EDGARTOWN — Years before “Jaws” took a bite out of the silver screen, Martha's Vineyard was thrust into the global spotlight by an incident just as dramatic as the Steven Spielberg classic filmed there.
Fifty years ago Thursday, Sen. Edward Kennedy boarded a ferry in Edgartown, bound for Chappaquiddick Island — a quick 527-foot ride across the harbor — en route to a Friday night party at a rented cottage with friends from Washington. Tragedy struck a few hours later when his car plummeted off the island's Dike Bridge. Kennedy survived, but his passenger, 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, died.
Martha's Vineyard would never be the same.
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