​Seeing that the STEEL PAN has OFFICIALLY been announced as Trinidad &Tobago's National Instrument, here's some history about it and its founder.
𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 "𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐞" 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧?
In the year 1930, Winston Simon was born at Rose Hill, East Dry River, Port-of Spain, Trinidad. He went, however, to live with his brother at Clinton Street (now Foster Street) in another community of the East Dry River, called John John.
John John was an area surrounded by factories, which produced biscuits and other products that used tins and drums. The discarded containers were used by the youth in the area as instruments for their percussion band, which was a response to the official banning of the drum. In the John John band, Winston was a kettle drummer and played his kettle-drum, a rudimentary one-note instrument.
It is believed that one night when the band was taking a 'jam' through the district, Winston loaned his instrument to a fellow member. When the kettle drum was returned, Winston noticed that the instrument had been destroyed, as much of its original convex playing surface had been beaten inward.
As he tried to repair the instrument and return it to its original shape, by beating it from inside with a big stone, Winston observed that there were different sounds, tones or pitches emanating from various points of the surface of the tin.
This discovery encouraged experimentation with the pounding of the surface of the tin using stone and wood alternately, which led to Winston being able to hammer out 4 distinct musical notes, thus producing a four-note pan in 1943 at the age of 13.
In that same year, Winston was able to further develop his instrument into the eight note 'ping pong', which is considered the fore runner to the tenor pan of today.
By 1946, Winston 'Spree' Simon's ping pong evolved into a pan of fourteen notes but the top of the pan was still convex, was beaten with plain sticks without the rubber and was not chromatically tuned.
Following the ban of Carnival from 1939-45 as a result of World War 2, on March 5th 1946, Carnival Tuesday of that year, Winston 'Spree' Simon publically launched his fourteen note pan at the Broadway Carnival Competition in down town Port-of- Spain.
At the competition Winston 'Spree' Simon played to an audience, which included the Governor Sir Bede Clifford and Lady Clifford, the Honourable Norman Tang, Audrey Jeffers and calypsonian, Lord Kitchener.
He played classics, hymns and calypsos on his 14 note pan, including Schubert's Ave Maria, Kitchener's Tie Tongue Mopsy and God Save the King.
Winston 'Spree' Simon was selected to join the Trinidad All Stars Percussion Orchestra in 1951, when the band went to tour London and Paris, in order to introduce the steel pan as an instrument to Europe.  (Source: We are trinis, July 4, 2024)

Born in Port of Spain and a former student of St. Mary's college.

ATLANTA, October 15, 2024 — The Board of Directors at the American Cancer Society (ACS) announced today the appointment of Wayne A. I. Frederick, MD, MBA, as interim chief executive officer of ACS and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), effective November 2. Dr. Frederick, a distinguished health care leader and surgical oncologist, brings a wealth of experience in business administration, medical education, academic excellence and public health to the organization as it continues its mission to improve the lives of people with cancer and their families through advocacy, research, and patient support.  
“Dr. Frederick’s commitment to improving health care outcomes, particularly as it relates to patient care and research, aligns perfectly with the American Cancer Society’s mission,” said Brian Marlow, chair of the ACS Board of Directors. “As a proven and collaborative leader, we are confident in his ability to maintain and build upon the incredible momentum across ACS during this period of leadership transition.”  
Dr. Frederick is currently president emeritus of Howard University, having served as the institution's 17th president from 2014 to 2023. Under his leadership, Howard University made significant strides in student opportunity, academic innovation, public service and fiscal stability. His tenure accompanied a period of considerable growth and transformation at Howard, including historic enrollment numbers and philanthropic donations.   
“I am deeply honored to join ACS and ACS CAN in this capacity as interim CEO and continue our work to end cancer as we know it, for everyone,” said Dr. Frederick. “I look forward to working full-time with the incredible teams at ACS and ACS CAN, and more than a million volunteers across the country, to advance our shared goals of increasing access to care, reducing cancer disparities and improving the lives of patients and their families.”  
A practicing surgeon, Dr. Frederick was recently appointed by the Howard University Board of Trustees as the distinguished Charles R. Drew Professor of Surgery at the prestigious Howard University College of Medicine. His academic career began as the associate director of the cancer center at the University of Connecticut. An accomplished scholar, Dr. Frederick has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, abstracts and editorials, and is a widely recognized expert in the fields of health care disparities and medical education. His medical research focuses on reducing racial, ethnic and gender disparities in cancer care outcomes, with a particular emphasis on gastrointestinal cancers.  
Dr. Frederick, who joined the ACS Board in 2022, has stepped down from his position on the Board as part of this new interim leadership role. Karen E. Knudsen, MBA, PhD, who previously announced her desire to transition from CEO of ACS and ACS CAN after more than three extraordinary years, will remain part of ACS and serve as an Executive Strategic Advisor until early 2025 to support the transition. Her final day as CEO will be November 1. The Board’s search for a permanent CEO remains ongoing.