Today is Sunday; 30th of the Iranian month of Tir 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 18th of the Islamic month of Zil-Qa’dah 1440 lunar hijri; and July 21, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1954 solar years ago, on this day in 365 AD, a tsunami devastated the city of Alexandria in Egypt, killing 5,000 people inside the city and another 45,000 outside it. The tsunami was caused by the Crete earthquake estimated to be 8.0 on the Richter scale.

1001 lunar years ago, on this day in 439 AH, the prominent Iranian Muslim mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and poet, Ghiyas od-Din Omar Ibn Ibrahim Khayyam, was born in Naishapour, Khorasan, in northeastern Iran. He studied in Balkh, Samarqand and Bukhara, before joining the court of the Seljuq ruler, Malik Shah, as scientific advisor. He set up an observatory in his hometown and led work on compiling astronomical tables. To him goes the credit of reforming the solar hijri calendar on the basis of the Spring Equinox, which is still in use in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and parts of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Iraq, Anatolia, and the Subcontinent. This calendar, known as Jalali, is more perfect than the Gregorian Christian calendar that was imposed on Muslim countries by the colonialists after World War 1. Among Khayyam's works, his book on algebra was until the last century taught as textbook in Iran. In geometry, he reformed the generalities of Euclid and contributed to the theory of parallel lines. His contributions to other fields of science included developing methods for the accurate determination of specific gravity. He is known to the English-speaking world for his “rubaiyyaat” (quatrains) whose English translation was published in 1859 by Edward Fitzgerald, although in the Islamic east he remains the astronomer and mathematician that he was, rather than a poet, since whatever he composed of poetry were casual expressions during his rare leisure hours after strenuous scientific studies and experiments. He died at the age of 85 and was buried in his native Naishapour in the courtyard of the shrine of Imamzadah Mohammad al-Mahruq, a descendant of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

594 solar years ago, on this day in 1425 AD, Byzantine Emperor Manuel Palaeologus died, days after signing a humiliating treaty with the expanding Ottoman Empire, whose advance into Europe he had tried to stop by forming an alliance with Hungary and other Christian states.

374 solar years ago, on this day in 1645 AD, Qing dynasty regent Dorgon issued an edict ordering all Han Chinese men to shave their forehead and braid the rest of their hair into a queue identical to those of the Manchus.

301 solar years ago, on this day in 1718 AD, The Treaty of Passarowitz was signed between the Ottoman Empire on one side and the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria and the Republic of Venice on the other. During the years 1714-1718, the Ottomans had been successful against Venice in Greece and Crete, in the Ottoman-Venetian War, but, in the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–1718, they had been defeated at Petrovaradin (1716). The treaty reflected the military situation. The Ottoman Empire lost the Banat and southeastern Syrmia, central part of present-day Serbia (from Belgrade to south of Krusevac), and a tiny strip of northern Bosnia to Austria. Venice renounced claim to the Peloponnesus Peninsula and Crete, retaining only the Ionian Islands and the cities of Preveza and Arta. The result of the treaty was restoration of Habsburg rule over much of the territory of present-day Serbia, which had been lost during the Great Turkish war between 1688 and 1699.

245 solar years ago, on this day in 1774 AD, the 6-year Russo-Turkish War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji, according to which the weakened Ottoman Empire lost Southern Ukraine, Northern Caucasus, and Crimea to expansionist Russia. The treaty was a most humiliating blow to the once-mighty Ottoman realm. Russia gained two outlets to the Black Sea, which was no longer an Ottoman lake. The Crimea was the first Muslim territory to slip from the sultan’s suzerainty. The frontiers of the Ottoman Empire, which for three centuries, prior to the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, had posed existential danger to Europe, would gradually shrink for another two centuries, until the Sykes-Picot accord detached its Arab possessions as well, to reduce it to modern Turkey.

236 solar years ago, on this day in 1783 AD, the Russians, taking advantage of the weakness of Iran, flexed their military muscles in the Caucasus by declaring Georgia as their protectorate. The Georgians, which for over two millenniums were part of the Persian Empire, were banned from maintaining direct relations with either Iran or the Ottoman Turks.

221 solar years ago, on this day in 1798 AD, the Battle of the Pyramids, also known as the Battle of Embabeh, was a major engagement during the French invasion of Egypt, and resulted in the French army under Napoleon Bonaparte scoring a decisive victory against the forces of the Georgian Mamluk rulers (Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey), wiping out almost the entire Egyptian army. It was the battle where Napoleon employed one of his significant contributions to military tactics, the divisional square. Actually a rectangle, the deployment of the French brigades into these massive formations repeatedly threw back multiple cavalry charges by the Egyptians. The victory effectively sealed the French conquest of Egypt and Napoleon entered Cairo after the battle to create a new local administration under his supervision. The battle highlighted the weaknesses of the Ottoman Empire in the face of a changing Europe. Napoleon named the battle after the Egyptian pyramids because they were faintly visible on the horizon, 15 km away, when the battle took place some 6 km from Cairo. Nevertheless Napoleon's position in Egypt was precarious, despite his wearing of Muslim dress, showing respect for the Sheikhs of al-Azhar, and renaming himself as Ali Bonaparte. Britain and the Ottoman government joined forces to defeat him and finally drove out the French in 1801.

