Today is Thursday; 21st of the Iranian month of Mordad 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 8th of the Islamic month of Zi’l-Qa’dah 1437 lunar hijri; and August 11, 2016 of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

5130 solar years ago, on this day in approximately 3114 BC, the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-European civilizations of the Americas, notably the Mayans, began. The natives of Central and South America had a flourishing civilization that was destroyed by the Spanish invaders.

4508 solar years ago, on this day in 2492 BC, the Babylonian tyrant, Bel, was defeated by Hayk the progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation. Descended from Japheth, the son of Prophet Noah (PuH), he originally lived in Mesopotamia – in present day Iraq – from where he migrated to the Caucasus with his kinsmen to escape oppression, and founded the nation of Armenia.

1058 lunar years ago, on this day in 379 AH, the Iranian Islamic astronomer, mathematician, and historian of science, Abu Hamed Ahmad Ibn Mohammed as-Saghani al-Asturlabi, passed away in Baghdad. He was from the town of Saghan in Khorasan near the city of Merv, which is presently in Turkmenistan, and lived most of his life in Baghdad. As is evident from his last surname “al-Asturlabi”, he was a maker of astrolabes and invented many other instruments, while working in the observatory built by the Sharaf od-Dowla Daylami, the Iranian Buwaiyhid ruler of Iraq. He worked on the trisection of the angle. He wrote some of the earliest comments on the history of science. These included comparison between the "ancients" that is, the Babylonians, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks and Indians, and the "modern scholars", that is, the Muslim scientists of his time.

1052 lunar years ago, on this day in 385 AH, the Shafei hadith scholar Ali Ibn Omar Dar Qutni, passed away in his hometown Baghdad. After basic studies in Baghdad, Kufa, Waset and Basra, he traveled to Egypt and Greater Syria, in search of hadith. He was an authority on poetry and literature as well. Among his works, mention can be made of the book known as “Sunan Dar Qutni”, in which he has collected the hadith through different sources, and has mentioned some of the merits of the Infallible Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

757 solar years ago, on this day in 1259 AD, Mongke Khan, the 4^th Khaqaan or Great Khan of the Mongol Empire died of cholera at the age of 51in Chongqing in China after a reign of 8 years during which western Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Anatolia – in present day Turkey – were overrun and incursions made into what is now Pakistan. Son of Tolui and grandson of the bloodthirsty Chengiz Khan, he carried out administrative reforms of the vast empire by employing Chinese, Muslim, and Uyghur officials. Nine of his 16 provincial executive chiefs were Muslims, such as Mahmoud Yalavach in China, Masoud Beg in Turkestan, and Argun Agha in Iran. He ordered his brother, Hulagu Khan exterminate the Ismailis of Alamut in Iran (in 1256) and sack Baghdad (in 1258) if the Abbasid caliph refused to personally submit. Despite his unsuccessful plan to forge an alliance with Christian Europe for attacking Syria and Egypt, he favoured Muslim perceptions. He and Hulagu made the people of the holy city of Najaf an autonomous tax-exempt ecclesiastical polity. He exempted clerics, monks, doctors, churches, mosques and monasteries from taxation.

749 lunar years ago, on this day in 688 AH, Iranian philosopher, Sufi writer, and Persian poet, Fakhr od-Din Ibrahim bin Bozorgmehr Iraqi, passed away in Damascus at the age of 80, and was laid to rest beside the tomb of the famous Spanish Muslim Gnostic, Sheikh Mohy od-Din ibn al-Arabi. Born in Hamadan, western Iran, he spent many years in Multan, (present day Pakistan) as well as in Konya and Toqat in present day Turkey. He was highly educated in both theology and literary disciplines and not only knew the Holy Qur'an, hadith and its exegesis, but also Persian and Arabic literature. In Multan he became a disciple of the Head of the Suhrawardi Sufi Order, Shaikh Baha od-Din Zakariyya, married his daughter, and stayed for twenty-five years. He then traveled first to Mecca and Medina, and later visited Konya, where he became a good friend of the famous Persian mystical poet, Mowlana Jalal od-Din Rumi. He also met Sadr od-Din Qunawi, who helped to shape him intellectually, as Shaikh Baha od-Din Zakariyya had shaped him spiritually. After Rumi's death, he moved to Toqat, at a time when there was much upheaval on the Byzantine border. The local ruler did not like him because of his influence over the people; so he fled to Cairo in Egypt. Later he settled in Damascus. His writings include “Lama’at” (Divine Flashes). His Diwan has been published in Iran under the title of “Kulliyaat-e Iraqi”. Another of his works is “Ushshaq-Namah” written during his stay in Multan and dedicated to the vizier Shams od-Din Juwayni.

