The Quick 10: The Previous Names of 10 Airports

I leave for vacation on Sunday, so I'm a little preoccupied with getting the house in order, getting laundry done, printing confirmations, getting the dogs kennelled at the vet, etc. I'm explaining all of this just so you can tell where I'm coming from with today's Q10. Enjoy!

1. LaGuardia, New York "“ It was originally Glenn H. Curtiss Airport, then North Beach Airport, and finally, Fiorello H. La Guardia Airport after the former mayor of New York.

3. LAX, L.A. "“ When it was just a dirt landing strip, it was Mines Field, and held that name even after it became an official airport. In 1941 it was renamed Los Angeles Airport, and then Los Angeles International Airport, AKA LAX, in 1949.

4. Logan, Boston "“ On opening day in 1923, it was called Boston Airport.

Then, when the Massachusetts Air Guard and Army Air Corps were pretty much the only ones using it, it was called Jeffery Field. It was renamed after Bostonian and Spanish-American War hero General Edward Lawrence Logan in 1956.

5. Ronald Reagan National Airport, D.C. "“ Well, it used to be two airports that merged "“ Hoover Field, located close to where the Pentagon is today, and Washington Airport, pretty much right next door. They merged and became the creatively-named Washington-Hoover Airport. Then in 1941, it became Washington National Airport. President Clinton had it renamed in 1998 to commemorate Ronald Reagan's 87th birthday. That decision wasn't a popular one with the aviation industry - Reagan fired more than 11,000 air traffic controllers who went on strike in 1981. The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority at first refused to rename the metro station that went to the airport, but eventually gave in. I bet there are still ATCs who still refer to it only as Washington National or National.

6. Heathrow, London "“ The Great Western Aerodome (back when it was privately owned in the 1930s).

7. de Gaulle, Paris "“ AÃ©roport de Paris Nord, renamed after Charles de Gaulle in 1974. Random fact, "˜cause I'm a font nerd: the font Frutiger was created by Adrian Frutiger specifically for use at the airport, although it was called Roissy at the time. Frutiger designed Univers, too.

8. McCarran, Las Vegas "“ Davy Crockett descendant George Crockett established McCarren as Alamo Airport in 1942. Clark County bought it in 1948 and renamed it the Clark County Public Airport "“ briefly. That same year they named it after Nevada Senator Pat McCarran.

10. O'Hare, Chicago "“ Originally it was Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field, which is why we call it ORD (where the "R" comes from, I don't know). Douglas Aircraft Company's contract was up in 1945, so the name changes to Orchard Field Airport. Then, in 1949, it was renamed O'Hare to honor Lt. Cmdr. Edward "Butch" O'Hare, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his flying in WWII.