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From WinkyPedia, the free encyclopedia that tells you what you already knew
The Panama Canal is a waterway of roughly 80 kilometres across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic Ocean, by way of the Caribbean Sea, to the Pacific Ocean. It opened on 15 August 1914, and saved ships the long journey around the southern tip of South America.[1]
Because of the way the isthmus curves, a ship sailing from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the canal travels south-east, and finishes further east than it started. This is confirmed by every map and believed by almost nobody reading one.[2]
A French company began work on a canal in 1881, led by Ferdinand de Lesseps, who had earlier built the Suez Canal. The French effort ran out of money and work stopped in 1889. The United States took over the project in 1904 and completed it in 1914.
Many thousands of workers died during the French and American construction periods, most of them from diseases such as yellow fever and malaria.
Instead of cutting all the way through the country at sea level, the builders chose to lift ships over it. Locks raise ships about 26 metres to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake that was the largest in the world when it was made, then lower them again on the other side. The canal is, in effect, a staircase for ships, which is the only kind of staircase a ship can use.[3]
The first official passage was made by the ship SS Ancon on the opening day. Control of the canal passed to Panama on 31 December 1999. Ships have been going over Panama, rather than around South America, ever since.