What was the first official world’s fair held in the United States, coinciding with the 1876 centennial?

The Centennial Exposition was the first official world’s fair held in the United States, coinciding with the nation’s 1876 centennial. Officially called the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, it took place in Philadelphia.

The exposition opened on May 10, 1876, in Fairmount Park and ran until November 10. Its central purpose was to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence while displaying American industry, science, art, and manufacturing to an international audience.

Nearly 10 million people visited, and 37 countries participated. Later American world’s fairs included Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and Buffalo’s 1901 Pan-American Exposition. The Philadelphia event is the one directly tied to the centennial that preceded the 2026 semiquincentennial.