Today is Wednesday; 14th of the Iranian month of Bahman 1394 solar hijri; corresponding to 23rd of the Islamic month of Rabi as-Sani 1437 lunar hijri; and February 3, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1148 lunar years ago, on this day in 289 AH, Mu’tazid-Billah, the 16th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime died at the age of 46 after a 10-year reign, during which he reversed the anti-Islamic policies of his uncle and predecessor, Mu’tamed, the murderer of Imam Hasan al-Askari (PuH), the 11th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). Son of the regent Muwaffaq, he showed respect for the Prophet’s progeny and ordered the public cursing of the Omayyad caliphs (especially Mu’awiyya ibn Abu Sufyan and Yazid), and the disclosure of their anti-Islamic acts and misdeeds, from pulpits during the Friday Prayers. He also suppressed the Kharijites (renegades) for their acts of terrorism against Muslims, and was very harsh with them and other rebels; while sending presents and large sums of money to the semi-independent Alawid ruler of Tabaristan on the Caspian Sea coast of Iran because of his being a venerable descendent of the Prophet. The Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (PuH), in his prophecies had foretold about Mu’tazid.
1016 lunar years ago, on this day in 421 AH, following the death of Mahmoud Ghaznavi, the Turkic Sultan who had created an extensive empire encompassing the eastern half of Iran, most of Central Asia, and the northwestern parts of the Subcontinent; power dispute flared up among his twin sons, Mohammad and Mas’oud. Mohammad ascended the throne as per the will of his father, but when he refused his brother’s request for three of the provinces Mas’oud had won by his sword, civil war erupted. Mas’oud seized power, blinded Mohammad and imprisoned him, but was unable to preserve the empire following a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Dandanaqan by the Seljuq Turks who seized Central Asia and Iran. His last act was to collect treasures from all his forts in the hope of assembling an army to rule from India but his own forces plundered the wealth, forcing him to proclaim his blind brother as king again after ten years. The position of the two brothers was reversed; Mohammad from a prison was raised to the throne and Mas’oud from a throne was consigned to a dungeon where he was assassinated. Soon his son, Mawdoud, rebelled against his blind uncle defeated his sons at the Battle of Nangarhar, and seized the throne of Ghazna.
856 solar years ago, on this day in 1160 AD, the self-styled holy Roman emperor, Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, barbarically hurtled prisoners, including children, at the Italian city of Crema, forcing it to surrender. The siege was marked by several episodes of brutality against fellow Christians by the Germans, who hung Cremaschi prisoners to siege machines, resulting in bloody manslaughter. Barbarossa, who on the instructions of Pope Urban III had assembled a huge anti-Muslim army of crusaders in alliance with the kings of France and England, and marched overland towards Syria through the Byzantine Empire; miserably drowned in River Saleph (Goksu Nehri) in what is now Turkey, before reaching his cherished goal, i.e. the Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas in Palestine. Barbarossa and his horse were struck by divine wrath and swept away to a terrible death that aborted the 3rd European crusade against Muslims. His leaderless army lost heart and fled, and many Christian knights, afraid of the prospect of fighting Muslims, committed suicide.
639 solar years ago,on this day in 1377 AD, some 5,000 people of the Italian city of Cesena were slaughtered by troops of Pope Gregory XI for refusing to follow the irrational laws of the Catholic Church. The various Christian sects have a long bloody history of internecine warfare.
565 solar years ago, on this day in 1451 AD, the 6th Ottoman Sultan, Murad II, died after a reign of almost three decades during which he expanded the Turkish Empire into Europe, defeating the Christian coalition of the holy Roman Empire, Poland and Serbia-Hungary in several battles in the Balkans and in Hungary. He was, however, unsuccessful in the east in Anatolia (modern Turkey) against fellow Turkic rulers, especially the forces of the Iran-based Empire of Shahrokh (son of the central Asian conqueror, Amir Timur). Murad was succeeded by his son, Sultan Mohammad II, who accomplished his father's goal of exterminating the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire and liberating the city of Constantinople; subsequently renamed Islambol or Istanbul – as it is known today. On entering this once formidable city, he recited the Persian couplet of the famous Iranian poet, Shaikh Mosleh od-Din Sa'di:
"The spider weaves the curtains in the palace of the Caesars;
The owl calls the watches in the towers of Afrasiyab."
An accomplished scholar with fluency in several languages such as Turkish, Persian, Arabic and Greek, he was a great builder of schools, mosques and libraries, and during his 30-year reign, he further consolidated Ottoman rule in southwestern Europe and in Anatolia.
548 solar years ago, on this day in 1468 AD, Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the Printing Press, died. Born in Germany he lived in Strasburg in present day France. In 1443, he invented the Printing Press and introduced modern book printing, taking a major stride in circulation of books.
528 solar years ago, on this day in 1488 AD, Portuguese explorer, Bartolomeu Dias, who encouraged by reports of Spanish Muslims travelling to India via the Atlantic had been sent on an expedition by King John II of Portugal, sighted the southern coast of Africa and made landing at Mossel Bay (South Africa). He had to turn back when his crew refused to follow his orders to sail north, and on the return journey saw the southern tip and named it Cape of Storms, a name that was changed to Cape of Good Hope by King John to encourage future explorers. In 1500 Dias died when his ship was scuttled by a storm in the Cape.
