The Panama Canal finished on 15 August 1914.

As an engineering feat there are few modern equivalents than the mighty 48 miles long Panama Canal running from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. I went through on two separate occasions in the early 1960's and I was greatly impressed by this extraordinary piece of human ingenuity. It cut the travelling by sea from several weeks, going around the tip of South America through the Strait of Magellan - named after the Portuguese explorer in 1520 - to a matter of hours via the canal. On the eastern side there was a very small town at the start of the canal and we went ashore there when I was working for the P&O Shipping Company as a steward. It was early October and very humid the town had a bar that must have been some 40 yards long. There were about 20 chaps sitting on bar stools, and when the assembled guests arrived - some 50 or so transvestites and homosexuals - the place went berserk. They had been waiting for days for the 'boys to arrive' in order to get down to sexual business. I didn't see them again for about eight hours, until the following morning when they all tramped back to the SS Orcades. They had had a night to 'remember or not to remember'! We then set off to pass through the Panama Canal to the west coat of America, calling into Acapulco on route.
This being October 1963 we had been escorted as we approached the east coast of the US by American Navy vessels in case we were - carrying anything not wanted - like nuclear missiles. This was just one year after after the Cuban crisis of October 1962 when we almost had WW3.
As we went up the west coast of American and started to get close to the berth near to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco it was announced by the Captain via in-ship broadcasting system that - President Kennedy had been assassinated. Passengers - mainly American went into melt down and hysteria - there was screaming and wailing and tears and the renting of hair - and general pandemonium. The only other time I have witnessed mass hysteria was after the death of the death of Princess Diana in late August 1997.
So the Panama Canal has very deep and fond memories for me. It was a strange time to be - all at sea!