The Panama Canal

Sir Francis Drake is most famous for his role in defeating the Armada of 1588 and saving England from a Spanish invasion. By that point in his life, he was already a wealthy and famous seafarer: the first Englishman to sail around the world, knighted by Queen Elizabeth I in recog ...  Show more

The American singer-songwriter and musician Bob Dylan is one of the most important recording artists on the planet. A cultural icon, his work has had a profound influence on popular music since the 1960s. First gaining fame as a folk singer with songs that addressed the subjects ...  Show more

What madcap schemes did French engineers use to drum up support to build the Panama Canal in the 1880s? How did the Gold Rush affect the flow of travellers through Panama looking for a shortcut? Who was the eccentric Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps and why did he fly a hot air bal ...  Show more

The Panama Canal is a short cut between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean and plays a huge role in global shipping.The United States had rights to the land surrounding it, known as the canal zone, and also controlled the waterway itself.In 1977, responding to years of Panamanian pro ...  Show more

The Panama Canal plays a critical role in today’s global commerce, but it almost didn’t happen. A group of French engineers led by Charles De Lesseps spent nine years in Panama excavating earth to no avail. Later, Theodore Roosevelt took up the canal dream. Another 10 years of ...

How did the US orchestrate the Panamanian Revolution to be able to build the Panama Canal? Why did French engineer Bunau-Varilla and the US sign a treaty about Panama without a single Panamanian in the room? How did Americans impose Jim Crow laws in The Canal Zone? William and An ...  Show more