"A man, a plan, a canal--Panama" (1955)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Sat, 11 Dec 2004 03:23:33 EST, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

>I wonder what Fred Shapiro has for this. The Chicago Tribune helps. Is the
>Manchester Guardian being digitized?
[snip 1955 cites]

That palindrome was published in 1948 by Leigh Mercer, though it's
possible that Mercer was not the first to have found it.  From _Word Ways:
The Journal of Recreational Linguistics_:

     http://wordways.com/panama.htm

     WHO FIRST FOUND THE PANAMA PALINDROME?
     by James Puder
     Word Ways, 1999

     It is well-known that Leigh Mercer published his immortal "A man,
     a plan, a canal--Panama!" in the November 13 1948 issue of Notes
     & Queries. But was his the first discovery? I feel it unlikely
     that this palindrome remained undiscovered until such a relatively
     late date.
     [...]
     I suspect that at least one previous incarnation of this palindrome
     lies forgotten in the mouldering pages of some turn-of-the-century
     journal or newspaper.


-- Ben Zimmer