Re: Myanmar (formerly Burma)

>>>> Idlewild was only a nickname, after its location in the city.
 
>> I find statements like this one, from the New York City Department of
>> Parks & Recreation, that say it was once named Idlewild. ...

> There seems to be conflicting information about that, so maybe I was
wrong.

Okay, Michael Wares kindly searched the New York Times for me and
came up with the following.  Exact dates shown are for the newspaper
articles, not the events.

1941-12-06 (paraphrased)

   City Council votes to call the new air****t "Maj. Gen. Alexander E.
   Anderson Air****t".  Mayor LaGuardia vetoes the idea, leading to
   accusations of hypocrisy as the existing air****t is named after him.

1947-05-30 (paraphrased)

   Name change from "Idlewild Air****t" to "New York City Air****t"
   proposed.

1947-09-24 (direct quotes)

   Idlewild Air****t, renamed "New York International Air****t" by the
   New York ****t Authority, will be ready for international operation
   next spring. ... Mr. Tobin [PA executive director] admitted the
   difficulty of changing the name ... He kept referring to it as
   "Idlewild".

   ... The [City] Council in 1943 officially called the field "the Maj.
   Gen. Alexander E. Anderson Air****t" ... The late mayor Fiorello H.
   La Guardia vetoed the action and it was passed over his veto,
   but Mr. La Guardia vetoed always persisted in calling it "Idlewild."

   Mr. Tobin explained that the Civil Aeronautics Administration
   had objected to calling the field "New York Air****t" because
   of liability to confusion with "Newark Air****t" on the radio.
   The CAA will list the field as "New York International."

1948-06-02 (direct quote)

   The New York International Air****t at Idlewild, Queens ... was
   opened ... yesterday ...

1963-12-19 (direct quotes)

   A local law changing the name of New York International Air****t
   at Idlewild, Queens, to John F. Kennedy International Air****t
   was signed by Mayor Wagner yesterday...  [it will] be formally
   rededicated next Tuesday ...

   Actually, Kennedy will be the third name to be conferred
   officially on the air****t at Idlewild.  In 1943 the field was named
   Maj. Gen. Alexander E. Anderson Air****t. ...  Five years later,
   in March, 1948, the City Council changed the name to New York
   International Air****t - Anderson Field.

So the 1947-05-30 item appears to disagree with the others, which in
turn are consistent as to the sequence of changes but not as to the
dates, nor as to whether "Anderson" remained part of the official
name when it became "New York International Air****t".  Still, on
balance it seems clear that the Times does not think Idlewild was
ever officially part of the air****t's name; and in any case it was
New York International by the time it opened.

Michael says a few other articles also called it "New York
International Air****t at Idlewild, Queens", and comments that the
explicit use of "Queens" in such a construction is actually unusual
there.

By the way, the 1963 article included a subsidiary item saying that a
voice vote in the Senate the day before had completed Congressional
approval for the minting of Kennedy half-dollars, as proposed by
President Johnson on December 10.
-- 
Mark Brader, Toronto, msb@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
     MARTIANS BUILD TWO IMMENSE CANALS IN TWO YEARS.
     Vast Engineering Works Accomplished in an Incredibly Short Time
     by Our Planetary Neighbors.  --N.Y.Times headline, August 27, 1911

My text in this article is in the public domain.