THIS DAY IN OUR PAST

The following events took place on February 15 in the years identified:

1948: Fishing history is made in Jamaica for the first time, so far as l ocal knowledge goes, as a blue marlin is landed on artificial bait in Kingston. The redoubtable fishermen who have the luck to take part in this adventure are Lauriston Frankson, who actually hooks the fish, Jackie Brandon, hero of a hundred deepsea encounters with big fish, and Arthur Hoyos, captain of the boat. 1962: Governor of Jamaica Kenneth Blackburne opens the New Archives Repository

in Spanish Town. Black burne, in giving the main address, states that without archives, there can be no history, and history is one of the best ways of developing true patriotism and true national spirit in any part of the world. He says that history is vital as through history, it is possible to know exactly what one’s predecessors did, par ticularly the mistakes they made. This knowledge, he says, prevents people from making similar mistakes, “so history helps us to learn from the mistakes of others”. 1995: A disappointing firstquarter financial result of the NCB Group set the stock market plummeting by 1,058 points, or 4.47 per cent of its entire value. This is the lowest point that the index has been for over a month. The NCB Group alone accounted for 60 per cent of the total decline in the index as well as 51.8 per cent of the total volume traded. Its share price, which moved from $4.85 to $12.50 between December 1994 and January 1995, fell by $3.10, or 31 per cent of its value to close trading at $6.85. “The entire trading session hinged on the psychology of the disappointing NCB Group results,” says Michelle McDonald, trader and research analyst at Mayberry Investments Ltd. “It is obvious throughout trading that most people are just waiting to see what will happen to the share price of the NCB Group,” she notes.

– GLEANER NEWS