5 Things I have Learned This Week #8
<p>1 — The recent Suez Canal closure lifted after six days, an improvement on the previous closure after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, which lasted eight years. During the war, Egyptian forces scuttled ships at both ends of the canal to block it, trapping 15 ships from eight countries in between. These ships came to anchor in the Great Bitter Lake, the widest part of the canal formed from a dry lake bed when the canal was dug.</p>
<p>The crews from these ships (British, American, West German, Czech, Polish, Bulgarian, French and Swedish) formed the Great Bitter Lake Association to provide mutual assistance. They started a yachting club, held a Great Bitter Lake Olympics to coincide with the 1968 games in Mexico City, staged football matches on deck. The sailors watched films on the Bulgarian ship, swam in the pool on the Swedish ship and sang carols accompanied by the organ on the German ship at Christmas. They set up a postal system, printing their own stamps which they persuaded the Egyptian postal service to honour.</p>
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