November 14, 1963: The John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway Opens

Left to right: Governor Elbert Carvel of Delaware,

President John F. Kennedy, and Governor J. Millard Tawes of Maryland

November 14, 1963: President John F. Kennedy dedicates the opening of Interstate 95 at the Delaware-Maryland State Line, along with the Governors of the States involved, J. Millard Tawes of Maryland and Elbert N. Carvel of Delaware.

Just 8 days later, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. On December 17, the States of Maryland and Delaware named their sections of I-95 the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway. Delaware kept the Delaware Turnpike name, which had been in place since the road opened in 1956.

The Delaware Turnpike runs 11 miles from the Pennsylvania State Line to the Maryland State Line. From there, it runs 110 miles, to the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Thruway. South of that, I-95 no longer carries the JFK name.

I-95 -- including its more northern sections, such as the Delaware Expressway in Philadelphia, the New Jersey Turnpike, the New England Thruway in New York, and the Connecticut Turnpike -- essentially killed the old Pennsylvania Railroad, as people began driving up and down the Northeast Corridor, between the cities of Boston, Providence, New Haven, New York, Newark, New Brunswick, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore and Washington.

As a result, rest areas became critical. The Delaware Welcome Center, now named the Biden Welcome Center after the State's most successful politician, opened in Newark, Delaware in 1963. So did the Maryland House in Aberdeen. The Chesapeake House opened in North East, Maryland in 1975. These plazas were demolished and replaced: The one in Delaware in 2010, and the two in Maryland in 2014.

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November 14, 1963 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 2 games played in the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Baltimore Bullets, 123-115 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena). Terry Dischinger scored 36 points for the Bullets. And the St. Louis Hawks beat the San Francisco Warriors, 117-105 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. Cliff Hagan scored 38. Wilt Chamberlain had 34 points and 22 rebounds for the Warriors.

And 1 game was played in the NHL: The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Rangers. 5-4 at the old Madison Square Garden.