This Week In History

The Opening of the Panama Canal - 15th August 1914

Looking back in history, we find that ships were used for much of the transporting of goods around the world. Take a look at the map above. How would a ship have managed to get its cargo from the west coast of the United states to the East? The ship would have needed to travel all the way down to Cape Horn at the bottom of South America and then all the way back up. There had to be an easier way. And in 1534, King Charles V of Spain decided there was. He planned to create a canal through Panama so boats could cut though and enter the Atlantic ocean more quickly. In fact, a journey that was once 20, 000 kilometres long could be reduced to just 8000 kilometres by building an 8 kilometre canal.

The Panama canal has been called one of the modern ‘Seven Wonders of the World’. It is an example of what can be achieved through hard work and determination. However, it came at a very high cost - the loss of 26 000 lives.

The Panama Canal is considered one of the greatest engineering feats in the world.

The following landmarks are also examples of incredible engineering.

In which countries would you find the following?

a) The Hoover Dam

b) The Eiffel Tower

c) The Golden Gate Bridge

d) The Channel Tunnel

Can you think of any other famous man-made landmarks?