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Feb 26, 1501
The Spanish Era
Rpdrigo de Bastidas first discovered Panama in 1501.. Christopher Columbus sails along the coast of Panama in 1502. Lope de Prlando discovers the mouth of the Chagres River in 1509. -
The Panama Era Railroad
William Henry Aspinwall, John L. Stephens, and Henry Chauncy, New York businessmen, form the Panama Railroad Company and obtain rights to build a railroad across the isthmus from the government of New Granada. It becomes the first transcontinental railroad in the world. Laborers come from China, East Indies, Ireland, England, Germany and Jamaica. -
The French Era
The building of the Panama Canal symbolically begins under the direction of French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps. Actual construction begins a year later.
Count de Lesseps was a hero in France as the principal director of the Suez Canal. Because of his success in the Suez, de Lesseps thinks that a similar sea level canal can be built in Panama, not accounting for the differences in the tides between the Pacific and the Atlantic. This proves to be a major error in judgment. -
The American Era: COnstruction Period
Construction begins on the Panama Canal. President Roosevelt appoints John Findley Wallace, First Chief Engineer. Wallace finds conditions in Panama in chaos. In 1914 Panama Canal opened to traffic on August 15 when SS Ancon completes the first transit.The Panama Canal, a 52 mile long waterway, is completed at a cost of $352 million, remarkably under budget and under schedule. -
Operation Phase
George Goethals appointed first Governor of Panama Canal Zone. Col. William Gorgas, MD, resigns his post in Panama Canal Zone and leaves for a brief stint in South Africa to fight the surge of pneumonia among gold mine workers. He is later appointed Surgeon General of the United States from 1914-1919 during World War I. -
Treaty and Transition
US and Panama negotiations for a Panama Canal Zone treaty completed in the Carter administration. President Carter and General Torrijos sign the Panama Canal treaties (the Torrijos-Carter Treaties) in Washington, DC. The two treaties abrogate the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty of 1903 and call for the US to eventually turn over control of the waterway to Panama. -
The Panama Era: Canal Expansion
The Panama Canal Commission, made up both of Americans and Panamanian officials, prepares the Panamanians to operate and maintain the canal. In 2009, Currently 9,000 workers, mostly Panamanian, work at the Canal. They guide about 12-15 thousand ships a year to cross the isthmus. On July 8, contract to expand the locks awarded to consortium which includes Panama, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United States. US will take a lead in the design of the locks.
