A new republic is born: Barbados ditches Britain's Queen Elizabeth

Barbados on Tuesday ditched Britain's Queen Elizabeth as head of state, forging a new republic -- 55 years to the day since it declared independence.

Barbados ditched Britain's Queen Elizabeth as head of state, forging a new republic on Tuesday with its first-ever president and severing its last remaining colonial bonds nearly 400 years after the first English ships arrived at the Caribbean island.

At the strike of midnight, the new republic was born to the cheers of hundreds of people lining Chamberlain Bridge in the capital, Bridgetown. A 21 gun salute fired as the national anthem of Barbados was played over a crowded Heroes Square.