The United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was created because of the Suez Crisis in 1956. Its job was to maintain order, and help the transition of Egyptian military withdrawing from the Suez Canal so that it could be opened again for free trade and transportation.
On this day April 24th, in 1957, UNEF peacemakers are stationed by the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal is a manmade canal which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. Construction started on this in the mid-19th century, and it was opened up in November of 1869. Originally far smaller, the Suez Canal is now 120 miles long, 673 feet wide, and 79 feet deep.
The Suez Canal is now controlled by the Suez Canal Authority, a subsidiary of the Arab Republic of Egypt. According to an international treaty, the canal is to remain open to everyone at all times. From the creation of the Israeli state in 1948, Egypt had been searching and seizing cargo ships on the way to Israel, which was Illegal. The UN ordered for Egypt to stop in 1951, but evidently it took a few years for things to kink out. Eventually the Suez Canal went on to become nationalized and open to the world.