On December 31, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson ceremoniously pushed a button in Washington, D.C. to open the 1915 Panama-California International Exposition by turning on the power at the park. San Diego, a city of 40,000 attracted nearly 4 million visitors and succeeded in putting itself on the map as the first major port of call for ships passing through the newly opened Panama Canal.
In 2015 San Diego is celebrating this centennial with a year-long party in Balboa Park and throughout the city.
