Page 29 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2017 - Boston

THE HIST OR Y OF BOST ON  27

came to the fore. One way this manifested
itself was in spectator sports, which began
to enjoy unparalleled pop ularity. Fenway
Park in Boston, home to the Boston Red
Sox, had opened on April 20, 1912. The
Boston Red Sox won the World Series four
times before 1918. Supposedly cursed by
the sale of slugger Babe Ruth to the New
York Yankees, they did not win the World
Series again until 2004. U.S. President John F. Kennedy was born of Boston Irish stock
Prominent politicians from this time
included John F. Kennedy’s grandfather, City Renaissance
John F. Fitzgerald, or “Honey In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the
Fitz,” as he was known, who face of central Boston was transformed.
was elected mayor in 1905. The Big Dig – a 20-year, $15-billion project
The flamboyant James to bury the I-93 highway – ended in 2005,
Curley, son of Irish providing new tunnels and bridges.
immigrants, who became A linear park, the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy
mayor, congressman, and Greenway, replaced the surface highway.
governor, and spent time Adjacent land in South Boston was
Babe Ruth
(1895–1948) in an in jail for fraud, became a developed as the Seaport district, even
ad for chewing gum legend in his own lifetime. as a Boston economy based on finance,
education, biomedical research, and
Post-War Politics information technology soared.
The most famous Boston-born politician
was John F. Kennedy, great-grandson of an
Irish potato famine immigrant. In 1960 he
became the United States’ first Catholic, and
youngest elected, president. His brother,
Robert, served as attorney general and U.S.
senator for New York. Another brother,
Edward, became a U.S. senator for Massa-
chusetts and a leading progressive figure in
national politics. Michael Dukakis, the son
of Greek immigrants, was elected governor
in 1974, becoming the Democratic presi-
dential candidate in 1988. The first mayor of
Italian descent, Thomas Menino, presided
over Boston from 1993 through 2014. Boat tours on the Charles River, evidence that Boston is prospering

1988 Governor 1993 John F. 2006 Deval Patrick elected as first African-
Michael Dukakis Kennedy Library American governor of Massachusetts
becomes Democratic and Museum
1960 John F. 2013 Terrorist bombings
Kennedy elected presidential candidate (see p104) opens during Boston Marathon
president kill 3 and injure many
1950 1975 2000 2025
1962 Edward 2004 Red Sox 2015 Edward M. Kennedy
Kennedy 1963 John win World Series Institute for the U.S. Senate opens
elected to F. Kennedy
U.S. Senate assassinated Michael Dukakis, 2010 Museum of Fine Arts,
Democratic presidential Boston (see pp106–9) opens
candidate in1988 Art of the Americas wing

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