Today In History: August 15

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – On this day in Bahamian history in 1928 – Paul Lawrence Adderley was born in Nassau. Adderley was a prominent Bahamian politician and lawyer serving in front line politics from the early 1960s to the early 1990s.

He was called to the English Bar and The Bahamas’ Bar in 1953 and was first elected to the House of Assembly in 1962 representing the Western District of New Providence as a member of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). In 1965 he left the PLP and formed his own political party the National Democratic Party (NDP). 

In the 1967 General Election he failed to win a seat and returned to the PLP in 1972 and was appointed Minister of External Affairs on March 1st, 1973 and attorney-general on July 10th, 1973. He is the country’s first and longest serving attorney-general serving from 1973 – 1989.

Adderley also served as acting governor-general from December 1, 2005 – January 31, 2006. On 19th September 2012 Adderley died at the age of 84.

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Then fast forward August15th, 2014, Harold Munnings Sr. died in Nassau. He was 90-years-old. Munnings was a prominent engineer, civil servant and administrator. 

Munnings made significant contributions to the nation, especially in the public service and athletics.

Munnings served as the Chef’ de Mission of The Bahamas’ Team at the Rome Olympics in 1960. 

In 2013, Munnings, who was the third president of the Bahamas Amateur Athletic Association and a vice president of the Bahamas Olympic Association, was inducted into the Bahamas National Sports Hall of Fame and was described at the time as a “renaissance man.”

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Then two years later in 2016 – Shaunae Miller won gold in the women’s 400-meter final at the games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. She clocked a time of 49.44 seconds.

With the bruises and bumps to show, Miller dived across the finish line at the Olympic Stadium beating American Allyson Felix and snatching The Bahamas’ first gold medal at the games.

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2019 – 10 years after 18-year-old Brenton Smith was shot and killed by police. His family reflected on his life admitting time has not healed the wounds. Smith was killed on July 9th, 2009 while walking with a friend through a short cut at the rear of the old City Market food store on Robinson Road. The shooting took place shortly after the store was robbed by two men, one of whom was armed. 

Smith was not involved in the robbery. Nearly a year later a 7-man jury found Officer Kelsey Munroe acted in self-defense when he shot the 18-year-old. 

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In 2020 – National COVID-19 Vaccine Committee Chairman Dr. Mercelin Dhal-Regis announced the country was now experiencing significant increase in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 at a time of increased travel to and from The Bahamas. 

The Alpha variant was the predominant variant circulating at the time. At the time 117,380 doses of the vaccine had been administered with 51,150 people fully vaccinated.