188 solar years ago, on this day in 1831 AD, with installation of Leopold I as king, Belgium became a constitutional monarchy – a day now celebrated as National Day. In 1830, the Belgian Revolution had led to the separation of the Southern Provinces from the Netherlands and to the establishment of a Catholic, officially French-speaking and neutral Belgium. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters as well as those of several other major international organisations such as NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square km and has a population of about 11 million people.

131 solar years ago, on this day in 1888 AD, the English inventor, John Boyd Dunlop, invented pneumatic tyres. He had realized that inner-filled tyres reduce the speed of vehicles and therefore made a tyre which was filled with air. This type of tyre granted further speed and flexibility to vehicles. He died in the year 1921.

120 solar years ago, on this day in 1899 AD, American author, Ernest Hemingway was born. For a while, he worked as a reporter in England and France. He was the innovator of short stories in simple language. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. Among his books, are “The Old Man and the Sea”, “A Farewell to Arms”, and “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. He committed suicide in 1961.

67 solar years ago, on this day in 1952 AD, massive rallies were staged in Tehran and other Iranian cities in response to a call by senior religious leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Qasim Kashani, in protest to the ouster of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq and appointment of the pro-British Ahmad Qavvam as premier by the Shah. Although the Pahlavi regime brutally suppressed the peaceful rallies, the Shah was forced to reinstate Mosaddeq as Premier. However, Mosaddeq's folly in alienating Ayatollah Kashani and the masses, resulted in his overthrow 13 months later by a US-designed coup on 19th August 1953 and the return of the fugitive Shah.

67 solar years ago, on this day in 1952 AD, the International Court of Justice at Hague, ruled by a vote of 9 to 5 that it had no jurisdiction in the British-Iranian dispute over nationalization of Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (later British Petroluem). The verdict ended Britain's bid to force Iran to stop oil nationalization. The decision was based on the majority finding that the 1933 oil concession was a simple contract rather than an international agreement and that Britain could not invoke previous treaties. Hussain Navaz, Iranian Minister to the Netherlands and the agent in the case, said the court's decision would strengthen the hand of Prime Minister Dr. Mohammed Mossadeq, at a crucial moment in the Iranian political situation. London, however, continued to issue threats against Iran, and the next year ganged up with the US to overthrow the elected government of Prime Minister Mossadeq on August 19, in order to restore the fugitive Pahlavi Shah to the Peacock Throne in Tehran.

67 lunar years ago, on this day in 1373 AH, the renowned Islamic scholar and literary figure of Iraq, Ayatollah Mohammad Hussain Kashef al-Gheta, passed away. He was born in a virtuous academic family in the holy city of Najaf. He learned preliminary Islamic sciences at a young age and soon attained high scholarly status by attending the classes of prominent ulema, such as Akhound Khorasani. Ayatollah Kashef al-Gheta groomed many students and wrote several books. He also visited a number of Muslim states to promote Islamic teachings, delivering memorable speeches at the universities and scientific centers of Iran, Egypt, and Palestine. He considered presence of Muslims in political affairs as a must, and played a vital role in the Islamic movement of the Iraqi people against the British, who exiled him to Iran after crushing the 1920 revolution and martyring Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Taqi Shirazi. Among his books, mention can be made of a diwan of poems and the book “as-Siyasat al-Husainiyyah” on the philosophy behind the epoch-making uprising of the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS) – the younger grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA)

65 solar years ago, on this day in 1954 AD, an armistice treaty was signed between France and Vietnam at the end of Geneva Conference, which put an end to French colonial rule of Indochina. This treaty was concluded on May 1954, following the fall of the French Fortification in Vietnam, named “Dien Bien Phu”. At the International Geneva Conference, attended by France, the US, Britain, China, the USSR, and Vietnam, the division of Vietnam into North and South was included on American insistence. According to this treaty, foreign forces should have left Vietnam’s soil, but the US, in violation of the terms of the treaty, dispatched its troops to the region to confront the freedom-seeking people of Vietnam, and obstructed the unification of Northern and Southern Vietnam. The people of Vietnam, who had fought against the French colonial rule for a long time, this time confronted the US and defeated America after nearly two decades of war.  Northern and Southern Vietnam became once again united in a single country in 1975.

49 solar years ago, in 1970 AD, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed after 18 years of work. It is a huge rock-filled dam that lies just north of the border between Egypt and Sudan. It captures the world's longest river, the Nile, in the world's third largest reservoir, Lake Nasser. Built with Soviet aid at a cost of $1 billion, it now produces hydroelectricity meeting 50% of Egypt's power needs. It holds several years of irrigation reserves, assists multi-cropping, has increased productivity 20-50%, enormously increased Egypt's arable land, and overall, increased Egypt's agricultural income by 200%. The embankment is 111 meters high, with a width of near 1,000 meters. Lake Nasser is 480 long and up to 16 km wide.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1983 AD, the world's lowest temperature in an inhabited location was recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F).

31 solar years ago, on this day in 1988 AD, four days after Iran accepted UN Security Council Resolution 598 to stop the Iraqi war, Saddam, who had earlier accepted this same resolution, violated its terms and clauses, by launching a fresh attack in southwestern Iran. Thanks to the readiness of the Muslim combatants, this fresh Ba’thist attack was defeated and it revealed the warmongering nature of Saddam, who had started the 8-year war in September 1980. Ceasefire finally ended the Iraqi War on August 20, 1988.

6 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, in Yemen armed terrorists seized an employee of the Iranian embassy in Sanaa. Diplomat Nour Ahmad Nikbakht was freed by Iranian special operatives in March, 2015.

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