Expo 67

The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was a general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century with the most attendees to that date and 62 nations participating. It also set the single-day attendance record for a world's fair, with 569,500 visitors on its third day.

Expo 67 was Canada's main celebration during its centennial year. The fair had been intended to be held in Moscow, to help the Soviet Union celebrate the Russian Revolution's 50th anniversary; however, for various reasons, the Soviets decided to cancel, and Canada was awarded it in late 1962.

The project was not well supported in Canada at first. It took the determination of Montreal's mayor, Jean Drapeau, and a new team of managers to guide it past political, physical and temporal hurdles. Defying a computer analysis that said it could not be done, the fair opened on time.

Expo 67 pavilions

The Expo 67 International and Universal Exposition featured 90 pavilions representing Man and His World, on a theme derived from Terre des Hommes, written by the famous French pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

The exposition displayed many nations, corporations, industries, technologies, social themes, religions and designs, including the U.S. pavilion, a geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller. Expo 67 also featured Habitat 67, an urban modular housing complex designed by architect Moshe Safdie, whose units were purchased by private Montrealers after the fair was concluded, and is still occupied today.

The most popular display of the exposition was the soaring Soviet Union pavilion which attracted about 13 million visitors. Rounding out the top five pavilions (by attendance) were: Canada (11 million visitors), the United States (9 million), France (8.5 million), and Czechoslovakia (8 million).

The participating countries were:

Expo 67 (opening week)

Expo 67 was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The opening week began at the end of April 1967. The official opening ceremonies for the 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67 occurred on Thursday, April 27 at the Place des Nations pavilion. On Friday, April 28, Expo 67's doors opened to the public and Al Carter was the first of over 330,000 visitors that day.

Opening ceremonies

As luck would have it, it was a sunny day on Thursday afternoon, April 27, 1967, when the Official Opening Ceremonies were held. The ceremonies were held at Place des Nations, where Governor General Roland Michener – who was sworn in just 10 days earlier following the death of the previous Governor General, Georges Vanier – officially opened the fair. The Expo flame, which was lit two years earlier as part of the Centennial celebrations, was carried in by a troop of 12 cadets from the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, metaphorically representing each province and territory in Canada at that time. The torch bearer was Joseph Philip Lonuel, who proceeded to pass on the torch up the hierarchy of governance: to the Commissioner General of the Fair, Pierre Dupuy; then to the Mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau; then to the Premier of Quebec, Daniel Johnson, Sr.; then finally to the Prime Minister of Canada, Lester B. Pearson who was the last in the chain. The Prime Minister used the torch to light the Expo flame. On hand were over 7,000 media and invited guests including 53 heads of state. Over 1000 reporters covered the event, which was broadcast in NTSC Color, live via satellite, to a worldwide audience of over 700,000,000 viewers and listeners. The Golden Centennaires, the forerunners of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, closed the opening ceremonies with a fly-by over the Expo site and Montreal harbour.