November 17 in Victorian History
What the Victorians were up to on this date, year by remarkable year.
1869
The Suez Canal opens
The Empress Eugenie leads a flotilla through the Suez Canal as it opens with imperial ceremony. Ferdinand de Lesseps's 100-mile ditch joins the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. The sea road to India is cut by 6,000 miles -- and Britain will soon own the canal outright.