Today In History: March 12

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THE BAHAMAS – On this day in Bahamian history in 1952, the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire opened their Headquarters Building in Nassau on Elizabeth Avenue and Shirley Street. 



Formed in 1900, the I.O.D.E. was a women’s charitable organization dedicated to community service, child welfare and distressed citizens.

In October 1976 they donated their I.O.D.E. Headquarters to the Bahamas Historical Society. 

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In 1986 this photograph of Halley’s comet was taken by John Zervos at approximately 5.00 a.m. 

Using “time exposure” as the comet appeared in the eastern sky from his residence in Winton Estates, New Providence, Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

Halley’s comet has been called the most famous comet in history. 

As a “periodic” comet, it returns to Earth’s vicinity every 75 years.

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Fast forward to 2014, chaos erupted outside the Department of Immigration on Hawkins Hill, the Customs Warehouse near Lynden Pindling International Airport, Arawak Cay and Customs Headquarters.

Scores of members of the Customs Allied Workers Union staged protests. The union decided to use a strike certificate it got two years earlier in 2012. Union members were upset over proper compensation, health insurance, and what they called an illegal shift system.

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And in 2018, charges were dropped against 10 people who faced several charges connected to the destruction of a fence blocking an access point on Cabbage Beach. 

The group was represented by Attorney and former DNA Leader Branville McCartney.

It brought an end to a nearly 2-year-long legal dilemma. The Cabbage Beach matter had been a contentious issue.

In 2016, dozens of irate beach vendors blocked traffic flow over to Paradise Island in protest of the sudden closure of the main entry point for vendors to the beach.

The dispute climaxed with the tearing down of the fence erected in a bid to block access to the property.