National

Today in History: March 24

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – On this day in Bahamian history, William Shirley died in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1771. Shirley was governor of these islands from 1760-1768.

Published

2 years ago

March 24, 2023

Kendeno Knowles

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – On this day in Bahamian history, William Shirley died in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1771. Shirley was governor of these islands from 1760-1768.

Shirley Street in downtown Nassau, is named after him.

Fast forward to 1940 when Frank Watson was born in Gordon’s, Long Island.

Watson is a retired civil servant, former politician, cabinet minister, deputy prime minister and deputy to the governor general.

Outside of politics, the Bahamas Historical Society notes he is a founding member and past president of the Long Islanders Association among other civic posts.

On March 25, 2010, a 4.5 mile stretch of road from South Ocean Boulevard to Adelaide Road was named the Frank Watson Highway.

In 1964 Richard George Dean died in Miami. Known by his stage ‘Sweet Richard’, he was an entertainer, nightclub owner, limbo and fire dancer and Junkanooer.

Born in Long Island, his talents would take him to perform in clubs locally and abroad.

Often referred to as the king of Junkanoo, Percy Vola Francis addressed the Historical Society on the life and times of Sweet Richard back in 2018.

In 2015 police found the lifeless body of well known Australian podiatrist Phillip Vasyli in the dining room of his Old Fort Bay home.

A week later his wife Donna was arrested and charged. She was found guilty that year and sentenced to 20 years.

In 2017 the Court of Appeal quashed the sentenced leading to a retrial that ended in her acquittal just two weeks ago on March 10 by a nine member jury.

In 2016 as the Peter Nygard, Louis Bacon, Save the Bays, murder plot scandal captured national attention. Then Prime Minister Perry Christie defended against claims he was corrupt saying he would not allow his name or character to be tarnished.

Five years later in 2021, then Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar told Parliament, government would purchase the hurricane Dorian ravaged Grand Bahama International Airport from Port Holdings and Port Group Ltd. for $1.

Government said the owners had shown no interest in restoring the airport, despite the commitment to provide an international airport in the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.

In 2022, on their final stop of their Royal Caribbean tour, The Bahamas welcomed the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to Nassau on the occasion of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Prince William and Kate’s visit also took to Abaco and Grand Bahama, where several sites and businesses were highlighted.

Their visit reigniting a decades old slavery reparations debate across the region.