1869 Inauguration du canal de
Suez ^top^
Le canal de Suez est inauguré
en présence de l'impératrice Eugénie, épouse de Napoléon III,
et de l'empereur d'Autriche François-Joseph. Le compositeur
Giuseppe Verdi écrit "Aïda" pour l'occasion. Il fera jouer son
opéra 2 ans plus tard, le 23 décembre 1871, dans le théâtre
du Caire. 2000 ans avant JC, le pharaon Nechao avait déjà eu
l'idée de relier la mer Rouge à la mer Méditerranée par un canal
artificiel. Mais celui-ci ne survécut pas aux invasions arabes.
L'idée est reprise par Ferdinand
de Lesseps. Ce diplomate français est un adepte du comte de
Saint-Simon, un théoricien du début du siècle qui promet un
avenir rayonnant grâce aux progrès des techniques et de l'industrie.
En poste à Alexandrie, il donne des leçons d'équitation au fils
du khédive (gouverneur turc) d'Egypte, Méhémet Ali. Lorsque
son élève, Muhammad Saïd, devient à son tour khédive, il lui
soumet l'idée de creuser l'isthme de Suez.
Ferdinand de Lesseps obtient
en 1854 une concession de 99 ans et fonde le 19 mai 1855 la
Compagnie de Suez dont le nom est encore porté par un groupe
industriel (Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux). Au terme des travaux,
le canal, d'une longueur de 162 km, sur 54 mètres de largeur
et 8 mètres de profondeur, traverse de part en part l'isthme.
Deux villes nouvelles sont nées dans le désert, à ses embouchures:
Port-Saïd sur la Méditerranée et Suez sur la mer Rouge.
Le canal permet d'abréger de
8000 km la navigation entre Londres et Bombay en évitant de
contourner le continent africain. Désireuse de protéger la nouvelle
route maritime qui mène à sa principale colonie, l'Angleterre
ne tardera pas à imposer
sa protection à l'Egypte, qui était jusque-là une province
de l'empire ottoman d'Istanbul. L'Angleterre prendra aussi le
contrôle financier et militaire du canal et le conservera jusqu'à
la nationalisation imposée par l'Egyptien Nasser en 1956. Quant
au héros du jour, Ferdinand de Lesseps, il perdra plus tard
son honneur dans le scandale financier de Panama.
Le premier coup de pioche a été
donné il y a dix ans. Il a fallu à Ferdinand de Lesseps un acharnement
de chaque jour pour ouvrir cette voie d'accès vers l'Extrême-Orient.
Ce jour, le canal de Suez, long de 161 kilomètres, traverse
le désert de Port-Saïd à Suez, est inauguré à Port-Saïd en présence
du khédive et de nombreuses têtes couronnées, dont l'impératrice
Eugénie. Après les célébrations conjointes d'un service religieux
musulman et d'une messe catholique, le yacht impérial L'Aigle
suivi des autres yachts royaux s'engage dans le canal. La foule
sur les rives manifeste son enthousiasme. A chaque étape, banquets
et fêtes se succèdent. Parmi elles, un opéra qui a été commandé
pour la circonstance au compositeur italien Giuseppe Verdi,
Aïda, est créé. Il a fallu trois jours de festivité pour que
la flotte atteigne enfin la mer Rouge.
The Suez
Canal opens.
In Egypt, the Suez Canal, stretching
162 km across the Isthmus of Suez, opens to navigation inaugurated
in an elaborate ceremony attended by French Empress Eugénie,
wife of Napoleon III. . The Suez Canal project, organized by
French diplomat and entrepreneur Ferdinand de Lesseps, took
a decade complete. The canal runs from Port Said in the north
to Suez in the south, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red
seas, and rapidly becomes one of the world's most heavily traveled
shipping lanes. France and England take increasing interest
in Egypt after the completion of the Suez, and in 1882 British
troops invade Egypt, beginning a forty-year occupation of the
country. In 1922, Britain recognizes the sovereignty of Egypt,
but retains control of the Suez Canal. During the early 1950s,
Egyptian nationalists riot in the Canal Zone and organize attacks
on British troops.
Then, on 26 July 1956, Egyptian
President Gamal Abdal Nasser nationalizes the canal, and subsequently
bars British, French, and Israeli shipping. In response, Israel
launches an attack on Egypt and its Arab allies on 29 October.
In a lightning attack, Israeli forces under General Moshe Dayan
seize the Gaza Strip and drive through the Sinai to the east
bank of the Suez Canal. Two days later, Britain and France,
whose diplomats are expelled from Egypt and ships also barred
from the Suez, enter the conflict in a coalition with Israel,
demanding the immediate evacuation of Egyptian forces from the
Suez Canal. American and UN pressure force the coalition to
halt the hostilities and a UN emergency force is sent to occupy
the Canal Zone, eventually leaving the canal in Egypt's hands
in the next year.
