It Happened This Month

October

1974  Hugh Shearer announces that he will retire as leader of the JLP when his current term of office expires in November.

2nd
1933   While constructing a road from Harbour Head to Port Royal, inmates of the General Penitentionery.uncover a ten ft. high monument inscribed " The first coconut tree was planted here on the 4th of May 1869 by John Horton, Esq., Superintendent of the General Penitentiary"

5th
1720  The House of Assembly is informed that the notorious "Calico Jack" Rackham & 18 of his crew have been captured, while having a party at Negril, by Capt. Johnathan Barnett. Among the pirates are two women, Mary Read & Anne Bonney. Capt Barnett receives a reward of a hundred pounds for himself and another hundred to be shared amongst his crew.                                  

1937  Speed limits are introduced in Kingston. In the city centre area the limit is set at 15mph, elsewhere in the corporate area at 20mph & on the new Palisadoes Rd at 25mph.

1957  Just before dawn,an object, appearing to be a ball of fire, moves across the sky over Maroon Town in St James.

1974  The Standing Committee of the JLP asks Edward Seaga to return from leave & make himself available for nomination to the post of Party Leader when Hugh Shearer steps down next month.

6th
1936 Architects Abraham, Henriques & Joy have complted the design for the new "Carib Cinema" to be constructed at Cross Roads The 2000 seat cinema will have an underwater ambience designed by interior decorator Johnny Pike & will have an outdoor tea garden at the eastern end of the building.                                                                                                   

1937 Jamaican born Sir Frederick Cohen dies in London at the age of 83. Cohen, the internationally acclaimed composer of over 300 works was also the Conductor of The London Philharmonic Orchestra & the Covent Gardens Promenade Orchestra.

1975 The first 18 graduates of the Norman Manley Law School of the University of the West Indies are admitted to the Bar. They are G. Belnavis, J. Rowe, E. Robinson, M. Saunders, D. Hemming, E. Boxill, F. Parke, S. Shelton, R. Paris, R. Stephenson, C. Morrison, D. Paris, L. Sibbles, R. Smellie, V. Green, A. Ho-On, M. Thompson & M. Ducille.

8th
1933 Tom Redcam, born Thomas Henry MacDermot, the famous Jamaican poet dies in England at the age of 63.

9th
1948 Ivanhoe Martin aka Rhyging, Jamaica's most wanted criminal, is killed after a gun battle with police at Lime Cay off the coast of Port Royal.

1983 P J Patterson is elected Chairman of the People's National Party at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Party in Mandeville.

11th
1865  The Morant Bay Rebellion occurs. Paul Bogle & several hundred men descend on the Morant Bay Courthouse, killing officials, freeing prisoners & setting the courthouse on fire.

12th
1864  A public meeting is held in Stony Gut, St Thomas, to discuss the problem of unemployment & poor conditions of the labourers. Paul Bogle is selected to lead a delegation to the Governor. They walk the distance to King's House in Spanish Town but the governor refuses to listen to their complaints.

13th
1865  Martial law is declared in St Thomas, Portland & St Mary because of the revolt on the 11th. Additional troops are sent to St Thomas & the search for Bogle & his men begins.

14th
1959  Adopted Jamaican Errol Flynn, movie star & adventurer, dies of a heart attack. For the last several years he and his family have lived in Portland.

15th
1937  Surveyors begin work on the site chosen for Jamaica's first international airport at Plum Point on the Palisadoes. It will have one runway as well as a dock for seaplanes which now land at Harbour Head.

16th
1941  Dr J B Sutherland of the Department of Agriculture is sucessful in breeding a variety of bananas which is immune to leaf spot & Panama disease.

1950  Cave Valley in St Ann is under 50ft of water caused by rains accompanying Hurricane Jig.

17th
1933 The foundation stone is laid for Kingston College on North Street. The school, which now has an enrollment of 220, is occupying temporary quarters on East Street.

19th
1953  A patient leaves the George V Sanitirium in St Andrew after the sucessful removal of a cancerous portion of his lung. The operation was performed by Dr Richard Cory, Cheif Medical Officer of the Sanitorium.

1984  Mike McCallum becomes the World Junior Middleweight Champion of the World after defeating Sean Mannon at Madison Square Gardens in New York. He is the first Jamaican boxer to win a world title.

20th
1941  Dr William J Owen, consulting bacteriologist & expert in industrial fermentation, completes work done both here & abroad. He has developed a petrol made from molasses which will be vastly cheaper that petrol produced from oil.

21st
1839  The Jamaica Chamber of Commerce is formed at a meeting of merchants in Kingston. The first president will be Mayor of Kingston, Hector Mitchell.

1865  George William Gordon is tried with treason & is found guilty & sentenced to hang.

1931  The Iron Bridge over the Rio Cobre on the eastern approach to Spanish Town is closed to vehicular traffic. The first cast iron bridge in the Western Hemisphere was erected in 1901, 29 years after the first iron bridge in the world was erected in England.

1947  Women in Government service will now be allowed to retain their jobs if they marry.

24th
1865  Paul Bogle is caught, tried & hanged for starting the Morant Bay Rebellion. He is hanged in front of the burnt out Courthouse along with his brother, Moses & 12 others.

1954  Cindy Breakspeare is born.

26th
1926  The West India Regiment holds it's final Parade at Up Park Camp. The regiment, which was formed in 1779, took part in the Napoleonic Wars & World War I as well as many other campaigns.

1939  Port Royal is declared a Restricted Area under wartime regulations.

1987 Four Athletes arrive in Calgary, Canada to begin intensive training in bobsledding for the Winter Olympics. They are Dudley Stokes, Sam Clayton, Michael White & Devon Harris.

27th
1958  Abe Issa, Chairman of Knutsford Park Ltd, announces plans for "a city within a city" which will be built at Knutsford Park Racetrack. The "scientifically planned"  development will have hotels, high-rise apartment buildings & commercial sites. Roadworks & the laying of water mains will commence in January.

28th
1936 The Palisadoes road is opened. Construction carried out by inmates of the General Penitentiary & the Public Works Department started five years ago. The road, which is over 9 miles long, runs from Harbour Head to Port Royal. The speed limit of 25mph will be strictly enforced.

30th
1944  Alexander Bustamante holds his first public meeting to campaign for the West Kingston Seat for the first election to be held under Universal Adult Sufferage.