507 solar years ago, on this day in 1509 AD, the Battle of Diu off the coast of Gujarat, western India, took place between the Portuguese marauders assisted by the Raja of Cochin, and a coalition of navies of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamluk ruler of Egypt, the Ottoman Sultan, and the Zamorin of Calicut, resulting in a stalemate, at the end of which, the Portuguese admiral, Francisco de Almeida, treacherously slaughtered the unsuspecting Egyptians and Indians in the most barbaric way. This happened despite the release of the well-fed and well-treated Portuguese prisoners from Gujarat taken in the victorious Battle of Chaul a year earlier. For almost 40 years, the Portuguese and the Gujarat-Egyptian-Ottoman coalition fought seesaw battles off the Indian coast. The "Mirat-e Sikandari", a Persian history of the Indian Muslim Kingdom of Gujarat details some of these battles. Among the heroes of these battles were Amir Hussain al-Kurdi, the Egyptian governor of Jeddah, Malik Ayaz of Gujarat, who was a Russian convert to Islam, and Bayram Pasha the Ottoman.
192 lunar years ago, on this day in 1245 AH, the Iranian religious scholar and poet, Allamah Ahmad Naraqi, passed away at the age of 60. Son of the famous Mullah Mahdi Naraqi, he studied under his father in the city of Kashan, before leaving for Iraq for higher studies at the seminary of holy Najaf where he reached the status of Ijtehad. On his father’s death he returned to Iran and took over administrative affairs of the Kashan Seminary. He authored several works, including “Me’raj as-Sa’adah”, and “al-Asrar al-Hajj”.
137 solar years ago, on this day in 1879 AD, the first usable incandescent filament electric light bulb was practically demonstrated to an audience of 700 by its inventor Joseph Wilson Swan at the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne in England. Following his successful demonstration, Swan established the world's first electric light bulb factory at Benwell in Newcastle. Later, Swan's bulbs were used to light up Mosley Street in the Newcastle city centre, the first street in the world to be lit by electric light. By 1881, Swan had introduced his bulbs in London where 1,200 of them were used in lighting the Savoy Theatre in front of an astonished audience.
101 solar years ago, on this day in 1915 AD, during World War I, the Suez Canal, which was seized by Britain, was attacked by the joint forces of the German and Ottoman Empires. In view of its vital role in linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, its control was of paramount importance for both the Allied and the Axis Powers. Britain's loss of this Canal would have seriously endangered its colonies in Asia. British forces beat off the attack by using their Arab and Indian auxiliaries. The Suez Canal remained under British occupation until 1956, when Egypt’s President Jamal Abdun-Nasser, nationalized it.
73 solar years ago, on this day in 1943 AD, during World War 2, one of the bloodiest battles of history, the over 6-month long Battle of Stalingrad, ended in the victory of the Soviet Union and the surrender of 110,000 German troops. The combined casualties of the two sides were almost two million. The German army after advancing into the Soviet Union had launched an all-out attack on the important city of Stalingrad as of July 17, 1942. However, due to freezing weather, shortage of food and equipment, and the counter offensive of Soviet troops, the demoralized Germans were encircled and forced to surrender, resulting in a severe blow to Adolf Hitler's ambitions. The Nazi debacle in Stalingrad led to a string of defeats for Germany and turned the tide of the war in the favour of the Allied Powers. Stalingrad is currently known as Volgograd.
50 solar years ago, on this day in 1966 AD, the first-ever soft landing on the moon took place when the unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft safely landed in the Ocean of Storms three days after its takeoff from Earth. It was the first ever soft landing on another celestial body, and opened the way for manned trips to the moon, by removing doubts that the surface was an unsafe dusty quicksand. On striking the surface, the Soviet probe ejected a 250-lb capsule which then rolled upright and unfolded four spring actuated petals to steady itself. A TV camera with a revolving mirror system enabled Luna 9 to take pictures, including panoramic views of the lunar landscape and closer views of nearby rocks, which were transmitted back to earth until 6 February when the batteries ran out and contact with the spacecraft was lost.
44 solar years ago, on this day in 1972 AD, the 7-day blizzard struck northwestern Iran and killed at least 4,000 people, making it the deadliest snowstorm in history. There were no survivors in Kakkan, and near the border with Turkey. Sheklab Village and its 100 inhabitants were buried.
37 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, amidst nationwide festivities marking his return home from exile, in a press conference, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him), announced that he would soon set up an interim revolutionary government to set the stage for a referendum after drafting of Islamic Iran’s Constitution. He warned the fugitive Shah’s Prime Minister, Shapour Bakhtiar, that in case of continued suppression of the people, he will issue a Jihad decree. Imam Khomeini also called on the army to join the people. Meanwhile, it was announced that till then 35,000 Americans had left Iran’s soil and 10,000 others would soon leave Iran.
26 solar years ago, on this day in 1990 AD, the prominent Iranian expert of Persian language and literature, Dr. Seyyed Hassan Saadaat Naseri, passed away while on a scientific mission to Afghanistan. He spent a lifetime lecturing Persian language and literature, and has left behind valuable compilations in the cultural, literary, and religious fields.
10 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, the Muslim world erupted in anger after sacrilegious cartoons were re-published in Europe. Streets in Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, Palestine, Pakistan and Turkey filled with demonstrators calling for boycotts of European goods and burning the flag of Denmark, where the insulting cartoons first appeared.
9 solar years ago, on this day in 2007 AD, Takfiri terrorists detonated a truck bomb in the busy Sadriyeh Market of Baghdad Sadr City, martyring over 150 Muslims and injuring more than 350 others. Created by Saudi Arabia and the Zionist entity, Israel, with the blessings of the US, the goal of the Godless Takfiris is to tarnish the image of Islam.
6 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, the Islamic Republic of Iran successfully launched a research rocket carrying a mouse, two turtles and worms into space. The rocket was “Kavoshgar-3”, which means Explorer-3 in Persian.
4 solar years ago, on this day in 2012 AD, the Islamic Republic of Iran successfully launched a new small satellite into orbit. The home-made satellite, “Navid” (or Good Tidings), was designed to collect data on weather conditions and monitor for natural disasters.
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