istoryworld
Events relating to canals
The Persian emperor Darius I constructs a canal linking the Nile to the Red Sea
The Grand Canal is constructed in China, joining a network of existing waterways to link the Yangtze and Yellow rivers
A Chinese engineer, Chiao Wei-yo, is credited with devising the principle of the two-level pound lock for canals
Construction begins on a canal from Lübeck south to the Elbe, linking the Baltic and the North Sea
The first modern lock gates are installed on a canal in Milan, probably designed by Leonardo da Vinci
The Briare canal, joining the Seine to the Loire, has a staircase of six consecutive locks
The Canal du Midi is completed in France, including at one point a 160-metre tunnel through high ground
Canaletto begins to specialize in views of the Venetian canals, finding his main customers among the British
A steam tug designed by William Symington, the Charlotte Dundas, goes into service on the Forth and Clyde canal
Work begins on the 363-mile Erie Canal that will link the Hudson River to Lake Erie
The Göta canal is completed, enabling ships to cross Scandinavia from the North Sea to the Baltic
US Secretary of State John Clayton and British ambassador Henry Bulwer come to an agreement about the building of a canal between the Atlantic and Pacific
Ferdinand de Lesseps is granted the concession to construct a canal from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea
Thousands of distinguished guests assemble at Port Said for the opening of the Suez Canal
Benjamin Disraeli buys for Britain a controlling share in the Suez Canal, with money borrowed from Lionel Nathan de Rothschild
A congress in Paris, with Ferdinand de Lesseps as president, decides to construct a canal from coast to coast in Panama
The French Panama Canal company goes into liquidation with work still in progress
De Lesseps, on trial for his management of the Panama Canal company, is sentenced to five years in prison
The USA is granted exclusive control in perpetuity of a ten-mile corridor across Panama, suitable for a canal
The Panama Canal opens to shipping on a neutral basis just two weeks after the start of World War I
Egypt's president Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez canal and wins Soviet finance for his Aswan dam
Nasser disregards a French and British ultimatum to withdraw from the Suez canal
The British and French bomb Egyptian airfields, and land troops near Port Said and the Suez canal
A treaty provides for the gradual transfer of the Canal Zone from US to Panamanian control
The US relinquishes sovereignty over the canal zone to Panama on the last day of the century, as agreed in the 1977 treaty