National

Today In History: March 19th

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – On This Day in Bahamian History on March 19th 1978, Joseph Eve was awarded the contract to construct a jail in the town of Nassau.

Published

11 months ago

March 19, 2025

Jasmin Brown

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – On This Day in Bahamian History on March 19th 1978, Joseph Eve was awarded the contract to construct a jail in the town of Nassau.

Eve was a Loyalist from Pennsylvania who came to The Bahamas after the American War of Independence. He was also an inventor and architect. In addition to designing the prison in Nassau, now the Nassau Public Library on Shirley Street, he also designed St. Matthew’s Anglican Church on Shirley Street and Church Street.

The jail’s design was inspired by the Old Powder Magazine in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States.

March 19, 2014

Chaos erupted in the House of Assembly after a Misty Gardens resident had to be restrained by then-House Speaker Dr. Kendal Major and was eventually dragged out of Parliament.

The drama unfolded as she attempted to snatch the mace from the mace bearer’s hand as he and the Speaker walked into the House for an official sitting of Parliament.

Janice Curtis was later taken into police custody, where she reportedly told officers that God instructed her to take the mace. She was banned from the House of Assembly for a year and faced a $600 fine.

March 19, 2020

A few days after the country recorded its first confirmed COVID-19 case, then-Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis announced the first of several COVID-19 curfews.

The curfew mandated that residents remain indoors for the next 11 days between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., with business operations, except for essential services, being suspended.

The then-prime minister told the nation that the measures were necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19. His announcement came a day after presenting sweeping emergency COVID-19 powers in the House of Assembly.