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KF5JRV > TODAY 25.04.19 12:51l 67 Lines 3543 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 35167_KF5JRV
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Subj: Today in History - Apr 25
Path: IW8PGT<IR2UBX<F1OYP<ON0AR<GB7CIP<AB0AF<KF5JRV
Sent: 190425/1143Z 35167@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.18
At Port Said, Egypt, ground is broken for the Suez Canal, an artificial
waterway intended to stretch 101 miles across the isthmus of Suez and
connect the Mediterranean and the Red seas. Ferdinand de Lesseps, the
French diplomat who organized the colossal undertaking, delivered the
pickax blow that inaugurated construction.
Artificial canals have been built on the Suez region, which connects the
continents of Asia and Africa, since ancient times. Under the Ptolemaic
rulers of Egypt, a channel connected the Bitter Lakes to the Red Sea,
and a canal reached northward from Lake Timsah as far as the Nile River.
These canals fell into disrepair or were intentionally destroyed for
military reasons. As early as the 15th century, Europeans speculated
about building a canal across the Suez, which would allow traders to
sail from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea, rather
than having to sail the great distance around Africa’s Cape of Good
Hope.
The first serious survey of the isthmus occurred during the French
occupation of Egypt at the end of the 18th century, and General Napoleon
Bonaparte personally inspected the remains of an ancient canal. France
made further studies for a canal, and in 1854 Ferdinand de Lesseps, the
former French consul to Cairo, secured an agreement with the Ottoman
governor of Egypt to build a canal. An international team of engineers
drew up a construction plan, and in 1856 the Suez Canal Company was
formed and granted the right to operate the canal for 99 years after
completion of the work.
Construction began in April 1859, and at first digging was done by hand
with picks and shovels wielded by forced laborers. Later, European
workers with dredgers and steam shovels arrived. Labor disputes and a
cholera epidemic slowed construction, and the Suez Canal was not
completed until 1869–four years behind schedule. On November 17, 1869,
the Suez Canal was officially inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony
attended by French Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. Ferdinand de
Lesseps would later attempt, unsuccessfully, to build a canal across the
Isthmus of Panama. He died in 1894.
When it opened, the Suez Canal was only 25 feet deep, 72 feet wide at
the bottom, and 200 to 300 feet wide at the surface. Consequently, fewer
than 500 ships navigated it in its first full year of operation. Major
improvements began in 1876, however, and the canal soon grew into the
one of the world’s most heavily traveled shipping lanes. In 1875, Great
Britain became the largest shareholder in the Suez Canal Company when it
bought up the stock of the new Ottoman governor of Egypt. Seven years
later, in 1882, Britain invaded Egypt, beginning a long occupation of
the country. The Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936 made Egypt virtually
independent, but Britain reserved rights for the protection of the
canal.
After World War II, Egypt pressed for evacuation of British troops from
the Suez Canal Zone, and in July 1956 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel
Nasser nationalized the canal, hoping to charge tolls that would pay for
construction of a massive dam on the Nile River. In response, Israel
invaded in late October, and British and French troops landed in early
November, occupying the canal zone. Under pressure from the United
Nations, Britain and France withdrew in December, and Israeli forces
departed in March 1957. That month, Egypt took control of the canal and
reopened it to commercial shipping.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@GMAIL.COM
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