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Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps, who had directed the engineering of the Suez Canal, begins a $70 million project to build a canal through Panama. Limited funds and epidemics of yellow fever and malaria thwart his efforts.
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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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The US Senate passes the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, giving the US control of a 10-mile-wide and 51-mile-long swath of land - the Canal Zone - "in perpetuity." In exchange, Panama receives $10 million from the US, and is to receive annual payments of $250,000 starting in 1913.
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Approximately 96 million cubic yards of rock are removed from the Gaillard Cut along the Continental Divide - the toughest part to be excavated on the route.
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Canal is finished by the US
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Official opening of the Panama Canal a massive achievement - the Panama Canal is 65 km ( 40 miles ) in length
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Control of the canal passes from USA to Panama by the Torrijos-Carter treaty
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Work to widen Panama Canal begins.
