Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Question: In 1915, San Francisco threw a dazzling world’s fair partly to show off its recovery from the 1906 earthquake. But the fair’s official purpose was to celebrate the completion of what engineering marvel far to the south?

Answer: The Panama Canal. The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held on 635 acres along San Francisco’s northern waterfront, in what is now the Marina District, to celebrate the canal’s completion. The sprawling fair ran from Feb. 20 through Dec. 4, 1915.