Panama Canal
France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan.
George Washington Goethals
The United States took control of the French property—after the bankruptcy of the French "Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interocéanique de Panama" that started constructions on The Panama Canal under Ferdinand de Lesseps— on May 4, 1904. The new Panama Canal Zone Control was overseen by the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC) during construction.