Did somebody change the name of Cape Kennedy?

[happydreams]

I heard it referred to as the old name, Cape Canaveral, the other day on the news.

Its in Florida so I thought maybe Governor Jeb Bush had something to do with it

[Sanity Claws]

1. It was changed back many years ago

Sorry, but I can't tell you when. A google search might though

[Rosco T.]

2. Happened quite a while ago...

the launch complex returned to the name "Cape Canaveral", the entire facility is offically "Kennedy Space Center"

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. yes, there was a rush to name all sorts of things after JFK after the

assassination. For example, JFK Airport used to be Idlewild, which admittedly, is a strange name for an airport.

Anyway, the name Cape Kennedy never really took. For one thing, Cape Canaveral is an old name, bestowed by the Spanish explorers.

[stevedeshazer]

3. Yeah, in 1973

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Canaveral

[Liberal In Texas]

4. Now. How soon can we get Reagan off of National Airport's name?

[happydreams]

8. Now that's a good idea!

[Captain Hilts]

9. Call it "Reagan NAP" [Nat'l Air Port] enough and maybe they will. nt

[Rosco T.]

6. Wikipedia is your friend...

Cape Canaveral is a strip of land in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of that state's Atlantic coast. It is part of a region known as the Space Coast, and is the site of the Kennedy Space Center, and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Most United States spacecraft are launched from either one of these sites. It sits due east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Kennedy

(excerpt)

From 1963 to 1973 it was called Cape Kennedy: President John F. Kennedy was an enthusiastic backer of the space program, and after his assassination in 1963, his widow Jacqueline Kennedy suggested to President Lyndon Johnson that renaming the Cape Canaveral space facility would be an appropriate memorial. However, Johnson recommended the renaming not just of the facility, but of the entire cape. Accordingly, Cape Canaveral was renamed Cape Kennedy.

Although the name change was approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names of the Interior Department in 1964, it was not popular in Florida and in 1973 the state passed a law restoring the former 400-year-old name and the Board went along. The people of the city of Cape Canaveral, Florida, had particularly pressed to change it back. The Kennedy family issued a letter stating they "understood the decision"; Jacqueline Kennedy also stated if she had known that the Canaveral name had existed for 400 years, she never would have supported changing the name of the Cape. The space center retains the name Kennedy.

[Spiffarino]

7. I thought that happened a long time ago

There was a rush to name everything "Kennedy" after JFK was murdered. IMHO, they went too far and I was glad to see some of the old names come back. I liked JFK, but it's a mistake to get crazy naming things after politicians. I still call the airport in DC National Airport and the mountain in Alaska Denali.

Reagan and JFK didn't alter the course of the country in any major way (though you could argue Reagan was the beginning of the end of good government) so why name multiple places after them just because they were popular or came to a tragic end? Hell, why not call it "Cape Garfield" for that matter?



Edit: Beaten - badly and multiple times. That should teach me to type on an old, dilapidated laptop.

[catzies]

10. This native Floridian can tell you Canaveral is the name of the land, and

Kennedy Space Center is the name of what's sitting on top of it. It was Cape Canaveral first, and for a long time. Then they changed it to Cape Kennedy, for a long time. Then they changed it to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, what it is today.

You should go sometime. It's neat.

And welcome to DU. :hi: