The airports
Los Angeles International Airport "LAX" - the "X" apparently does not stand for anything, it just rounds out the 3-letter designation.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport "Sea-Tac" - It has kept its original name, because Tacoma's original 9% investment when it was built was explicitly predicated on keeping "Tacoma" in the name. Evidently, there was a brouhaha in the 80s when they tried to rename the airport after a dead Senator.
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport/World-Chamberlain Field - It was first called "Speedway Field," because it was built on a defunct race-track. It was then named Wold-Chamberlain Field after two World War I pilots. Wikipedia tells me that "Today, it is very rare to see the Wold-Chamberlain Field portion of the name used anywhere."
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport - Named after the former city manager William Hopkins, who was its founder back in the 20s.
Chicago O'Hare International Airport - Named after a World War II Navy flying ace.
Queen Alia International Airport (Amman, Jordan) - Named after King Hussein's third spouse, and the Queen Consort of Jordan in the 70s. She died in a helicopter crash in 1977.
Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi, India) - Named after Indira Gandhi, a very polarizing figure in Indian political history, most famous for the "Emergency" in the 70s, and for transitioning Indian politics from ideology to personality.
Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (Varanasi, India) - Named for the second prime minister of India, who was noted for his integrity and decency, though he served only a few years. He died under suspicious circumstances in Tashkent after concluding a peace with Pakistan.
Brussels Airport - Functionally named, with a pretty dull history.
John F. Kennedy International Airport - Originally named Idlewild, for the gold course that had been there when it was built. I did not know that it was officially Anderson Field, after a local National Guard general, from the 40s until 1963, but people still commonly called it Idlewild. It was named after JFK, just a month after his assasination.
LA/Ontario International Airport - A small, glorified municpal airport for the most part, its main claim to fame seems to have been that the Concorde stopped there in '67.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport "Sea-Tac" - It has kept its original name, because Tacoma's original 9% investment when it was built was explicitly predicated on keeping "Tacoma" in the name. Evidently, there was a brouhaha in the 80s when they tried to rename the airport after a dead Senator.
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport/World-Chamberlain Field - It was first called "Speedway Field," because it was built on a defunct race-track. It was then named Wold-Chamberlain Field after two World War I pilots. Wikipedia tells me that "Today, it is very rare to see the Wold-Chamberlain Field portion of the name used anywhere."
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport - Named after the former city manager William Hopkins, who was its founder back in the 20s.
Chicago O'Hare International Airport - Named after a World War II Navy flying ace.
Queen Alia International Airport (Amman, Jordan) - Named after King Hussein's third spouse, and the Queen Consort of Jordan in the 70s. She died in a helicopter crash in 1977.
Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi, India) - Named after Indira Gandhi, a very polarizing figure in Indian political history, most famous for the "Emergency" in the 70s, and for transitioning Indian politics from ideology to personality.
Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (Varanasi, India) - Named for the second prime minister of India, who was noted for his integrity and decency, though he served only a few years. He died under suspicious circumstances in Tashkent after concluding a peace with Pakistan.
Brussels Airport - Functionally named, with a pretty dull history.
John F. Kennedy International Airport - Originally named Idlewild, for the gold course that had been there when it was built. I did not know that it was officially Anderson Field, after a local National Guard general, from the 40s until 1963, but people still commonly called it Idlewild. It was named after JFK, just a month after his assasination.
LA/Ontario International Airport - A small, glorified municpal airport for the most part, its main claim to fame seems to have been that the Concorde stopped there in '67.