Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French diplomat who oversaw the creation of the Suez Canal (which he discussed in this 1855 pamphlet), is one of the few people that #Nemo praises in the novel. Fun fact: De Lesseps knew Verne and would later nominate him for the Legion of Honor. (26/n) https://t.co/sGrAMLVI7O

Philip Dunne: “Tyrone Power played Ferdinand de Lesseps … So he dug the Suez Canal, so what? My partner Julien Josephson and I invented a love story with the Empress of France (Loretta Young) to keep audiences going. We had to. The man was the world's biggest bore.”

#OTD 19 November 1805 Ferdinand Marie, Comte de Lesseps was born. He became a diplomat, later responsible for developing the Suez Canal, the most important canal in the world. He tried to develop a canal in Panama but failed due to disease outbreaks. https://t.co/wKIAL1LIAt