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Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps, who had directed the engineering of the Suez Canal, began a $70 million project to build a canal through Panama.
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Panama gains independence from Colombia, after an uprising triggered by Colombia's rejection of a United States plan to build a similar canal.
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President Theodore Roosevelt travels to Panama and appoints John Stevens as chief engineer of the canal project.
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The Panama Canal is opened under US sovereignty, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
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Hong Kong port operations at Balboa and Cristobal, cause concern about Chinese control of the canal.
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President Carter signs Treaty and takes control of Panama Canal. The Canal was to be handed back in 1999 to Panama.
