Today is Tuesday; 21st of the Iranian month of Aban 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 14th of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal 1441 lunar hijri; and November 12, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1377 lunar years ago, on this day in 64 AH, the Godless tyrant, Yazid ibn Mu'awiyah, was struck by divine wrath and fell into the bowels of hell, after committing three most blasphemous crimes during his illegal rule of 3 years and nine months. Born out of wedlock to a morally-loose nomadic Arab Christian woman named Maysun bint Bajdal al-Kulaibi an-Nasraniya, who was ravished and abandoned by the Omayyad usurper Mu’awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan, he was suckled by several whores while growing up in the desert. Years later, Mu’awiyya, who failed to produce any male issue from the women of his harem, suddenly recalled the illegitimate brat he had abandoned, brought him to Damascus as a young man, and after some years of training, named him successor on his deathbed in 60 AH, in gross violation of the terms of the Treaty of 41 AH by which he had usurped rule of the Islamic realm from Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), the elder grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). An infidel, who did not believe in any religion, although a crucifix used to dangle from his neck, Yazid was a drunkard and frequently asked his slaves to sodomize him. The first thing he did was to demand allegiance to his ungodly and un-Islamic rule from the Prophet's younger grandson Imam Husain (AS), and when this was rejected he had the Imam mercilessly martyred in Karbala in 61 AH along with 18 members of the Prophet's family, including the 6-month infant, Ali Asghar. The children and womenfolk of the Prophet's progeny were then brought as captives to his court in Damascus. The second abominable crime committed by him was to attack the holy city of Medina in Zilhijja 63 AH after the infamous Battle of Harra in which 10,000 people were massacred, including hundreds of the Prophet's companions. Yazid's soldiers entered Medina, desecrated the Prophet's shrine, and were given permission to loot public property and rape women for three days – resulting in the birth of several thousand illegitimate children that year who are known in history as "Awlad-e Fitna". In the beginning of Rabi al-Awwal 64 AH, Yazid ordered his forces to attack Mecca and storm the holy Ka'ba. Catapults were placed on mountains overlooking the “Masjid al-Haraam” (Sacred Mosque) to hurl blazing naphtha pots at Islam’s holiest sanctuary. The Symbolic House of God caught fire and was almost burnt to the ground when the attack was called off because of Yazid's sudden death this day in Damascus. Yazid, who since the martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS), suffered severe bouts of headache, collapsed in the state of drunkenness in the toilet and died. According to another account, divine wrath struck him while on a hunting trip, and only his charred leg was found in the stirrup of his horse with no trace of his body. He was 37 years of age and his whole body had turned black. Some 58 years later in 132 AH, when the Abbasid caliph, Abu'l-Abbas as-Saffah, ordered the opening of the graves of the Omayyad caliphs, including that of Mu'awiyah, and the burning of their bones, only a piece of a leg bone was found in Yazid's grave and nothing else except blackened dust resembling ashes after the body and skeleton has been burnt, which indicates divine punishment. Both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims consider Yazid an infidel, for openly saying there was neither any Prophet nor divine revelation. At the sight of Imam Husain's (AS) head placed before him in a tray, he wished, if only his infidel ancestors were alive to see how he has avenged the death of his kinsmen killed in the Battles of Badr and Ohad they had imposed on the Prophet.

1116 lunar years ago, on this day in 325 AH, Abu'l-Hassan Ahmad bin Farres, the scholar and lexicographer of Arabic language was born near the city of Qazvin in Iran. He traveled widely in Iran and Iraq for higher studies and earned prominence in jurisprudence, hadith, grammar, literature and poetry. He died in Rayy (presently a suburb of Tehran) in 395 AH at the age of 70 and was buried there. He trained many scholars, and among his works, mention could be made of "as-Sahabi fi Fiqh", "Maqayees al-Lugha", and "Asbab al-Ishtehad".

889 lunar years ago, on this day in 552 AH, Sultan Moiz od-Din Ahmad Sanjar bin Malik Shah bin Alp Arsalan, died, and with him the Seljuqid Empire in Central Asia, Iran, and Iraq, came to its end after 120 years of domination by this Turkic tribe. A branch of the Seljuqs, however, survived in Anatolia (modern Turkey), and northern parts of Syria for another 150 years. Sanjar died in captivity of the Oghuz Turks in the Khorasani city of Merv (in present day Turkmenistan) three years after suffering a heavy defeat at the hands of the infidel Qara Khitai Turks at the Battle of Qatawan near Samarqand. The Seljuq Turks, who overthrew the Ghaznawid Turks in Khorasan and then wiped out the Daylamite Persian dynasty in Iran and Iraq, had adopted Persian culture and language, and were patrons of Iranian poets.

422 lunar years ago, on this day in 1019 AH, Mohammad Ibn Hakim, known as Chang Ji Mai in Chinese language, was born in the Iranian city of Isfahan. His ancestors were from Samarqand (presently in Uzbekistan), and at the age of 9, along with his uncle, he migrated to China. Chang Ji Mai taught Islamic sciences as well as Arabic and Persian literature in China and trained talented students in different fields. The Grand Mosque of Ji Nien is his masterpiece. He is known as a great scholar and interpreter of the holy Qur'an in China.

