THIS DAY IN OUR PAST

The following events took place on May 12 in the years identified:

1959: Jamaica’s Constitution instruments, creating a selfgovernment status for the island, are signed in London by the Queen. The signing of the instruments by the Queen does not bring the Constitution i mmediately into operation. It will come into operation on proclamation here in Jamaica by the governor acting on the authority of the Queen. The announcement is made by Chief Minister Norman Manley in the House of Representatives as he completed his speech on the estimates of revenue for the current financial year and declares that the raising of a loan by Jamaica in the American market is a symbol of the island’s stride forward into independence and responsibility for its own affairs.

1983: Campion College demonstrate their strength at the Jamaica Lawn Tennis Association headquarters when in the semis of the Alexander Cup (for boys 18 and under) they overwhelm Munro, taking the three singles without the loss of one game.

1998: Nurses commemorate International Nurses’ Day, the birth of one of their pioneers, Florence Nightingale, with an Open Day at their headquarters in Kingston. Nightingale earned the claim of founder of modern nursing when, in 1854, she took a small band of women from England to the battle fronts of the Crimean War. Returning four years later to England, she founded the first ever nursing school in London. Bearing this level of loyalty to nursing in mind, President of the Nurses’ Association of Jamaica Edith Allwood tells the gathering of students and registered nurses, “We acknowledge that to the legacy of our pioneers (including Jamaica nurse Mary Seacole), we have not always been true ... but we take the time to acknowledge you.