Today in History: January 30

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – On this day in Bahamian history, Mychal George ‘Sweet Bells’ Thompson was born in New Providence in 1955. Thompson is now a retired professional basketball player and a sports broadcaster.

In 1978 he was selected as the number one draft pick in the NBA by the Portland Trailblazers, a draft that included Larry Bird. He played eight seasons in Portland.

In 1986 he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs and played half a season before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he played for the remainder of his professional career.

Although he had his most successful seasons as an individual in Portland, it was as a Laker that Thompson won NBA titles with the Showtime Lakers between 1986 and 1988.

Following the 1990-1991 season, Thompson announced his retirement from the NBA.

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In 1988, Wallace Groves died in Miami, Florida. Groves was an American investor who came to the Bahamas after he and his brother and two other persons were convicted in the United States of mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud.

In 1941 he started the Abaco Lumber Co.

In 1955, along with Stafford Sands as his personal lawyer he secured 211 square miles on the southern part of Grand Bahama through the Hawksbill Creek Agreement. This agreement led to the creation of the City of Freeport.

A 1967 Royal Commission of Inquiry revealed that Stafford Sands and other high government officials were receiving payments of more than $1 million from the Port Authority.

He sold his GBPA interest to Charles Hayward. Ten years later, Groves died at the age of 86 from a stroke.

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In 1918, The first airmail service began in the Bahamas.

It started as an exploratory service by the United States Naval Air Service. On the first delivery 600 pieces of mail were delivered from to Miami, Florida by plane.

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In 2009, C L Financial Limited, the largest conglomerate in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean suffered a corporate and financial collapse.

The fallout from this collapse affected the staff and policyholders of C L Financial Limited and its other entities including CLICO (Bahamas) Limited.

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In 1826, an Act of The Bahamas Legislature recognizes the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Jamaica, Christopher Lipscomb, over the clergy in The Bahamas.

The Bahama Islands and the Turks & Caicos Islands Anglican churches were incorporated into the Diocese of Jamaica by an Act of the Bahamas Legislature.

Christopher Lipscombe, the Bishop of Jamaica became head over the clergy. The Bahamas remained a part of Jamaica Diocese until 4th November 1861 when it became a separate diocese with the Turks & Caicos Islands.

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In 1979, the last king of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, also known as The Shah arrived in The Bahamas.

During the demonstrations of the Iranian Revolution against the repressive rule of The Shah and his government, the king left the country. He first sought exile in Egypt and then Morocco.

He then came to The Bahamas and offered the Bahamian government $425 million to purchase Paradise Island where he was residing. The Bahamas government refused, saying that the island was worth more the Shah’s offer.