Today is Sunday; 16th of the Iranian month of Khordad 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 29th of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1437 lunar hijri; and June 5, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

2486 solar years ago, on this day in 470 BC, according to the calculations of modern-day scientists, the famous Greek philosopher Socrates was born in Athens. He served as an infantryman during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. A sophist or teacher of philosophy, he claimed not to know anything for certain and used the interrogatory method for teaching. He left no written works. He was a major critic of popular belief in Athens and was the protagonist of Plato’s dialogues. Besides Plato, another of his famous students was Xenophon. Socrates was imprisoned by the ruling authorities for his criticism of their mismanagement and sentenced to death by drinking poison. He was over seventy years when he died.

1218 lunar years ago, on this day in 219 AH, the jurisprudent and hadith authority, Fadhl bin Dukin ibn Na’eem, passed away at the age of 89. He is considered a reliable narrator of hadith by Sunni Muslims and has quoted accounts of the crimes against Islam of Khaled ibn Waleed. An expert on biography of narrators of hadith, he wrote several books and groomed many students.

1119 lunar years ago, on this day in 318 AH, the acclaimed Iranian Shafe’i jurisprudent, Mohammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Mundhir Naishaburi, passed away in holy Mecca at the age of 77. Born in Naishabur in Khorasan, after mastering hadith and Qur’anic sciences, he travelled to Hejaz where he spent the rest of his life in Mecca, as Shaikh al-Haram. He was well versed with the differing opinions amongst the scholars of hadith, and wrote several books, the largest of which was titled “al-Mabsout”, which has not survived. He abridged this voluminous work as “al-Awsat”, but only a few volumes of it have been found, and even fewer printed. He further abridged this book into a still smaller version titled “al-Ishraaf”, which is regarded as the best book of its kind, since he briefly mentions in it all the different opinions regarding each topic and occasionally mentions the opinion he prefers.

436 solar years ago, on this day in 1580 AD, Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah, the 3rd king of the Qara Qoyunlu Dynasty of Iranian origin of Golkandah in the Deccan (southern India), passed away at the age of 62 after 30-year reign. In 1543 on the suspicious death of his father and founder of the dynasty, Sultan Quli Qutb Shah – originally from Hamedan, Iran – when his brother Jamshid seized the throne, he fled to Vijayanagar kingdom. Seven years later, on the death of Jamshid he returned to Golkandah, and was welcomed by the nobles, who deposed his young nephew Subhan and placed him on the throne. He maintained very cordial relations with the Safavid Emperors of Iran, as is evident by his correspondence with them. Ibrahim was a patron of arts, and promoted Arabic and Persian in the kingdom, where scholars and artisans from Iran used to flock, such as the historian Khurshah bin Qubad al-Hussaini, and Mullah Hussain Tabasi. His wife was Bhagirati, a princess of the Viyajnagar who embraced the truth of Islam, and he also patronized Telugu poets, such as Singanacharyudu and Kandukuru Rudrakavi. He took keen interest in the welfare of the people, repaired and fortified Golconda as the world's largest fort, developed the Hussain Sagar Lake (still a landmark in the city of Haiderabad, built by his son and successor, Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah), and undertook various other projects such as mosques and bridges. He sent to the holy shrine of Prophet Mohammad's 8th Infallible Heir, Imam Reza (AS), a beautifully embellished holy Qur'an, which is still on display at the shrine's museum in Mashhad. In 1565, he joined the Sultans of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar in the historic Battle of Talikota to conquer the Vijaynagar whose ruler Ramraya was encroaching upon the territories of the sultanates.

233 solar years ago, on this day in 1783 AD, the first hot-air balloon ascent - unmanned - flew for ten minutes. It was made by the French brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier at their home town of Annonay, France. The history of aviation is as old as Man’s quest to fly since antiquity. In the heyday of Islamic science and civilization, there are records pertaining to the Spanish Muslim polymath, Abbas ibn Firnas, who flew from Jabal al-Arous Hill by employing a rudimentary glider in the 9th century AD.

154 solar years ago, on this day in 1862 AD, the Treaty of Saigon was signed, ceding parts of southern Vietnam to France, but guerrilla leader Trương Định decided to defy Emperor Tự Đức of Vietnam and fight on against the Europeans. In the next century it was Ho Chi Minh who in 1945 declared independence from France, following Japan's defeat in World War 2 and its retreat from Southeast Asia. The French, however, attacked Vietnam in 1946 in a bid to re-impose their colonial rule, but after eight years of fighting were forced to withdraw. The US then interfered and occupied southern Vietnam and set up a puppet regime in Saigon for terrorizing the country on the pretext of stopping the spread of communism. In 1975 after their failure to crush the resistance of the Vietnamese people, despite massive bombing and use of internationally banned chemical weapons, American forces humiliatingly fled Vietnam. Vietnam was united once again. Vietnam covers an area of 329,566 sq km and shares borders with China, Laos, and Cambodia.

133 solar years ago, on this day in 1883 AD British economist, John Maynard Keynes, was born in Cambridge. His ideas profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics and shaped the economic policies of western governments. His ideas are the basis for the school of thought known as Keynesian economics and its various offshoots. Keynes at times explained the mass murder during the first years of the communist era in Russia on a racial basis as part of the “Russian and Jewish nature”. Writing in his "Short View of Russia" published after a trip to Russia that there is "beastliness on the Russian and Jewish natures when, as now, they are allied together" Keynes later in life became a supporter of Zionism.

