A centennial, or centenary in
British English
British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...
, is a 100th
anniversary
An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded.
Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the List of national independence days, date of independen ...
or otherwise relates to a
century
A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c.
...
.
Notable events
Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include:
*
Centennial Exhibition, 1876,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Pennsylvania. First official
World's Fair
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...
in the United States, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the signing of the
Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. About 10 million visitors attended, equivalent to about 20% of the population of the United States at the time. The exhibition ran from May 10, 1876, to November 10, 1876. (It included a
monorail
A monorail is a Rail transport, railway in which the track consists of a single rail or beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style ...
.)
*
New Zealand Centennial Exhibition, 1939–1940, celebrated one hundred years since the signing of the
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...
in 1840 and the subsequent mass European settlement of New Zealand. 2,641,043 (2.6 million) visitors attended the exhibition, which ran from 8 November 1939 until 4 May 1940.
*
1967 International and Universal Exposition, better known as ''Expo 67'', celebrating
Canada's centennial year. This "Category One"
World's Fair
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...
held in
Montreal, Quebec
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. Sixty-two nations participated, and it set the single-day attendance record for a world's fair, with 569,500 visitors on its third day. Official attendance was 50,306,648. Was endpoint of the
Centennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant, the longest canoe race in history. (Its monorail was a major attraction.)
*
Atatürk Centennial, in memory of
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...
's (founding president of
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
) 100th birthday.
*
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
, 100th anniversary of the 1st Summer Olympics in 1896.
*
Philippine Centennial, 100th anniversary of the proclamation of Philippine Independence.
*
100th Anniversary of Samastha Kerala
*100th Anniversary of
Universal Pictures
Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
and
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
*
First World War centenary, 2014–2018, began with the
centenary of the outbreak of World War I and ended with the
Armistice Day centenary.
* 100th Anniversary of
Fox Film (now
20th Century Studios)
*
100th Anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution and Republic of China
*
100th Anniversary of the Independence of Albania
* 100th Anniversary of
United Artists
*
100th Anniversary of the Independence of Finland
*
100th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC)
*100th Anniversary of the
Independence of Bulgaria
*100th Anniversary of the foundation of the
Bulgarian Football Union
*100th Anniversary of the foundation of the
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
*100th Anniversary of the foundation of
Sofia University
Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria.
Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...
*100th Anniversary of the foundation of
Bulgarian State Railways
*100th Anniversary of
Warner Bros. and
Walt Disney Studios.
*
100th Anniversary of the Republic of Turkey
*100th Anniversary of the
Flying Scotsman
*100th Anniversary of
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
and
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
.
*
2024 Summer Olympics
The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...
, 100th anniversary of the
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...
.
Other events
Selected regional or other centennial events include:
Argentina
*
Argentina Centennial (1910)
Australia
*
Centenary of Western Australia, in 1929, which included the
Western Australian Centenary Air Race across Australia.
*
1934 Centenary of Melbourne
Canada
*
Canadian Centennial (1967)
*
Centennial of the City of Toronto
Ireland
*
Decade of Centenaries
Peru
*
Centennial of the Independence of Peru (1921)
Philippines
*
Iglesia ni Cristo Centennial (2014)
United States
*
American Civil War Centennial
*
Oregon Centennial
*
Texas Centennial Exposition
*
United States Centennial
See also
*
Generation Z
*
Sesquicentennial
References
{{reflist
*
Former disambiguation pages converted to set index articles