543 solar years ago, on this day in 1473 AD, the decisive Battle of Otlukbeli took place in central Anatolia in what is now Turkey resulting in the victory of the Ottomans over the Aq Qoyunlu or White Sheep Dynasty – appointed as governors of Diyarbakr and the adjoining regions by the Turkic conqueror, Amir Timur, following his victory over and capture of the Ottoman Sultan, Bayezid I in the Battle of Ankara in 1402. The Ottomans were led by Sultan Mohammad II – the Conqueror of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire in 1453 – while the Aq Qoyunlu were led by Uzun Hassan, who had recently expanded his dominions eastward by defeating the rival Qara Qoyunlu or Black Sheep Dynasty to annex Iraq and western Iran in 1467 and then routed the army of his nominal overlord, Sultan Abu Sa’eed of the Samarqand-based Timurid Empire in 1469. The power of the Aq Qoyunlu who were goaded by the Venetians to start hostilities with the Ottomans to divert the attention from Italy of Mohammad II, was not completely destroyed until the rise of Shah Ismail I of Iran in 1501 and his founding of the Safavid Empire.

389 solar years ago, on this day in 1627 AD, the last Battle of La Rochelle broke out between the French Catholics and Protestants. The battle was the result of instigations by England. The Catholics, under command of Cardinal Richelieu emerged victorious in the battle of La Rochelle in western France.

120 solar years ago, on this day in 1896 AD, the courageous revolutionary, Mirza Reza Kermani, was hanged and attained martyrdom for his revolutionary execution of the repressive Qajarid king, Nasser od-Din Shah. Years earlier, during the Tobacco Movement against British colonialism, he had been jailed for four years on the alleged provoking of people against the regime. Following his release, he went to Istanbul where he became familiar with the exiled pan Islamic Iranian thinker, Seyyed Jamal od-Din Asadabadi. He came to Tehran in 1896 and decided to eliminate Nasser od-Din Shah, who was the root cause of corruption in the country. He carried out his revolutionary act in the city of Rayy at the shrine of Seyyed Abdul-Azim al-Hasani (AS).

84 lunar years ago, on this day in 1353 AH, the prominent jurisprudent Mullah Mohammad Hussain Fesharaki, passed away in his hometown Isfahan at the age of 87. After initial study under his elder brother Shaikh Mohammad Baqer Fesharaki, he left for Iraq for higher religious studies at the famous seminary of holy Najaf, where his teachers included Ayatollah Mirza Habibollah Rashti, Ayatollah Shaikh Zain al-Abedin Mazandarani, and Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi (famous for the fatwa against tobacco consumption in order to save Iranian economy from British exploitation). On his return to Iran, he served as teacher at the seminary of Isfahan, and was active both socially and politically, in order to counter un-Islamic trends and laws creeping into the Iranian society. He formed a council of ulema in Isfahan in support of the ulema of Tehran who were active against the despotic policies of the Qajarid monarchy, and in order to safeguard Iranian economy, issued a 5-point declaration specifying that the ulema will not attest any document written on imported paper, and will not perform the funeral prayer of any deceased person whose shroud is made of imported cloth instead of Iranian cloth. Even the British installed Pahlavi dictator, Reza Khan, despite his disdain and maltreatment of ulema, was afraid of Ayatollah Mohammad Hussain Fesharaki.

73 solar years ago, on this day in 1943 AD, former Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf was born in New Delhi. Four years later with the partition of the Indian Subcontinent, his family migrated to Pakistan, where on growing up he joined the army and was gradually promoted to the rank of general. In 1999 he seized power through a bloodless military coup by ousting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. On 18 August he had to resign amidst threats of impeachment for the many corruption cases against him and his government.

64 solar years ago, on this day in 1952 AD, Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie, with the connivance of the UN General Assembly, annexed Eritrea, which had been occupied by Italy in 1890 and seized by Britain in 1941 during World War 2. The people of Eritrea opposed the move and stepped up their struggle for freedom. The Eritrean Liberation Front took up arms in 1960, and in 1993, the struggle bore fruit with formal declaration of independence, following an UN-supervised referendum. Eritrea is situated near the Horn of Africa, with a coastline on the Red Sea. It maintains an important geographical position and shares borders with Ethiopia, Sudan, and Djibouti. Almost half of the population of Eritrea is made up of Muslims including tribes from Arabia.

