Aida was not written for the opening of the Suez Canal.

1869 · 1871 · apart: 2 years

The Khedive asked Verdi for an opera for the celebrations and he refused; Aida came later, premiering in Cairo on 24 December 1871.

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The event

• Opening of the Suez Canal1869 · Port Said. On 17 November 1869 the Suez Canal, built under Ferdinand de Lesseps, was opened. Linking the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, it spared ships the voyage around Africa and dramatically shortened the route from Europe to Asia.

19th century

More amazing facts

• 1869 1869: in March Mendeleev presented his periodic table, and in November the Suez Canal opened.
• 1869 The biggest gold nugget ever found lay just 3 cm below the surface.
• 1869 · 1886 The owner of Neuschwanstein, the castle that inspired Disney, lived there for just 172 days.
• 1869 P. T. Barnum exhibited a fake of a fake.
• 1869 · 1872 Phileas Fogg's race was made possible by 1869.
• 1869 Margarine was invented for a prize offered by Napoleon III. The emperor wanted cheap butter for the army and the poor, and in 1869 the chemist Mège-Mouriès won with oleomargarine made from beef fat.

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