With the push-button firing of a canon triggered at the White House by President Woodrow Wilson, the Houston Ship Channel was officially opened for commercial vessel transit operations on November 10, 1914. Over a 90-year period, the Houston Ship Channel has become one of the nation's busiest waterways, providing a powerful regional and national economic engine, exquisite environmental resource, and vital trade link between the world and Houston, the fourth largest city in the U.S. As the start of a year-long celebration, this event salutes the visionaries of the past and the leaders of today who have charted and maintained the course for the economic, environmental and commercial