What major 1876 event in Philadelphia anchored the United States Centennial celebrations?

The Centennial Exposition anchored 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 Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park. It commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and displayed industrial products, inventions, art, machinery, and agricultural achievements.

The exhibition helped present the United States as an increasingly industrial and technologically ambitious nation. Visitors encountered major buildings and displays from the United States and other countries. Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated his telephone there, and the exposition introduced many visitors to new technologies and manufactured goods.

The event is distinct from later world’s fairs. Chicago hosted the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, St. Louis hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904, and Buffalo hosted the Pan-American Exposition in 1901. Those names are plausible alternatives, but Philadelphia’s 1876 event was the centennial exposition.