Today in History: February 1

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – On this day in Bahamian history, newspapers reported on the January 31, 1979, visit of newly elected Pope John Paul II.

The Pope, who addressed a crowd at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, was on his first overseas trip outside of Italy.

Other stops on his tour included Dominican Republic and Mexico, where the conference of Latin American Bishops (CELAM) was held.

In 1987, James Smith was appointed governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas.

Smith served as governor from February 1987- January 1997.

Upon Smith’s exit in 1997, Julian Francis was appointed governor and served in this post until May 2005.

On February 1, 2006, Arthur Hanna was sworn in as Governor General, serving in the post until his retirement in April 2011.

Hanna entered politics in the late 1950s, joining the newly formed Progressive Liberal Party, and was elected to the House of Assembly in 1960 and served until 1992.

Hanna, who is one of our country’s founding fathers, holds the distinction of being the longest serving deputy prime minister in Bahamian history.

Hanna passed away in August 2021 at the age of 93.

In 2021, United Kingdom-based website Find my past published an article about Bahamian family names.

The article points out that some Bahamian surnames come from freed slaves adopting their former masters’ family names.

Stephen Rigden investigated if they were taken voluntarily.