This day in history

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 Sea. 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 17 November, the Suez Canal was officially inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony attended by French Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.
 

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

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