What was the name of the world’s fair held in Philadelphia for the United States’ 150th anniversary in 1926?

The world’s fair held in Philadelphia for the United States’ 150th anniversary in 1926 was the Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition.

The exposition commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and also looked back to Philadelphia’s Centennial Exposition of 1876. It opened on May 31, 1926, and its official anniversary date was July 4.

The fair’s name used “sesquicentennial,” meaning 150 years. It is an important predecessor to the 2026 semiquincentennial, showing how Philadelphia repeatedly served as a national stage for major anniversary observances.

The 1926 event was not the same as the Centennial Exposition, which marked the 100th anniversary in 1876. Nor was it Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition or Buffalo’s 1901 Pan-American Exposition.