290 solar years ago, on this day in 1729 AD, French navigator and scientist, Louis Antoine de Bougainville was born in Paris. He was also a man of action who fought in the Seven Years War and explored the Pacific Ocean. Accompanied by naturalists and astronomers, he made a voyage around the world from 1767 to 1769. He visited many of the islands of the South Pacific and compiling a scientific record of his findings. The largest of the Solomon Islands is named after him, as is the colourful tropical climbing plant bougainvillea. He died on 31^st August 1811 at the age 81.

253 solar years ago, on this day in 1766 AD, British colonialists led by Colonel Calliaud, imposed a treaty on Nizam Ali Khan Asaf Jah II of Haiderabad-Deccan, to occupy the districts of Elur, Chikakol, Guntur, Rajahmundry, and Muzaffarnagar on the Bay of Bengal coast, thus depriving India’s premier Muslim kingdom of access to international waters. The dubious treaty in order to involve Indian Muslim states in internecine warfare, allowed Nizam Ali Khan to attack Bangalore which was under the rule of Haider Ali Khan of Mysore. Until 1823, the Asaf Jahi dynasty actively claimed this region (known today as Andhra), which, along with Rayalseema had come under Muslim rule in 1471 during the eastward expansion of the Bahmani Empire of Iranian origin, and was later part of the Qotb-Shahi kingdom – also of Iranian origin.

179 solar years ago, on this day in 1840 AD, the acclaimed sculptor, Auguste Rodin, was born in Paris. In the following years, he created beautiful masterpieces, gaining fame as a major sculptor. He died in 1917.

126 solar years ago, on this day in 1893 AD, the treaty of the Durand Line delineating the border between present day Pakistan and Afghanistan was signed by Sir Mortimer Durand, a British diplomat in British India, and the Afghan Amir Abdur-Rahman Khan. The Durand Line has gained international recognition as an international border between the two nations, although the Pashtun tribes inhabiting either side of the border, dispute it as a colonialist design to divide them.

123 solar years ago, on this day in 1896 AD, Indian ornithologist, Saleem Moiz od-Din Abdul Ali, popularly called the “Birdman of India,” for his conservation of India's biological diversity, was born in Bombay in a family of Ismaili Shi'ite Muslims. His love of birds began at age 10, when he started writing his observations. Eventually, he undertook professional education in ornithology. In 1930 he began a bird survey of the semi-independent state of Hyderabad-Deccan. By 1976, he had published several popular regional field guides of Indian birds for which he is famous. These surveys were based on extensive travels throughout India and Pakistan. The title of his autobiography “The Fall of a Sparrow” recalls the first sparrow that drew his interest as a boy. He died in 1987 at the age of 91.

122 solar years ago, on this day in 1897 AD, the Iranian poet, Ali Esfandiari, known by his penname of Nima Youshij, was born in the village of Yoush in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran. He later took up residence in Tehran, and learned French and Arabic. Upon the encouragement of one of his lecturers, he started composing modern poetry. He passed away in 1959 at the age of 62.

111 solar years ago, on this day in 1908 AD, Bulgaria, which was separated from the Ottoman Turkish Empire by the Russians and Europeans, thirty years earlier in 1878, was declared fully independent after over five centuries of Muslim rule. After World War II, Bulgaria became a socialist satellite state of the Soviet Union, and carried out a systematic persecution of its large Muslim population. After the end of communism, it adopted a capitalist system and became part of the European Union. Bulgaria covers an area of 111000 sq km in the Balkan region, in southeastern Europe. It shares borders with Romania, Serbia, Greece, Macedonia, and Turkey. Its capital is Sofia.

105 solar years ago, on this day in 1914 AD, during Frist World War, following fatwa issued by senior Ayatollahs of the holy Najaf seminary, Iraq’s oppressed Shi’a Muslim majority was mobilised for defence of the country against the British invasion forces. The Ottomans, who controlled Iraq, though incompetent to protect the country from the British, instead of supporting the popular forces, attacked and dispersed them. As a result, the British Indian army, finding no resistance to its advance from Basra, easily defeated the Ottoman Turks and drove them out of Iraq. Throughout its three-and-a-half-century long occupation of Iraq, the Ottoman Empire oppressed the Shi’a Arab majority, which always looked to Iran for support. The British occupiers also followed the same policy and by depriving the Iraqi majority of its rights, installed an imported king, Faisal of Hijaz, as ruler of Iraq. After overthrow of the monarchy in 1958, power was monopolized by several minority regimes, until the ouster of Saddam’s repressive Ba’thist rule by his own masters, the Americans. Thanks to the awareness of the ulema and mobilization of popular forces of the Iraqi majority, the US-Saudi plan to hold Iraq in thrall through so-called ‘nationalist-secularist’ elements, and then Takfiri terrorists, has been soundly defeated.

101 solar years ago, on this day in 1918 AD, Austria was declared a republic, following the defeat and collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I.

