Today in History: December 1

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On this day in Bahamian history, in 1828 William Dowdeswell died at his residence in England.

Dowdeswell was governor and commander-in-chief of the Bahama Islands from 1791-1801. His ten years as governor of the colony witnessed the loyalists becoming the dominant political group in the House of Assembly as well as the decline on the cotton boom in the Bahama Islands. Dowdeswell Street on New Providence is named after him.

In 1912 William Robinson, a member of the slave trade commission, who served as governor and commander-in-chief of these islands from 1874-1880, died in London, of heart disease.

A year after his command of The Bahamas ended, Robinson was appointed governor of the Windward Islands, before holding the post in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

On December 1, 1949 musician and songwriter Phil Stubbs was born in Dumfries, Cat Island. The rake n’ scrape and Bahamian folk music entertainer is known for songs such as: Cry of the Potcake, Down Home, Bonefish Foley, Oh Cat Island and Stress.

The first United States president to set foot on Bahamian soil, was the late John F. Kennedy, the 35th U.S. president.

He met with Prime Minister Harold MacMillan of England for two days in Nassau in December 1962. The two met to discuss the cancellation of the Sky Bolt air-to ground missile series.

In 1995 Cleveland Wilmore Eneas Sr died in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 80.

Dr. Eneas was an educator, historian and Doctor of Dental Surgery. He is the author the popular book ‘Bain Town’ and the primary school on New Providence is named in his honor.

In 2005, Paul Lawrence Adderley became acting Governor-General of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. He served in that office after Dame Ivy Dumont stepped down. He remained Governor-General until Arthur Hanna was sworn in on February 2, 2006.

On this day in world history, December 1, 1761 saw the birth of Marie Tussaud was born in France. She is credited as the founder of Madame Tussaud’s Museum of Wax Figures.

In 1913 the world’s first moving assembly line debuted, used in manufacturing Model Ts at a Ford factory in Highland Park, Michigan; the innovation was the idea of owner Henry Ford, and it revolutionized the auto industry.

On this day in 1955, civil rights icon Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger and was arrested, sparking a 381-day bus boycott led by Martin Luther King, Jr.