A magnificent engineering feat, the Panama Canal is a man-made wonder of the world. It was a struggle against politics, a steamy jungle, and disease, not to mention the enormous engineering and construction challenges. When completed in 1914 the ocean voyage between New York and San Francisco was abbreviated from 13,000 to 5,000 miles.

The greatest obstacle to building the canal was disease. In addition to yellow fever, the isthmus of Panama was riddled with malaria and bubonic plague. An American physician, Colonel William Gorgas, who had helped conquer yellow fever in Cuba after the Spanish-American War, answered the call again. The task consisted primarily of clearing jungle and draining swamp, where mosquitos, vectors of yellow fever and malaria, bred and swarmed. It took two years during which time Gorgas also waged a campaign against the rats that carried bubonic plague. Only when Colonel Gorgas was done could full-scale construction on the canal begin.