... 1952 (55 years ago today), Argentina's 1st Lady, Eva Perón, died from cancer in Buenos Aires, "at the presidential residence in the company of her husband General Juan Domingo Perón." Born Maria Eva Duarte 33 years earlier, the daughter of a "poor village landowner who had been separated from his first wife," she would become "one of the most influential women in the Western hemisphere." Supporters deemed her "a dazzling goddess"; her detractors, a "blonde upstart" feted by fascist leaders in Europe. Her life story's the subject of the musical "Evita," noted for its balcony scene and the song "Don't Cry for me, Argentina."... 1956, after the World Bank refused to support the Aswan High Dam project, Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal Company in order to fund the project. He further blockaded Israel's outlet to the Red Sea. Later in the year, Israel would enter Egypt's Sinai peninsula, and Britain and France, whose nationals owned the Company, entered the canal zone. A a ceasefire agreement was reached in November.