56 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, Chad gained independence from French colonial rule. It was occupied in the late 19^th century and early 20^th century AD. Over 60 percent of the people are Muslim. The 25-percent odd Christian population is the result of forced conversion by the French. Chad covers an area of 1.28 million sq. km. It is situated in central Africa and shares borders with Libya, Cameroon, Sudan, Central Africa, Nigeria, and Niger.

46 lunar years ago, on this day in 1391 AH, Ayatollah Mirza Ahmad Najafi Khorasani Kifayi, passed away in holy Mashhad at the age of 91 and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Imam Reza (AS) beside the grave of his elder brother Mirza Mahdi Ayatollahzadeh. Born in holy Najaf in Iraq to the celebrated scholar Mohammad Kazem Akhound Khorasani – author of the famous jurisprudential work “Kifayat al-Osoul” – he attended the classes of leading scholars such as Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Hassan Isfahani, and his own eldest brother, Mirza Mohammad Aqazadeh Khorasani, before studying for ten years under his father, and attaining the status of Ijtehad. Of good appearance and blessed with a sharp wit and keen insight, he was also active in politics, supporting the Constitutional Movement in Iran against the despotism of the Qajarid Dynasty, and participating in the 1920 Revolution in Iraq against the British as the trusted assistant of Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Taqi Shirazi. When the British martyred Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Shirazi through poisoning and crushed the revolution, Ayatollah Mirza Ahmad Kifayi fled to Hijaz, staying for a year in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. He returned to Najaf, but a couple of years later in 1923 (1341 AH), along with several ulema of Iranian origin, was expelled to Iran by the imported dynasty of Faisal of Mecca, whom the British installed as king in Baghdad. He took up residence in holy Mashhad, where his eldest brother was already based, and besides teaching at the seminary, played a vital role in thwarting the Russian plot to seize Khorasan. He also opposed the British installation of the illiterate soldier, Reza Khan Pahlavi, as king of Iran. The new regime imprisoned in Tehran and martyred his eldest brother Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Aqazadeh. He now took charge of the seminary of Mashhad, before being banished to Tabriz in Azarbaijan, where during World War 2, he spared no efforts to awaken the people against the plot of the Tudeh communist party to detach this northwestern part of Iran and turn it into a Soviet republic. He returned to Mashhad during the reign of Mohammad Reza and revived the seminary. He held in high esteem the young and aspiring Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him), hailing him during the 1963 Khordad 15 Uprising against the Pahlavi potentate, as “Iran’s Prime Personality” – a prediction that came true a decade and a half later.     

17 lunar years ago, on this day in 1420 AH, Ayatollah Mirza Rahim Samet passed away at the age of 99 in his hometown Qazvin. Born in an academic family to the Prayer Leader Mirza Hussain Qazvini, he traced his descent to the famous Safavid era scholar Rafi od-Din Mohammad Va’ez Qazvini (died 1089 AH), the author of “Abwaab al-Jenaan”. After preliminary religious education in Qazvin, he left for Qom for higher studies and for five years attended the classes of leading ulema, including Ayatollah Hojjat Koh-Kamarei. He then travelled to Iraq and during his ten years at the seminary in holy Najaf, where he attained the status of Ijtehad, he studied under such prominent ulema as Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Hassan Isfahani, Ayatollah Zia od-Din Iraqi, and Ayatollah Mirza Hussain Na’ini. On his return to Iran, he took up teaching in his hometown, and for almost half-a-century was head of the Qazvin seminary. He groomed a large number of students and wrote several books.

7 solar years ago, on this day in 2009 AD, the 6^th round of confrontations broke out between the Yemeni army and Shi’a Muslims of the Sa'dah region of northern Yemen, who are led by the founders of the popular Ansarullah Movement, the al-Houthi Zaydi clan. In this phase of the struggle, Saudi Arabia, which is in occupation of vast areas of Yemen, deployed its ground and air forces to help the Yemeni army suppress the revolutionary people, but it failed and retreated in humiliation. In this round of confrontations, hundreds of Yemeni Shi'as were martyred and nearly 200,000 people were made homeless. Currently Yemen is reeling under the aerial bombardment of Saudi Arabia, which over the past year and four months has martyred more than 10,000 men, women and children, in addition to wounding tens of thousands of others, and destroying the infrastructure.