Today Wednesday; 10th of the Iranian month of Shahrivar 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 28th of the Islamic month of Zil-Qa’dah 1437 lunar hijri; and August 31, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1077 lunar years ago, on this day in 360 AH, the Sunni scholar Abu'l-Qassem Sulaiman ibn Ahmad at-Tabarani died in Isfahan, Iran, at the age of one hundred years. Born in the Palestinian city of Tabariyya (Tiberias), he traveled widely to record hadith. He groomed a large number of students and wrote three books, titled "al-Mu'jam al-Kabeer" in 25 volumes, as well as "al-Mu'jam al-Awsat", and "al-Mu'jam as-Sagheer". He has recorded several hadith on the unrivalled merits of the Ahl al-Bayt or blessed household of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

798 solar years ago, on this day in 1218 AD, al-Malik al-Adel I, the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt and Syria, died at the age of 73 after a reign of 18 years during a campaign against the European Crusader invaders, and was succeeded by his son, al-Kamel – who ruled for the next two decades. The younger brother of the famous Kurdish ruler, Salah od-Din Ayyubi, he was an able administrator and a successful general, known as a strategist, to whom the foundation and persistence of the Ayyubid state was as much indebted as it was to Salah od-Din. He first achieved distinction as an officer in Noor od-Din Zengi's army during his uncle Shirkuh's third and final campaign in Fatemid Egypt in 1168–1169. Following Noor od-Din's death in 1174, some three years after the overthrow of the Ismaili Shi’ite Muslim dynasty of Egypt-North Africa-Syria, he governed Egypt on behalf of his brother, mobilizing that country's vast resources in support of Salah od-Din’s campaigns in Syria and wars against the Crusaders. He was governor of Aleppo (1183–1186) but returned to administer Egypt during the Third Crusade (1186–1192). He suppressed the revolt of Izz od-Din of Mosul following Salah od-Din's death in March 1193, and played the role of kingmaker during the succession dispute among his two nephews, al-Aziz and al-Afzal. He was named governor of Damascus and used it as a base to expand his power, and championed the faction opposed to al-Afzal's inept rule following al-Aziz's death in 1198. Although he was closely besieged in Damascus (1199), he defeated al-Afzal at the Battle of Bilbeis in 1200 and was proclaimed Sultan.

785 lunar years ago, on this day in 652 AH, the Syrian physician, Asad ibn Halwan Dameshqi, died at the age of 59 years. He was also well-versed in literature, logic, and mathematics, and wrote books in each of these courses.

495 solar years ago, on this day in 1521 AD, Spanish marauder, Herman Cortez (b 1485-d 1547), having captured the city of Tenochtitlan, Mexico, set it on fire. Nearly 100,000 native Amerindians died in the siege and some 100,000 more died afterwards of smallpox. On his return to Spain, he was rewarded for his crimes against humanity, and accompanied King Charles V for the attack on Algiers that was routed by the famous Turkish Muslim admiral, Khayr od-Din Pasha (Barbarossa or Red Beard to the Europeans).

221 solar years ago, on this day in 1795 AD, the British navy after landing on Ceylon or what is now Sri Lanka on August 26 captured all of Dutch-controlled Trincomalee by taking control of the last stronghold, Fort Ostenburghrom, in order to keep the whole island out of French hands. The British would go on to capture Dutch settlements in India as well, and would grant Sri Lanka independence in 1948.

214 solar years ago, on this day in 1802 AD, Bosnian Muslim revolutionary general, Hussain-Kapetan Gradascevic, was born in the town of Gradacac and grew up surrounded by a political climate of turmoil in the western reaches of the Ottoman Empire. The young Hussain developed a reputation for wise rule and tolerance and soon became one of the most popular figures in Bosnia. When Sultan Mahmoud II attempted to forcefully mass-recruit the Bosnian populace into his new army in the year 1830, the Bosniaks led by Hussain Kapetan felt compelled to launch a massive uprising that lasted for three years. His forces dealt a heavy defeat to the imperial army during the Third Battle of Kosovo and at Novi Pazar. The uprising was subdued when Ali-Pasha Rizvan-Begovic defected to Mahmoud II, in return for rule over the Vilayet of Herzegovina. Hussain Kapetan was forced to flee to Austria from where he negotiated for his return and was ultimately allowed back but barred from ever entering Bosnia. He moved to Belgrade and then to Istanbul, where he died mysteriously at the age of 32. He was an able military commander and administrator and was well versed in Turkish and Arabic. He was taught by two dervishes of the Bektashi order of Iranian origin attached to the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and built the sprawling Hussainiyya Mosque in his hometown.

195 solar years ago, on this day in 1821 AD, German physician and physicist, Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz, was born. He made significant contributions to several widely varied areas of modern science. In physiology and psychology, he is known for his mathematics of the eye, theories of vision, ideas on the visual perception of space, color vision research, and on the sensation of tone, perception of sound, and empiricism. In physics, he is known for his theories on the conservation of energy, work in electrodynamics, chemical thermodynamics, and on a mechanical foundation of thermodynamics. The largest German association of research institutions, the Helmholtz Association, is named after him.

59 solar years ago, on this day in 1957 AD, Malaysia became independent from British colonial rule. The Malay people in what is now Malaysia and Indonesia had gradually converted to Islam as of the 13th century. With the infiltration of Europeans, the Malay speaking lands were occupied in the 17th century by Holland, which in 1824 was forced to give up to Britain several sultanates that joined together as Malaysia, while it kept Indonesia under its control as the Dutch East Indies. The Federation of Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy. It covers an area of nearly 330,000 sq km, and shares borders with Thailand, Brunei and Indonesia.