In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps,
the former French consul to Cairo, secured an agreement with
the Ottoman governor of Egypt to build a canal 100 miles across
the Isthmus of Suez. 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 17 November 1869, the Suez
Canal was opened to navigation. Ferdinand de Lesseps would later
attempt, unsuccessfully, to build a canal across the Isthmus
of Panama. When it opened, the Suez Canal was only 8 meters
deep, 22 meters wide at the bottom, and 60 to 100 meters 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.
Ten years later, Egypt shut down
the canal again following the Six Day War and Israel's occupation
of the Sinai Peninsula. For the next eight years, the Suez Canal,
which separates the Sinai from the rest of Egypt, existed as
the front line between the Egyptian and Israeli armies. In 1975,
Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat reopened the Suez Canal as
a gesture of peace after talks with Israel. Today, an average
of 50 ships navigate the canal daily, carrying more than 300
million tons of goods a year. |
1854 Louis Hubert Lyautey, maréchal français, à Nancy.
1854 Josef Reznicek Gisela, Austrian artist who died on 24
August 1899.
1799 Titian Ramsey Peale US, artist / naturalist (American Ornithology)
— LINKS
— White
Squirrel (1821)
1793 Francis Danby, English painter of Irish birth, specialized
in landscapes, who died on 10 February 1861. — MORE
ON DANBY AT ART “4” NOVEMBER
— LINKS
— The
Deluge
1790 August
Ferdinand Möbius, mathematician inventor (Mobius strip)
1755 Louis XVIII
1st post-revolutionary king of France (1814-24)
^top^
A Versailles (France), naissance
de Louis, Comte de Provence En 1814, après la défaite de Napoléon,
les alliés favorisent la restauration de la monarchie en France
abolie par la Révolution et Louis de Provence monte sur le trône
resté vacquant par l'exécution de son frère et la disparition
de petit Louis XVII. Il règnera sous le nom de Louis XVIII.
Le retour de Napoléon de l'île Elbe, l'obligera à un départ
précipité. Rétabli sur le trône après la défaite de Waterloo,
il règnera jusqu'à sa mort en 1824. |
1717 Jean
d'Alembert, French mathematician and philosopher (Traité
de Dynamique)
1690 Noël-Nicolas Coypel, French painter who died on 14 December
1734. — MORE
ON COYPEL AT ART “4” NOVEMBER
— Madame
de Bourbon-Conti
1612 Pierre Mignard I “le Romain”, French artist who
died on 13 May 1695 — MORE
ON MIGNARD AT ART “4” NOVEMBER
— LINKS
— Clio
— The
Marquise de Seignelay and Two of her Children — The
Heavenly Glory — Girl
Blowing Soap Bubbles — The
Virgin of the Grapes
1597 Gellibrand,
mathematician.
1587 Joost van den Vondel Cologne Germany, Dutch poet/dramatist
(Jephtha)
— 3 BC Jesus Christ, according
to early Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria
(ca.0155 - ca.0220) ^top^
The Bible tells us with certainty
the fact of Jesus' birth and the place. But not the exact date.
Although many Christians celebrate Christ's birthday on 25 December,
it has not always been so. In fact, one of the early church
fathers, Clement of Alexandria speculated that Christ was born
on this day, 17 November 3 BC!
In the early church there was
no celebration of Jesus' birth. Each Sunday was a celebration
of Christ's resurrection. The Jewish festivals of Passover and
Pentecost continued to be celebrated by the church for a time
since they were closely associated with Christ's death and resurrection.
In the third century, some churches in the east began to celebrate
06 January as the Epiphany, the time that Christ revealed himself
to the people as the Messiah. Jesus' incarnation — when
God became man — was also commemorated at this time.
Many speculated that since shepherds
were in the field the night Christ was born, it must have been
in spring or summer. Some said 20 May; others fixed the date
on 19 or 20 April. Still others thought 25 March most likely.
No one really knew.
In 354, the Bishop of Rome started
to observe 25 December as the date of Christ's birth. Four major
Roman festivals were held in December, including Saturnalia
which celebrated the returning Sun-god. It was easy to adapt
this to the Christian celebration of the coming of the Son of
God.
As Christianity expanded in Europe,
Jesus' birth continued to be celebrated on 25 December, and
as each nationality converted to Christianity its own customs
were added to the celebration. But if Clement of Alexandria
were still alive today he probably would be wishing us a "Merry
Christmas" on this day. |
|
Deaths
which occurred on a November 17:
