3.69
- 1975
- 4.07
- 1980
- 4.43
- 1985
- 4.83
- 1990
- 5.26
- 1995
- 5.67
- 2000
- 6.07
- 2005
- 6.45
April: Drama
Parry-Williams building opens on Penglais Campus for the Theatre, Film and Television Department
April: Arts Centre Extension
A £4.3 million redevelopment adds a cinema, gallery, shop, theatre studio and dance studio's to the Arts Centre.
September 29: Protection from the moon
Aberystwyth tidal defence scheme opened
October 20: Clock
2001
February-September: Countryside Closed
An outbreak of foot-and-mouth diesease leads to the destruction 10 million sheep and cattle, the confinement of most of Britain's livestock to their farms.
2002
January 1: New Money
Already used by banks for 3 years the Euro is introduced in 11 central European countries as notes and coins.
February: Snow
Thanks to Ian Jones for allowing me to use the image
Theological College Closed
United Theological college, opened in 1906 and built on the site of the old Customs House was closed
September 23: Earthquake
Earthquake felt in Aberystwyth at 1am Magnitude 4.8, epicentre Dudley
October 27: Gale
Gale force storm hits Aberystwyth just before dawn, knocking down some large trees and showering the streets with roof tiles.
2003
April: Cherry
Being in poor condition after being neglected during last summers road works the, much loved, ornamental cherry trees on Portland St are cut down and replaced with 'European Mountain Ash'
August
Carwyn James Building opens on Penglais Campus for the Sports Science Department
October 1: Bridge
Suspension technology reaches Aberystwyth with the new 'bouncy' suspension foot bridge just a few hundred meters up stream of Trefechan bridge
Winning the competition to name the bridge, 11 year old Elinor Thorogood and officially opened 'Pont-yr-Odyn' (Kiln Bridge).
March 20: Iraq War
The UK is part of the coalition that invades Iraq to remove Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
2004
February 26: Snow
Aberystwyth sees its first covering of snow for many years. By lunch time the snow is 6cm deep and concern is increasing about peoples ability to get home. (Aberystwyth's snow fall is usually (but not this time) just a small fraction of what is it at the inland villages that make up the catchment area for school students and workers.) By mid afternoon, the university, post office, schools, banks and most shops are closed. The resulting exodus causes gridlock and cuts Aberystwyth off to traffic for several hours in certain directions.
Much to the bemusement of the continental students, the university remains closed the following three days due to the 8cm covering of snow.
July: Mammatus
An out-of-season 'winter storm' hits the south of England and Wales, just clipping Aber'. For following sequence, taken over 25 minutes, shows Mammatus clouds formed by the storm and lit up by the sunset. (It's the 1st time I've seen Mammatus clouds in Aberystwyth)
As an aside:
The underside of most clouds are fairly flat, a distinctive feature of these clouds is that dropping out of them are udder-like protrusions - hence the name 'Mammatus' from the Latin for breast-shaped. As it turns out, the large bronze nude woman that forms part of the war memorial (aka The floozie with the boobies) is reputed to have the largest breasts in Wales. On this occasion dwarfed by these Mammatus clouds!
December: Livestock Market
Park Avenue livestock market is closed down to make way for new shops.
September 16: Illegal
Kofi Annan , the Secretary-General of the United Nations, declares the Iraq War as illegal
December 26: Tsunami
Undersea earthquake (9.0 on Richter scale) just west of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that devastated costal communities over a distance of 5000km in the Indian Ocean
2005
World Population
- -6000
- 0.01
- -4000
- 0.02
- -2000
- 0.03
- -1000
- 0.05
- - 500
- 0.10
- 1
- 0.20
- 1000
- 0.31
- 1750
- 0.79
- 1800
- 0.98
- 1850
- 1.26
- 1900
- 1.65
- 1950
- 2.52
- 1955
- 2.76
- 1960
- 2.98
- 1965
- 3.33
- 1970
- 3.69
- 1975
- 4.07
- 1980
- 4.43
- 1985
- 4.83
- 1990
- 5.26
- 1995
- 5.67
- 2000
- 6.07
- 2005
- 6.45
2006
May: Shops
Opening of 'Ystwyty Retail Park' on the site of the former livestock market and slaughterhouse.
July 25: InterPol
2007
April: Hot
June 1: Volcano
October 18: 3D Wedgie
Home to 'See3D Ltd' the new £10.4 million Visualisation Centre is opened
September 1: New University
Aberystwyth won the right to seceded from the University of Wales and become an independent university. (Aberystwyth was one of the founding members of the University of Wales in 1893.) Despite re-branding itself as 'Aberystwyth University' it has chosen not to issue its own degrees and still continues to issue the degrees of the University of Wales.Summer: Wet
2008
Townies
A crossover is reached as a majority of the planets population now live in urban rather than rural areas
February 27: Earthquake
Earthquake felt in Aberystwyth at 1am magnitude 5.3, epicentre near Grimsby
April 17: Grass
Founded in 1919, and separated in 1953, the Welsh Plant Breading Station (at its Plas Gorgerddan site 4km north of Aberystwyth) becomes part of the university again.
July 4: Gutted
Starting late on the 4th, a fire gutted the Tabernacle - the site of one of the oldest Calvinistic Methodist chapel's in Wales. The chapel was rebuilt several times on the same site to cope with increasing numbers. At the time of the fire this fourth chapel, opened in 1880, was in the hands of developers planning to turn it into flats.
(as seen from Powell Street)
(as seen from Mill Street car park)
The remaining structure was considered to be unsafe and was demolished on the 11th
2009
May 21: Arts Centre Extension
Creative Business Units, designed by Thomas Heatherwick and costing £1.75 million were officially opened
October 1: Judges stopped from hanging out with the bad kids
In order to help protect the law from being abused by parliament, the highest court in the land - the (parliamentary) Law Lords are replaced by the (independent) UK Supreme Court.
