Today in Entrepreneurial History: November 16

• 1869 – In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated.
• 1947 – American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th century.

For more on the Suez Canal read Parting the Desert: The Creation of the Suez Canal.