Video: 'The Suez Canal Documentary - NatGeo TV' (Nov. 17, 1869, at 26:24)

(Friday, November 17, 1869) — The Suez Canal, a sea-level waterway in Egypt connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez, officially opened today.

The opening was performed by Khedive Isma’il Pasha of Egypt and Sudan, and at Ismail’s invitation French Empress Eugenie in the Imperial yacht L’Aigle piloted by Napoléon Coste, upon whom the Khedive bestowed the Ottoman Order of the Medjidie.