Philadelphia hosted the 1876 Centennial Exposition, a major international celebration of the United States’ 100th anniversary.
Officially called the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, the exposition ran from May 10 to November 10, 1876. It was held in Fairmount Park and became the first official world’s fair in the United States.
Philadelphia was a natural symbolic location because the Declaration of Independence had been adopted there in 1776. The exposition displayed industrial machinery, agricultural products, art, science, and manufactured goods from the United States and other countries.
Nearly 10 million visitors attended, and 37 countries participated. The fair also helped introduce or popularize technologies including the telephone and sewing machine. Its location and anniversary role made Philadelphia central to earlier national commemorations, just as America250 revisits the founding-era history in 2026.