A midsummer MONDAY

Today is Independence Day in The Bahamas. This public holiday marks independence from the United Kingdom in 1973 and is the National Day of The Bahamas.

Though there is some dispute as to the actual location, The Bahamas is the site of Columbus’ first landfall in the New World in 1492. The Bahamas became a British Crown colony in 1718 as a result of the British trying to suppress piracy in the region. Following the American war of independence, many British loyalists moved to The Bahamas, bolstering its British connections.

The British House of Lords voted to give The Bahamas its independence on 22 June 1973.

On July 10th 1973, The Bahamas was officially declared an independent nation when the documents relating to independence were delivered to Prime Minister Lynden Pindling by Prince Charles and The Bahamas became an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations.


Today is the birthday, in 1947, of Arlo Guthrie, US singer, songwriter, son of folksinger Woody Guthrie, (1967 album ‘Alice’s Restaurant’, 1972 US No.18 single ‘The City Of New Orleans’). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfxoM6trtZE