Bonaparte thought of it first but it was another Frenchman, Ferdinand de Lesseps, who accomplished the feat of linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, thereby bridging the gap between East and West. It took 10 years of work before this pharaonic project was inaugurated on 17 November 1869. The canal's strategic position has led to an eventful history, starting with nationalisation by Nasser in 1956, in defiance of the French and British, which triggered an international crisis.