| On This Day in American History |
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On August 15, 1914, the U.S.-built Panama Canal opens two years ahead of schedule. The quest to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans dates back to the mid-1800s, when thousands of Americans rushed to California and Oregon in search of gold. In 1855, the U.S. built a railroad across Panama, which was then part of Colombia, but it did not have the capacity that a canal would. In 1881 a French entrepreneur began construction of a canal, but the company soon went bankrupt. Just after the turn of the century, the U.S. signed an agreement to lease the land designated for the canal. After developing the construction infrastructure, proper construction of the actual canal began in 1909. The total cost was estimated to be $500,000,000, which would be over $9 billion in today’s dollars. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter negotiated to return the canal to Panama on December 31, 1999. |
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