Berkley Peanuts Taylor

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John Berkely "Peanuts" Taylor has entertained both locals and tourists all over the world with his gift of drumming . It all started at the age of four, when John was walking past the Paul Meeres club and saw Paul practicing at the front of his famous club on Market and Fleming Street. He mischievously shouted out, "I can sing and dance better than you", to which Paul Meeres replied, "A little peanut like you?" and the name "Peanuts" stuck from that day. His first big break came when George Symonette asked him to sit in for one of his drummers . In 1956, he opened for Nat King Cole and the Mills Brothers in California. He also appeared on The Johnny Carson Show, The Steve Allen Show, The Jack Parr Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show.

Shields of The Family Islands

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The shields of the family islands are actually still proposed designs as they have been from 1964. Although the shields were approved under the signature of Queen Elizabeth in the weeks leading up to Independence in 1973 they are still not really official. According to files kept by the then ministry of home affairs it was feared that "such badges might result in further divisiveness and alienation of The Bahamian people "

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Emancipation

1833, the British Parliament passed an Act to abolish slavery in the British Empire. As of August 1, 1834, all slaves throughout the empire were to become free to some degree — if they were under the age of six, they would become free immediately, but if they were over six, they were to be apprenticed to their former masters. Apprenticeship was finally abolished on August 1, 1838. What's the connection between Fox Hill and Emancipation day? Several heritage sites in the area reflect the culture of the entire Bahamas. The Fox Hill Parade Grounds, historically a burial ground, was later converted to a site where the villagers held celebrations. It is archived as the place where Enslaved Africans gathered after they heard about Emancipation.

The Nassau Grouper

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The Nassau Grouper

The Nassau Grouper

Epinephelus striatus

The Bahamas is considered to be one of the few, if not last, areas in this region that still has a substantial (though reduced) population of the Nassau Grouper.

The Nassau grouper can be found in reefs, mangroves, sawgrass and estuarine areas.

The can usually be seen in caves, crevices and cracks of the reef.

The Nassau grouper was once able to undergo a sex change from female to male as the animal matured. The Nassau grouper is no longer thought to do this.

‪The Nassau Grouper is also able to change colour.A combination of the full moon and low water temperatures triggers a change in the colour of the fish.The Grouper usually has 5 dark brown bands around its body but during reproduction they become black on top and white underneath‬

The Nassau Grouper is heavily affected by the moon as they also aggregate in large schools to spawn during the full moon periods from December to February .

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Spawning takes place around sunset when the aggregation moves from the shallows into deeper water. Of the million or more eggs that are released by the female grouper less than 1% will survive long enough to grow into adults. ‪The Nassau Grouper represents the most important finfish resource in The Bahamas. Uncontrolled fishing in the spawning aggregations, spearfishing and use of traps all contribute negatively to sustainability. The species is listed under critically endangered‬.

‪This information was retrieved from the department of Marine Resources ‬

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T CONNECTION

T Connection, the all Bahamian funk and disco group that brought a modern sound to the Bahamian club scene in 1973. The group had 5 top 10 hits in the U.S. and 5 entries in the UK singles chart.

T connection was started by Theophilus Coakley, the band also included his brother Kirk Coakley, Monty Brown, Dave Mackey, Berkley VanByrd(deceased) and Anthony Flowers.

T connection’s music began to take shape in Nassau at the out island Bar of the Nassau Beach Hotel and although they drew large crowds on the local Nassau music scene , the group found its claim to fame in Freeport in the mid seventies

T connection signed to the label T.K. Records which was based in Hialeah FL. T.K. Records’ was formed as a result of the song Funky Nassau by the group “the beginning of the end” Henry stone, the founder of T.K. Records made so much money from the song Funky Nassau that he decided to form the record company.

TK's subsidiary labels included Wolf and Bold Records. Artists signed to TK Records and its subsidiaries included big names such as Betty Wright ,Bobby Caldwell and KC and the sunshine band

T connection gots its first major hit with the song disco Magic and then achieved a great follow up with “do what you wanna do” which became #1 and set a record in the billboard charts for maintaining that position for 8 weeks straight

T connection was the first Bahamian group to tour the U.S. and gained distinction of being the first Bahamian band to appear on national television, they performed on the tv show American Bandstand

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