History
The bridge was named for Kentucky's longest serving congressman at the time, Brent Spence, who served in the U.S. Congress for over thirty years before retiring in 1962. The bridge, which opened a year after his retirement, was named in his honor by then Kentucky governor Bert T. Combs. Spence did not feel that he deserved the honor, and lobbied for the Bridge to be named for President Kennedy (who had been assassinated only three days before the bridge was supposed to open). Combs, however, resisted this effort at modesty by Spence and kept the name. Also, at the same time, Combs did name the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky after the late president just days after Kennedy's assassination.
The approach from the Brent Spence Bridge, with the picture of the downtown Cincinnati skyline, was featured on the daytime soap The Edge of Night from 1967 to 1980.
Read more about this topic: Brent Spence Bridge
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