In 1902 the U.S. Congress passed the Spooner Act, which authorized purchasing the assets of the French company that first attempted to build a canal across Panama, in the late 19th century. Following Panama's declared independence, the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty was negotiated between Panama and the United States in November 1903. The treaty satisfied conditions of the Spooner Act and created the Panama Canal Zone; it was proclaimed in February 1904. Work on the canal began in the summer of 1904, and in 1906 it was decided to build at high level with locks (versus at sea level), according to a plan similar to one proposed in 1879 by French engineer Adolphe Godin de Lépinay de Brusly. After a massive construction effort, the canal was finally opened to traffic on this day.
| 1971: | | Bahrain proclaimed independence from Great Britain. |
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| 1960: | | The Republic of the Congo gained independence from France. |
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| 1948: | | Syngman Rhee announced the establishment of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). |
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| 1935: | | American entertainers Will Rogers and Wiley Post were killed in a plane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska. |
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| 1769: | | Napoleon Bonaparte, future emperor of France, was born on the island of Corsica. |
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| 1534: | | | St. Ignatius of Loyola led companions, who would become cofounders of the Jesuit order, to Montmartre. |
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| 1057: | | Macbeth, king of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, eldest son of Duncan I. |
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