This Day in History - April 25th

1859: Ground broken for Suez Canal

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 organised the colossal undertaking, delivered the pickaxe blow that inaugurated construction. 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 1859, and first digging was done by hand with picks and shovels wielded by forced labourers. Later, European workers with dredgers and steam shovels arrived. Labour disputes and a cholera epidemic slowed construction and the Suez Canal was not completed until 1869 – four years behind schedule. On 17th November, the Suez Canal was officially inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony attended by French Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.

Also On This Day

2005

Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to the European Union, which they join in 2007.

2002

At the Old Bailey in London, England two teenage brothers are cleared of the murder of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor.

1983

In Germany, the magazine Stern publishes extracts from what its claims to be the diaries of Adolf Hitler. Extracts are also published in English newspaper, the Sunday Times. The diaries are later discovered to have been fakes.

1982

Israel completely withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula.

1980

A Dan-Air Boeing 727 carrying British tourists to the Canary Islands crashes and kills all 146 on board.

1974

The Carnation Revolution in Portugal restores democracy to the country.

1964

President Johnson announces that General William Westmoreland will replace General Paul Harkins as head of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam.

1953

Scientists in England write about the structure of a chemical called deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA.

1945

The Second World War: Berlin in completely surrounded by Allied forces.

1915

The First World War: Australian, New Zealand, British and French forces begin landing on the Gallipoli Peninsular to attack Turkish positions.

1846

A boarder skirmish breaks out between the U.S. and Mexico, known as the Thornton Affair, which leads to the Mexican-American War.

1792

Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle composes La Marseillaise, the French national anthem.

1719

Daniel Defoe's book The Life and Strange Adventures of Robinson Crusoe is published.

1707

A Franco – Spanish army defeats a Portuguese, British and Dutch force in the Battle of Almansa during the Spanish War of Succession.