Today we are transiting the Suez Canal
The Suez Canal - one of the greatest feats of modern engineering represents the culmination of centuries of effort to enhance the trade and expand the empires or Egypt by connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. The canal was completed in 1869 amid much fanfare and celebration. When two small fleets, one originating in Port Said and the other in Suez, met at the new town of Ismailia on 16th November 1869, the Suez Canal was declared open and Africa was officially severed from Asia. Ownership of the canal remained in French and British hands until, in the wake of Egyptian independence, President Nasser nationalised the canal in 1956.