The canal played a crucial role in a Cold War-era crisis.

In 1956, the Suez Canal had center stage in a short war between Egypt, Britain, France, and Israel.  As Britain still continued to occupy the canal, even after Egypt's independence, resentment from the lingering colonial influence grew.  The tension finally boiled when the Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser Nationalized the Canal. 

this became the Suez crisis, where a combined British, Israeli and French forced launched an attack on Egypt in October 1956.  They later withdrew after condemnation from the US and nuclear retaliation from the Soviet Union.