75 lunar years ago, on this day in 1366 AH, the jurisprudent Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Tabatabaie Qomi, passed away at the age of 84 in holy Najaf, Iraq. Born in holy Qom, after completing his religious studies in his hometown and Tehran, he left for Iraq to pursue higher religious sciences at the famous seminary of holy Najaf. He then moved to Samarra, and on the invitation of the people of holy Mashhad came to this city in Khorasan catering to the spiritual needs of the local people. His egalitarian views came into conflict with the repressive policies of the British-installed and US-backed Pahlavi regime, which exiled him to Iraq. He wrote several books such as “Zakhirat-al-Ebad wa Tareeq an-Nejat”.

63 solar years ago, on this day in 1956 AD, Zionist troops committed a massacre at the Palestinian refugee camp in the city of Rafah, in the Gaza Strip. The slaughter continued for several days even after announcement of ceasefire in the war Israel had imposed on Egypt in league with Britain and France. Some 110 Palestinian women, men, and children were martyred and almost 1,000 others injured.

63 solar years ago, on this day in 1956 AD, the largest iceberg on record was sighted by the USS Glacier, a Navy icebreaker, about 150 miles west of Scott Island in the Southern Hemisphere. It had broken from the Ross Ice Shelf in the Antarctic. Its size was about the size of Belgium – that is, 335 km long and 96 km wide. This record iceberg was many times larger than any seen in the Northern Hemisphere, where the largest iceberg on record was encountered near Baffin Island in 1882.

53 solar years ago, on this day in 1966 AD, famous Iraqi eulogy-elegy reciter, Basim Karbalai was born in the holy city of Karbala, where he where he lived until the age of 14, actively participating in mourning processions for Imam Husain (AS), before moving to Isfahan because of Saddam’s repressive rule. In the Islamic Republic of Iran he learned to memorize and recite the holy Qur’an in the proper manner which helped soften and improve his voice. After the fall of the tyrannical Ba’th minority regime, he returned to his hometown Karbala. He has recited thousands of elegies and eulogies regarding Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and the Blessed Ahl al-Bayt. Besides Iran and Iraq, he has been invited to recite in gatherings in Kuwait, Oman, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, Arabia, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and Britain.

50 solar years ago, on this day in 1969 AD, Iskander Mirza, Pakistan’s 1st President died in London at the age of 70. In 1958 he was deposed in a bloodless coup by General Ayub Khan, who was his own appointee as martial law enforcer 20 days earlier. Iskander Mirza belonged to the ruling family of Iranian origin of Murshidabad in Bengal. His body was brought to Iran and buried in the mausoleum of Seyyed Abdul-Azim al-Hassani in Rayy, near Tehran.

50 solar years ago, on this day in 1969 AD, during the Vietnam War, independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh exposed the My Lai Massacre, over a year and a half after it was carried out. Of the 22 cowardly US soldiers involved in sadistic savagery at My Lai village on 16^th March 1968, only Lt. William Calley was charged with six specifications of premeditated murder for the cold-blooded killing of 109 Vietnamese men, women and children, including infants. Some of the bodies were later found to be mutilated and many women raped prior to the killings. The massacre prompted global outrage when it became public knowledge in 1969. The massacre also increased domestic opposition to the US involvement in the Vietnam War. Three US servicemen who had tried to halt the massacre and protect the wounded were denounced by several US Congressmen as traitors in an attempt to cover up the massacre. They received hate mail and death threats. The three were later widely praised and decorated by the army for their heroic actions. As for the chief culprit William Calley, he was originally given a life sentence, but only served three and a half years under house arrest before being released, which shows the highly flawed nature of justice in the US.

49 solar years ago, on this day in 1970 AD, the Bhola cyclone, the deadliest tropical cyclone in history, made a landfall on the coast of East Pakistan or what is now Bangladesh, claiming the lives of at least half-a-million people, primarily as a result of the storm surge that flooded much of the low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta.

46 solar years ago, on this day in 1973 AD, Iranian scholar Reza Rouzbeh passed away at the age of 52 due to cancer as a result of radioactive effects of chemical experiments in laboratory. Born in Zanjan, after completing religious studies in jurisprudence, logics, and philosophy, he enrolled at the university and graduated in physics. He started his profession as a teacher but refused to teach at the university, and established an Islamic school for grooming youngsters. He authored several books, including “Proofs of Cognition of God”, “Vilayat” or divinely-decreed authority of the Infallible Imams, and “Arabic Simplified”.

23 solar years ago, on this day in 1996 AD, A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakh Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane collided in mid-air near New Delhi, killing 349 people, in the deadliest mid-air collision to date.

11 solar years ago, on this day in 2008 AD, Iran successfully test-fired the Sejjil, a new generation of long range surface-to-surface missile using solid fuel, making them more accurate than its predecessors. It has a range of about 2,000 km.

8 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, a blast at Iran's Martyr Modarres missile base in Bid-Kaneh on the outskirts of Tehran resulted in the death of 17 persons, including Hassan Tehrani Moqaddam, the main architect of Iran’s deterrent missile system. An engineer by profession and senior military officer, as chief of the "self-sufficiency" unit of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), he designed the long-range Shahab, Qadr and Sejjil missiles.

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