History Brief: Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal
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Centennial Milestone: Construction and opening of the Panama Canal (1903 - 1914)
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Who Built the Panama Canal?
The construction of the canal was completed 401 years after Panama was first crossed by Vasco Núñez de Balboa. The United States spent almost $500,000,000 to finish the project. This was by far the largest American engineering project to date. The canal was formally opened with the passage of the cargo ship SS Ancon.