1. In 1968, the then JLP Minister of Development and Welfare, Edward Seaga, in a presentation to Parliament, sought to institutionalise festival proceedings by establishing the Jamaica Festival Commission, now known the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC).

2. In 1968, the name of our music ‘reggae’ was invented.

3. 1968 was deemed the Year of Reggae.

4. In 1968, the much-talked-about ‘Rodney Riots’, aka ‘The October Riots’ took place in Kingston. This is said to have been a sign of the emergence of black power consciousness in Jamaica.

5. In 1968 the students of the UWI, Mona campus, donated money to the Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee (SNCC) in the US to assist in its struggle against racism.

6. In 1968 Jamaica finished 14th out of the 28 countries that competed in that year’s Summer Paralympics. Jamaica won a total of five medals: three gold, one silver, one bronze.

7. In 1968, Jamaica became an official member of CARIFTA on August 1.

8. In 1968, the Marcus Garvey prize for Human Rights, awarded posthumously to Dr Martin Luther King, was presented to his wife, Coretta King here in Jamaica.

9. In 1968 — after its first incarnation as Jamaica Air Service Limited in 1963 — the government of Jamaica established the national airline, Air Jamaica.

10. In 1968, the Jamaica House’s of Representatives voted to change to British currency, introducing the dollar.