In which year was the Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, opened?

The Panama Canal was officially opened on 15 August 1914, when the cargo ship SS Ancon made the first official transit. Its opening came just after the start of the First World War, so it received less attention than expected.

About the Panama Canal:

• It is about 82 km long and cuts across the Isthmus of Panama in Central America.
• It connects the Atlantic Ocean (through the Caribbean Sea) with the Pacific Ocean.
• It saves ships a very long and dangerous voyage around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America.

It is a lock canal. Ships are raised by locks to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake about 26 metres above sea level, cross it, and are then lowered back to sea level on the other side.

History:

• A French company led by Ferdinand de Lesseps began work in 1881 but failed, mainly because of tropical diseases such as malaria and yellow fever, engineering difficulties and financial problems.
• In 1903, Panama separated from Colombia with American support, and the United States obtained the rights to build and control the canal and a surrounding Canal Zone.

The US began construction in 1904. Doctor William Gorgas's efforts to control mosquitoes were vital to the project's success. Chief engineer John Stevens and later George Washington Goethals led the work.

Under the Torrijos-Carter Treaties of 1977, control was gradually transferred to Panama, which took full control on 31 December 1999.

Expansion:

A third set of larger locks opened in 2016, allowing much bigger ships, known as "Neopanamax" vessels, to pass.

Comparison:

The Suez Canal, opened in 1869, is a sea-level canal without locks. The Panama Canal, opened 45 years later, needs locks because of the hilly land.

Why not the other options?

• ✗1869 is the opening year of the Suez Canal.
• ✗1904 is when the United States began construction.
• ✗1920 does not match; by then the canal had already been in use for six years.