And to learn this, one has to know about The Six-Day War.The Six-Day War took place in 1967. The Israelis launched a preventative military effort to counter what the Israelis saw as an impending attack by Arab nations that surrounded Israel. The war was against Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Israel believed that it was only a matter of time before the three Arab states co-ordinated a massive attack on Israel.
Rather than wait to be attacked, the Israelis launched a hugely successful military campaign against its perceived enemies. The air forces of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq were all but destroyed in the Sinai Desert and Israeli forces reached the Suez Canal. And the whole of the west bank of the Jordan River had been cleared of Jordanian forces. The Golan Heights were captured from Syria and Israeli forces moved 30 miles into Syria itself.
Guess, what happened next? Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack back on Israel in October 1973 to regain territories they lost in the Six Day War of 1967. The war which lasted 19 days, resulted in the victory of Egyptian military this time. So the 6th of October is actually quite a significant date of a great military operation.
Actually, Egyptians do like their modern history no lesser then the ancient one. There are a lot of places named after modern heroes or important dates in the history. For example in Cairo one of the main street named 23rd of July – this is the date for the revolution of 1952, when they got rid of the royal regime of the King Farouh and British interference on domestic affairs.
I’ve also seen quite a few streets and squares named after Sadat - an Egyptian political leader and president till 1981 (when he was assassinated)
Oh, and then – the famous Lake Nasser - the artificial lake that was created after the Aswan dam has been built – it named after the famous general and president.
Well, they say: never underestimate the absence of your knowledge. But at least now I know a tiny bit about modern days Egypt too :-p