Robert Lee, age 12, of Dubuque, Iowa, for his question:

WHEN DID THE SUEZ CANAL OPEN?

The Suez Canal is an artificial waterway in Egypt that stretches

about 100 miles to join the Mediterranean and Red Seas. The canal opened in 1869.

The journey between England and India was shortened by 6,000 miles when ships were able to use the Suez Canal. The canal became the busiest interocean waterway in the world.

When the canal was constructed, it measured 26 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom and 230 feet wide at the surface. It has since been widened and deepened several times to handle larger ships and more traffic. Today the canal is 46 feet deep, 118 feet wide at the bottom and more than 390 feet wide at the surface.

Napoleon saw advantages of a waterway across the Isthmus of Suez when he visited Egypt in 1799. But Ferdinand de Lesseps, a French diplomat and canal builder, carried out the plan. He got permission for the project from Muhammad Said, the Viceroy of Egypt, in 1855.

By 1858, a company had been organized with capital stock of about $40 million. Construction started on April 25, 1859 and the canal opened on Nov. 17, 1869.