What 1876 event in Philadelphia became the centerpiece of the United States centennial celebrations?

The Centennial Exposition became the centerpiece of the United States’ 1876 centennial celebrations in Philadelphia.

Officially called the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and Products of the Soil and Mine, the exposition opened in Fairmount Park. It marked 100 years since the Declaration of Independence and showcased industrial, agricultural, scientific, and cultural achievements.

The fair attracted millions of visitors and included the main Exhibition Building, Machinery Hall, and agricultural displays. New technologies and products presented or demonstrated there included the Corliss steam engine, telephone-related technology, and consumer goods that later became widely known.

The event is sometimes called the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition or simply the Centennial Exposition. It was not the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, which commemorated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas.