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Today in History, November 17th

On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal opened. Plus Congress's first session in Washington and the start of the Velvet Revolution.

By Today in History Updated November 9, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Arnold Schwarzenegger Governor — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Published November 17, 2025 · Last updated November 9, 2026

November 17 is best known for the 1869 opening of the Suez Canal, which linked the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and gave ships a shortcut between Europe and Asia. The date also saw Congress meet in Washington, DC, for the first time in 1800 and the start of Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution in 1989.

The big story: The Suez Canal Opens (1869)

Digging started with a ceremonial swing of a pickaxe on April 25, 1859, near the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. Ten years later, the job was done. The man behind it was Ferdinand de Lesseps, a French diplomat who had won the concession from Egypt’s ruler in 1854. On November 17, 1869, the French imperial yacht L’Aigle, carrying Empress Eugénie, led a flotilla of about 40 ships into the new canal from Port Said. Royals and diplomats from across Europe came along for the ride, and the convoy stopped that evening at Ismailia, a town the project itself had created. The canal ran 101 miles across Egypt’s Isthmus of Suez and gave ships a shortcut between Europe and Asia without sailing around Africa. It cost more than double the original estimate. In 1888 the Convention of Constantinople opened it to the ships of all nations.

More events on November 17

Year	What happened
1558	Queen Mary I of England died, and her half-sister Elizabeth was proclaimed queen the same day.
1800	Congress met in the Capitol in Washington, DC, for the first time after a decade in Philadelphia. The Senate fell two members short of a quorum.
1968	NBC cut away from a Jets-Raiders game to air the movie Heidi on schedule and missed Oakland scoring two touchdowns in the final minute to win 43-32.
1970	The Soviet Union’s Luna 17 landed on the Moon carrying Lunokhod 1, the first rover to explore another world.
1973	President Richard Nixon told newspaper editors at Disney World, “I’m not a crook,” as the Watergate scandal grew.
1989	Students marched in Prague against the communist government, starting the Velvet Revolution. Within weeks the party leadership resigned, and dissident writer Václav Havel was elected president by year’s end.
1993	The U.S. House approved the North American Free Trade Agreement, 234 to 200.
2003	Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as governor of California after voters recalled Gray Davis.