Today is Saturday; 18th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 29th of the Islamic month of Rajab 1437 lunar hijri; and May 7, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1331 solar years ago, on this day in 685 AD, Marwan ibn al-Hakam, the fourth self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime died in Damascus at the age of 62, after nine months in power, which was limited mostly to Syria. He was killed by his most recent wife, a widow of the tyrant Yazid ibn Mu'awiyyah, who put a pillow on his face and sat over it till his breath was snuffed out. One of the most criminal characters in Islamic history, Marwan was the son of the hypocrite Hakam bin Aas, who was expelled from Medina by Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) for ridiculing Islam. 

831 lunar years ago, on this day in 606 AH, Atabek Arsalan Shah of Mosul, died. He had asserted his independence from the Iran-based Seljuq Empire, and is famous for building the Madrasa Shafe’iyyah in the Iraqi city of Mosul.

529 solar years ago, on this day in 1487 AD, the siege of the important Spanish Muslim city of Malaqa was started by a huge Christian army of 20,000 cavalry, 50,000 infantry, and 8,000 support troops including thousands of mercenaries from other parts of Europe, as part of the attempts of Ferdinand of Aragon and his wife Isabel of Castile to occupy the prosperous Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. The siege lasted about four months. Malaqa was the second important city after Granada, a major trading port on the Mediterranean. The city was prosperous, with elegant architecture, gardens and fountains. It was surrounded by fortifications. Above it was the citadel, connected via a covered way with the impregnable fortress of Gibralfaro. A landside suburb was also ringed by a strong wall. Towards the sea were orchards of olives, oranges, pomegranates, and vineyards. The city was well-supplied with artillery and ammunition. After the city surrendered, Ferdinand broke all terms and ordered that the survivors, numbering around 15,000 should be killed or enslaved. It is also worth noting that the Mamluks of Egypt, who had assembled a special force for assisting the Spanish Muslims, could not march to their aid, because of the divisive diplomacy of Christian powers, who fearful of the Ottoman advance into Italy and subsequently Spain, tempted the Turkish Sultan of Istanbul to get embroiled in an unwanted fratricidal war in Syria.

305 solar years ago, on this day in 1711 AD, David Hume, Scottish economist, historian, and philosopher, died at the age of 65 in his hometown, Edinburgh. He is known for his highly controversial system of radical philosophical empiricism, skepticism, and naturalism.

204 solar years ago, on this day in 1812 AD, English poet, Robert Browning, was born in London. His works include "The Piper of Hamelin" and "The Ring and the Book."

155 solar years ago, on this day in 1861 AD, India’s Bengali language poet and thinker, Rabindranath Tagore, was born. He travelled widely and wrote several books. He visited Iran and paid tributes to the famous Persian poet, Hafez Shirazi. Tagore travelled to Shiraz, Isfahan, Tehran and Kermanshah in Iran, from where he went by road to Baghdad in Iraq. Tagore's personal diary and public interviews capture fascinating details of his political and social observations. At the mausoleum of Hafez, he wrote in his travelogue, “Sitting near the tomb, a signal flashed through my mind, a signal from the bright and smiling eyes of the poet on a long past spring day – akin to the springtime sunshine of today.” He celebrated his 71st birthday in Tehran and wrote a beautiful poem titled: “IRAN”, on the occasion. Part of his poem reads:

“Iran, thy brave sons have brought

Their priceless gifts of friendship

On this birthday of the poet of a far-away shore,

For they have known him in their hearts as their own,

And in return I bind this wreath of my verse

On thy forehead, and I cry: Victory of Iran!”

128 solar years ago, on this day in 1888 AD, on the pretext of trade, the crafty British established their foothold in what is now Zimbabwe, through the designs of the imperialist agent, Cecil Rhodes, who soon deceived the local African chiefs to declare the land as Britain’s colony. The British troops massacred thousands of black people and in 1898 named the land Southern Rhodesia – the land of Zambesi across the river of the same name was called Northern Rhodesia. In 1965 with the intensification of the freedom struggle by the black people, British agent, Ian Smith, seized power, brutally suppressed the people and involved them in civil war, as his white racist policy of divide and rule. In 1980, the country became independent as Rhodesia, and the colonial capital, Salisbury was renamed Harare. Today, independence leader, Robert Mugabe, is the president. Because of his independent policies, the US, Britain, and Western Europe, have imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe’s economy, and indulge in feverish propaganda against him. Zimbabwe is rich in diamonds and minerals.

121 solar years ago, on this day in 1895 AD, In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrated to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, the Popov lightning detector — a primitive radio receiver. In Russia the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Radio Day.

65 solar years ago, on this day in 1951 AD, Iranian poet, researcher, and translator, Rashid Yasami, passed away. He founded the magazine Daneshkadeh with the cooperation of the celebrated Iranian poet, Malek osh-Sho’ara Mohammad Taqi Bahar. He published his writings in this magazine and other magazines as well. Yasami has left behind numerous compilations and translations, including “The History of Iranian Literature”, and “Iran in the Sassanid Era”.

62 solar years ago, on this day in 1954 AD, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu ended in a French defeat and a Vietnamese victory after almost two months of fighting. The Viet Minh forces besieged Dien Bien Phu Castle, forcing Colonel Christian de Castries to surrender, thus ending French colonial rule over Vietnam. The meddlesome Americans, however, started interfering in Vietnam and on the pretext of spread of communism, landed troops, divided the country into two parts and imposed an unwanted war that dragged on till 1975, resulting in the death of tens of thousands of Vietnamese, but ultimately ending in a humiliating defeat for the US.

42 lunar years ago, on this day in 1395 AH, Seyyed Mohammad Hadi Milani passed away at the age of 82 in the holy city of Mashhad, Khorasan, and was laid to rest in the Towhid-Khana Aiwan of the blessed shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Born and educated in holy Najaf, where his mother Bibi Khanum and maternal grandfather, Ayatollah Mohammad Hassan Mamaqani were among the leading scholars, he studied under Sheikh Ibrahim Hamedani, Akhund Mullah Hussain Tabrizi, Sheikh Ibrahim Salyani, and Seyyed Ja’far Ardebili. He migrated to Iran and became the leading scholar of the Mashhad Seminary, grooming scholars in various fields of Islamic sciences, such as Ayatollah Hussain Waheed Khorasani, Mohammad Taqi Ja’fari, and Seyyed Mohammad Baqer Tabatabaie. He established the Husaini Institute of Islamic Sciences, and wrote several important books, including the 10-volume “Muhadharaat fi’l-Fiqh-al-Imamiya” (Discourses on Imami Jurisprudence), “Qadutana Kaifa Ta’refahom” (How to Become Familiar with our Leaders).

34 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, the town of Hoveizeh in Khuzestan, southwestern Iran, was liberated from Ba’thist occupation by Iran’s Muslim combatants during the Bayt al-Moqaddas Operations, which would eventually lead to the liberation of the once-thriving port city of Khorramshahr. Among the heroes of Hoveizeh was Hussain Alam-Hoda, who defended the town till the last drop of his blood.

10 solar years ago, on this 2006 AD, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote to US President George Bush, proposing "new solutions" to the differences between the two countries, in the first letter from an Iranian head of state to his American counterpart in 27 years. This bold move went unanswered because of the timidity of Bush and the lack of confidence in the powers that controlled him, especially the Israeli lobby that has continued to target Iran, through manufactured crises, since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

AS/ME