112 lunar years ago, on this day in 1325 AH, the draft of Iran's first Constitution was signed, albeit reluctantly, by the despotic king Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar. It was hastily drafted and contained 107 articles. The constitution was tampered with and changed constantly, especially during the despotic rule of the British-installed and American-backed Pahlavi regime. Passages pertaining to people's rule and the Islamic shari'ah were eliminated, while clauses were added to spread corruption and depravity in society for weakening the people's cultural values in order to strengthen the repressive rule of the Pahlavis. Following the triumph of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 that ended domestic despotism and foreign hegemony, the Iranian people voted for a popularly drafted constitution to replace the obsolete one.

106 solar years ago, on this day in 1910 AD, the jurisprudent Ayatollah Rayhanollah Boroujeridi passed away at the age of 60. A product of the seminaries of Isfahan and holy Najaf, he settled in Tehran and was an authority on Islamic laws, biography of scholars, and both Arabic and Persian literature.

104 lunar years ago, on this day in 1333 AH, the Gnostic Shaikh Baqer Bahari Hamedani passed away in his hometown Hamedan at the age of 58 and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Imamzadeh Abdullah. After preliminary studies in the village of Bahar under his father, he left for Iraq for higher studies at the Islamic seminary of Holy Najaf, and benefitted from the classes of such prominent scholars as, Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi, Muhaddith Noori, Mirza Habibollah Rashti, Akhound Khorasani, and Fazel Iravani. On attaining the status of Ijtihad, he returned to Iran to serve the people of Hamedan. A pious person, known for his simple life, he was nevertheless a strong opponent of despotism and foreign hegemony. He trained a large number of students, and wrote some 40 books and treatises, on a wide variety of subjects.   

96 solar years ago, on this day in 1920 AD, the uprising of the Iranian freedom-seekers, led by Mirza Kouchak Khan Jangali, against the suppressive rule of the Qajarid Dynasty and plunder of Iran by Britain, started. This uprising was organized by the committee of Islamic union, which was inspired by the ideas of thinkers such as Seyyed Jamal od-Din Assadabadi, Seyyed Abdur-Rahman Kavakebi, and Egypt’s Sheikh Mohammad Abduh. Its goal was the solidarity of Islamic countries to stand up against the suppressive rulers and the infiltration of the foreign powers. Mirza Kouchak Khan, who witnessed that the situation in Iran is chaotic and the country is under the domination of foreign powers, with an inclination toward the idea of Islamic unity, organized military establishment, and struggled against domestic oppression and foreign colonialism to rescue Iran. Despite the struggles of Mirza Kouchak Khan and his allies, a number of supporters of the Soviet Union's communist regime, who infiltrated the followers of Mirza Kouchak Khan, betrayed the Jangal Movement. Finally, the Jangal Movement, which was considered as one of the deep-rooted movements of that era, gradually deteriorated due to the differences of opinion of its leaders and the conspiracies of foreign colonial powers. Finally the last blow to this independence-seeking and anti-suppressive movement was dealt by Reza Khan Pahlavi.

75 solar years ago, on this day in 1941 AD, during World War II, four thousand men, women, and children of Chongqing in China, were asphyxiated in a bomb shelter during the Bombing of Chongqing, part of an operation of state terrorism conducted by Japan. A total of 268 air raids were conducted against Chongqing, with more than 11,500 bombs dropped, mainly incendiary bombs. The targets were usually residential areas, business areas, schools, and hospitals – all non-military targets. These bombings were aimed at cowing the Chinese government,

49 solar years ago, on this day in 1967 AD, the third major war was launched by the usurper state of Israel on Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. In the 6-day war, helped by the US and the UK, the illegal Zionist entity occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, the Golan Heights of Syria, the West of River Jordan, parts of southern Lebanon, and the whole of the Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas. Although they have left the Sinai and driven out from southern Lebanon, the Zionists are refusing to leave the Golarn Heights and the West Bank despite the passing of several UN Security Council Resolutions.

44 solar years ago, on this day in 1972 AD, the first international conference on environment was held in the Swedish Capital, Stockholm with representatives from 113 countries in attendance, under the motto “There is only one Earth”. The outcome was formation of a new international organization for protection of environment and prevention of discharge of pollutants in oceans and seas; in addition to restriction of production and usage of chemicals. It marked the starting point of internationalization of the process of protection of environment. Thereafter, different countries have studied different plans to reduce environmental pollution.

34 lunar years ago, on this day in 1403 AH, Iran’s lady jurisprudent and exegete of the Holy Qur’an, Bano Nosrat Amin, passed away in the central Iranian city of Isfahan at the age of 97. She was regarded as equivalent to a mujtahed, and groomed numerous lady students. She also wrote several books including a 15-volume exegesis of the Holy Qur’an titled “Makhzan al-Irfan” in Persian. She also authored for the moral uplifting of Iranian women the book “Ravesh Khoshbakhti va Towsiyeh beh Khaharan-e Imani” which means “Methods of Happiness and Prosperity for Sisters-in-Faith. Another of her excellent books is on the unsurpassed merits of the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (AS) titled “Makhzan al-La’ali Manaqeb Mawla al-Mawali, Ali.” She was a staunch supporter of the Islamic Revolution and was held in deep respect by Imam Khomeini (God bless him).

27 solar years ago, on this day in 1989 AD, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him) was laid to rest in Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery. The funeral was unprecedented in history and saw over ten million people take part. The funerary was a grand display of the loyalty of the people of Iran for the beloved Founder of the Islamic Republic.

3 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, the Syrian army triumphantly announced liberation of the strategic town of Qusair on the Lebanese border, after a three week battle with Takfiri terrorists financed by reactionary Arab regimes, and supported by the US, Turkey and the illegal Zionist entity called Israel. The Syrian army was assisted by Lebanon’s legendry anti-terrorist movement, Hezbollah. The government in Damascus called the liberation of Qusair as "a message" to Syria's enemies everywhere.

AS/ME