The Panama Canal opened in 1914 connecting the world’s two largest oceans and signaling America’s emergence as a global superpower. It had taken the U.S. a decade of construction, more than $350 million (the largest single federal expenditure until then), and more than 5,000 died in the construction process. At the same time, Central America witnessed the overthrow of a sovereign government, the influx of more 55,000 workers from around the globe, the removal of hundreds of millions of tons of earth, and an increase in engineering innovation.

[text adapted from PBS.org]