54 solar years ago, on this day in 1962 AD, the island state of Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean Sea gained independence from Britain, which had seized it from Spain and made it part of the West Indies Federation. The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago covers an area of almost 5128 sq km.

54 solar years ago, on this day in 1962, a massive 7.1 degree earthquake devastated the district of Buin Zahra, near Qazvin in Iran, resulting in 12,225 fatalities.

51 solar years ago, on this day in 1965 AD, Iran established the committee for peaceful use of atomic energy, 9 years after the Majlis had passed a bill for setting up an atomic energy centre at Tehran University, that finally started its activities in 1966 under supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), following purchase of a 5-megawat research reactor from the US. In 1973, the Iran Atomic Energy Organisation (IAEO) was set up and reached agreement with Germany and France for building two 1,000-megawat nuclear reactors in Bushehr on the Persian Gulf and guaranteeing fuel supply for producing electricity. In 1975, on Sweden’s withdrawal from the EURODIF uranium enrichment consortium (other members being France, Belgium, Italy, and Spain), its 10 per cent share was transferred to Iran. Iran and the French subsidiary “COGEMA” established the “SOFIDIF” (Societe Franco–Iranienne pour l'enrichissement de l'uranium par diffusion gazeuse) with 60 per cent and 40 per cent shares, respectively. In turn, SOFIDIF acquired a 25 per cent share in EURODIF, through which Iran attained its 10 per cent share of this consortium. The Franco-Iranian consortium shareholder still owns 25% of EURODIF – illegally blocked by the US and West European regimes after victory of the Islamic Revolution. In 1975, Germany’s Kraftwerk Union AG, a joint venture of Siemens AG and AEG Telefunken, signed a contract worth US$4–6 billion to build the pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant. The work was begun in the same year. The two 1,196 MWe reactors, subcontracted to ThyssenKrupp AG, were based on the Convoy Design and identical with the second reactor unit of the German Biblis Nuclear Power Plant. The first reactor was to be finished by 1980 and the second by 1981. Kraftwerk, however, breached its contract and withdrew from the Bushehr Nuclear Project in July 1979, following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in February, with one reactor 50% complete, and the other reactor 85% complete. With Germany and France refusing to honour their commitments to Iran under US pressure, the Islamic Republic signed a contract with Russia for completion of the Bushehr Project, which became fully operative in August 2012 after years of obstructionism and politicization of a purely technical issue for peaceful use of nuclear energy. Last July’s grudging acknowledgement of Iran’s inalienable right to enrich uranium for peaceful purpose by the 5+1 Group, was the result of the Islamic Republic’s refusal to yield to US lawlessness and to succeed in enriching uranium to 20 percent purity.  

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1978 AD, the Iranian religious scholar and leader of Lebanon’s Shi'ite Muslims, Imam Seyyed Musa Sadr, went missing during his visit to Libya. Born in 1928 in the holy city of Qom, where he studied at the Islamic seminary, he later graduated from Tehran University. He was invited to Lebanon following the passing away of the famous scholar Allamah Seyyed Sharaf od-Din Musawi. At the time, the Lebanese Muslims were living under the worst social, political, and economic conditions. Hence, Imam Musa Sadr took a number of important measures to improve their status, and set up the Supreme Shi'ite Council. He backed the Palestinians’ struggles against the illegal Zionist entity, Israel. He fell victim to the sedition of Libyan dictator, Mo'ammar Qadhafi, who after officially inviting him to Tripoli, imprisoned and tortured him.

25 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan gained independence from the Soviet Union. As of 6th century BC, this region was part of successive Iranian empires, and was the seat of power of the Iranian-Muslim Samanid Dynasty in the early centuries of Islamic rule. In the 13th century, the region saw an influx of Turkic peoples, followed by the Mongol onslaught of Genghiz Khan that destroyed the rich civilization of the Persian-speaking cities of Samarqand and Bukhara. Later the stage was set for domination of Uzbek ethnicity in this land, before its occupation by the Russians in the 19th century. Uzbekistan covers an area of more than 447,000 sq km and shares borders with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan.

25 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the Central Asian Muslim country of Kyrgyzstan became independent from the Soviet Union. The entry of Kyrgyz ethnicity to what is now Kyrgyzstan started during the Mongol Empire in 13th century. As of the year 1876, Kyrgyzstan came under the domination of Russia. The Kyrgyz Muslim people launched several uprisings and continued to resist till 1922, when they were brutally suppressed by the Soviets. Kyrgyzstan covers an area of 198,000 sq km and shares borders with China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.

11 solar years ago, on this day in 2005 AD, over two thousand pilgrims lost their life during a general stampede on hearing rumours of bomb blasts on the Jasr al-Aimmah Bridge over the River Tigris connecting the Baghdad suburbs of Kazemain and Azamiyya, on 25 Rajab the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS), the 7th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

5 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, 14-year old Ali Jawad ash-Sheikh was brutally martyred on Bahrain’s Sitra Island by forces of the repressive minority regime of the Persian Gulf Island state, during a peaceful protest rally. The boy who died in the hospital had injuries under his chin and bruises on his face, hand, knees and pelvic area.

AS/ME