Today in History: February 8

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – On this day in Bahamian history, Dick Deveaux, the leader of the Golden Grove plantation uprising on Cat Island (then San Salvador) was executed by hanging in 1832 for the attempted murder of plantation owner Joseph Hunter, as well as shooting with intent to disable Hunter and shooting with intent to do “grievous bodily harm”.

Deveaux was an enslaved person and a driver on Hunter’s plantation

The uprising was sparked by a dispute over which days the slaves would have free during the Christmas holiday period.

Hunter served as an attorney, judge, politician and later, interim governor.

In 1926, Joseph Kalil Amoury died in Nassau at age 68.

Amoury, who was of Lebanese heritage, migrated to The Bahamas in 1891, and opened a shop in Nassau in 1895 selling dry goods. As early as 1923, the J.K. Amoury store began selling business supplies.

Today, The Amoury Company is one of the largest sellers of business products in The Bahamas.

On this day in 1990, Klay Alexander Thompson was born in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Thompson is a Bahamian-American professional basketball player who currently plays for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

Thompson is the son of Bahamian basketball legend Mychal ‘Sweet Bells’ Thompson, who played in the NBA  for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1987 to 1991. His mother, Julie, played volleyball in college.

As a member of the Warriors he has won three NBA Championships in 2015, 2017 and 2018. He is also an Olympic gold medalist as part of the United States Men’s Basketball team from the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.