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.

*

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.

August 16, 1951: The Delaware Memorial Bridge Opens

August 16, 1951: The Delaware Memorial Bridge opens, connecting New Castle, New Castle County, Delaware and Pennsville, Salem County, New Jersey, over the Delaware River. It is operated by the Delaware River and Bay Authority.

It is 5 miles southeast of Rodney Square in Wilmington; 34 miles southwest of Center City, Philadelphia; 50 miles north of Legislative Hall (Delaware's State Capitol building) in Dover, 118 miles southwest of Midtown Manhattan; 70 miles northwest of Atlantic City; 73 miles northeast of downtown Baltimore; 91 miles northwest of Rehoboth Beach; and 108 miles northeast of downtown Washington, D.C.

Until 1926, the year what's now known as the Ben Franklin Bridge opened between Philadelphia and Camden, there was no way to get from Delaware's largest city, Wilmington in New Castle County, to New Jersey, except by train. But if, say, you only needed to go 20 miles to Salem, New Jersey, it made no sense to make the 30-mile train trip to Philadelphia, and then another 40 miles to Salem. The aforementioned Bridge only made things a little easier.

A ferry was established as a stopgap measure. Some stopgap: After debating whether a bridge or a tunnel should be built, Congress approved construction of a bridge in 1946. It finally opened 5 years later, bannered as U.S. Route 40 (which had been using the ferry). Soon, it became the southern end of the New Jersey Turnpike. In 1956, the Delaware Turnpike opened, connecting each State's most important highway.

The opening of the Turnpikes put too many cars on the span, and a 2nd bridge was ordered. On September 12, 1968, what's now the westbound span (toward Delaware) was opened, with the original span carrying eastbound traffic (toward New Jersey). In addition to Route 40, the "Twin Span" now carried Interstate 295. Its 174-foot-high towers are arguably the most famous structures in Delaware.

Even though the Bridges were 84 miles from the house in Central Jersey where I grew up, if a trip takes me in that direction, getting over the eastbound span meant I was back in New Jersey, so it felt like I was close to home, just as it did when I would come through the Lincoln Tunnel getting back from New York, 36 miles from home.

*

August 16, 1951 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 8-5 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Eddie Lopat was the winning pitcher. Yogi Berra went 4-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Joe DiMaggio, in his last 2 months as an active player, went 1-for-5. Mickey Mantle, having a rough rookie season, had been sent down to the minor leagues, and not yet called back up.

* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, 3-1 at the Polo Grounds. Jim Hearn outpitched Ralph Branca. Wes Westrum hit a home run. Rookie Willie Mays went 1-for-3. Jackie Robinson appeared only as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base. The Dodgers had led the Giants, indeed the entire National League, by 13 1/2 games on August 11. That lead was now beginning to be reduced.

* The Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-0 at Braves Field in Boston. Warren Spahn allowed 8 hits, but kept the shutout.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-2 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Ted Williams went 0-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Bob Friend pitched a 2-hit shutout, although he walked 8 batters, including Stan Musial once. Ralph Kiner hit a home run.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 1-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Ken Raffensberger pitched a 7-hit shutout. The only run of the game came in the bottom of the 4th, on a home run by Ted Kluszewski.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Saul Rogovin pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Browns, 9-4 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Tribe scored 7 runs in the 1st inning, in support of Early Wynn, knocking Ned Garver out of the game.