History
In 1919, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and The State of New Jersey legislatures approved the creation of the Delaware River Bridge Joint Commission. The first meeting was held on December 12, 1919, with commissioners from both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. On July 1, 1926, the first bridge opened before a crowd of over 25,000 people. It was named the "Delaware River Bridge," and following the ceremony, over 100,000 people participated in the inaugural walk. United States President Calvin Coolidge came the next day to dedicate the bridge. However, there was thought that there should be a regional governing body for a port authority, and also the construction of another bridge and a high speed rail line. And so, on July 17, 1951 United States President Harry S. Truman signed a bill, which created the Delaware River Port Authority. In 1955, plans were made for a new bridge to connect South Philadelphia and Gloucester City. Additionally, the Delaware River Bridge officially had its name changed to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. On May 15, 1955, the Walt Whitman Bridge opened, helping to gain papularity of Veterans Stadium, The Spectrum, and other South Philadelphia attractions. By 1966, two more bridges were approved; the Commodore Barry Bridge (opened February 1, 1974) and the Betsy Ross Bridge (opened April 30, 1976). In 1974 and 1990, the Ben Franklin Bridge and the Walt Whitman Bridge carried their one-billionth vehicle, respectively.
Read more about this topic: Delaware River Port Authority
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“In history an additional result is commonly produced by human actions beyond that which they aim at and obtain—that which they immediately recognize and desire. They gratify their own interest; but something further is thereby accomplished, latent in the actions in question, though not present to their consciousness, and not included in their design.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“What has history to do with me? Mine is the first and only world! I want to report how I find the world. What others have told me about the world is a very small and incidental part of my experience. I have to judge the world, to measure things.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
“This above all makes history useful and desirable: it unfolds before our eyes a glorious record of exemplary actions.”
—Titus Livius (Livy)