Aida Mary Jane Phillips-Matz argues that the source is actually Temistocle Solera. Isma'il Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write an opera for performance to celebrate the opening of the Khedivial Opera House, paying him 150,000 francs, but the premiere was delayed because of the Siege of Paris (1870–71), during the Franco-Prussian War, when the scenery and costumes were stuck in the French capital, and Verdi's "Rigoletto" was performed instead. "Aida" eventually premiered in Cairo in late 1871. Contrary to popular belief, the opera was not written to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, for which Verdi
Opening of the Kiel Canal opens with a shot of the North Sea Canal with a winged statue on the far side. Three men row towards the shore in a small rowing boat while a small boy waits on the quayside and then turns to face the camera. Film historian Nicholas Pronay has cited this film as one of the "archetypes of the newsfilm", as it was not "visually exciting", but interested audiences because it documented "an event over which there was already public sensitivity and which the mind of the audience would invest with great fascination". Opening of the Kiel Canal Opening of the