On this day in 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal Company, which prior to that was owned primarily by British and French shareholders, leading to the Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, which saw Israeli forces, followed by United Kingdom and France invade Egypt in late 1956. The aims were to regain control of the Suez Canal for the Western powers and to remove Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. After the fighting had started, political pressure from the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Nations led to a withdrawal by the three invaders. The episode humiliated the United Kingdom and France and strengthened Nasser.
Photo Caption – A ship sailing down the Suez Canal in 1955 – Wikipedia