Today is Tuesday; 18th  of the Iranian month of Aban 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 8th of the Islamic month of Safar 1438 lunar hijri; and November 8, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1403 lunar years ago, on this day in 35 AH, the loyal Iranian disciple of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), Salman Farsi, or the Persian, passed away in Mada’en in Iraq, where his mausoleum still stands today, with the Prophet’s famous hadith inscribed in bold letters on its walls, reading “Salman minna Ahl al-Bayt” (Salman is from us the People of the Blessed Household), an honour that was not bestowed on any Arab companion of the Prophet. Salman, whose name was Rouzbeh, fed up with the weird rites of the Zoroastrians, left his hometown Shiraz in search of the true religion after becoming acquainted with Nestorian Christians. He travelled widely and learned the tenets of monotheism from several hermits in Syria, who had retreated into isolated desert monasteries in order to preserve the monotheist teachings of Prophet Jesus (PBUH), after Paul the Hellenized Jew had distorted the Gospels to coin the absurd belief of trinity. When death approached the last such hermit, he advised Salman to travel to Arabia and await the advent of the Last and Greatest of Prophets. On arrival in Arabia, he was kidnapped by Jews and sold into slavery. For long years he toiled in cultivating date-palms, until one day he encountered enlightened visages speaking of monotheism and divine justice. A spark lit Salman’s heart, and in order to test the visitors, he offered them some dates as "sadaqa" (charity), since he had read in the scriptures that alms and charity are forbidden for the Last Prophet and his progeny. The Prophet gave the charity dates to his companions to eat, while he himself, along with his cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali (AS), politely declined the offer. Salman beamed with joy at finding the ultimate goal of his quest, and this time took some dates and offered the Prophet and the Imam as gifts, which they accepted. Salman immediately recited the two-fold testimony of faith: "ash-hado an la ilaha il-Allah; wa ash-hado anna Muhammadan Rasoul-Allah” (I testify there is no god but Allah; and I testify Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah), thus becoming a Muslim. The Prophet paid a big amount of money and met other conditions of the miserly Jew to procure the release of Salman, who thereafter loyally served the cause of Islam. It was on the advice of this faithful Iranian Sahabi that the Muslims dug the “khandaq” (trench) around the most vulnerable part of Medina, when a 10,000 plus force of pagan Arabs and Israelites tried to attack the Prophet and obliterate Islam. After the Prophet’s passing away, Salman was among the few Muslims who were loyal and steadfast to Islam and the divinely-decreed right of Imam Ali (AS). In his last days he served as governor of Mada’en (Ctesiphon, the former Sassanid capital).

1056 solar years ago, on this day in 960 AD, the Battle of Andrassos occurred in the Taurus Mountains in what is now southwestern Turkey, when the Byzantines under Leo Phokas the Younger, ambushed the Muslim forces of the Hamdanid Emir of Aleppo, Saif od-Dowla, who despite the surprising defeat soon regrouped his forces in the following years to push back the Christian invaders. Saif od-Dowla was like a bulwark against Byzantine ambitions to encroach upon Muslim lands.

738 solar years ago, on this day in 1278 AD, Tran Thanh Tong, the second emperor of the Tran Dynasty of Vietnam, decided to pass the throne to his crown prince Tran Kham and take up the post of Retired Emperor. He was the second emperor of the Tran Dynasty, reigning over Dai Viet from 1258 to 1278. After ceding the throne to his son he assisted him in state affairs till his death in 1290. During the second and the third Mongol invasions, he and his son were credited as the supreme commanders who led the Tran Dynasty to the final victories and as a result established a long period of peace and prosperity over the country. With his successful ruling in both military and civil matters, Tran Thanh Tong was considered as one of the greatest emperors of not only the Tran Dynasty but also the whole dynastic era in the History of Vietnam

497 solar years ago, on this day in 1519 AD, Hernan Cortes and his Spanish marauder entered the city of Tenochtitlan and Aztec ruler Montezuma welcomed him with a great celebration in his capital, believing that Cortes could be the white-skinned deity Quetzalcoatl, whose return had been foretold for centuries. It soon became clear that the Spaniards were all bent on conquest, plunder and killing. Cortes and his men, dazzled by the Aztec riches, began to systematically plunder Tenochtitlan and tear down the temples. Montezuma's warriors attacked the Spaniards but with the aid of Indian allies, Spanish reinforcements, superior weapons and disease, Cortes defeated an empire of approximately 25 million people by August 13, 1521.

372 solar years ago, on this day in 1644 AD, the Shunzhi Emperor, the third ruler of the Qing Dynasty was enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming Dynasty as the first Qing Emperor to rule all over China. Crowned at the age of 5, on reaching adolescence and taking over the reins of government, he tried, with mixed success, to fight corruption and to reduce the political influence of the Manchu nobility. In late 1646, forces assembled by a Muslim leader, known in Chinese sources as Milayin, revolted against Qing rule in Ganzhou (Gansu). He was soon joined by another Muslim named Ding Guodong. Proclaiming that they wanted to restore the Ming, they occupied a number of towns in Gansu, including the provincial capital Lanzhou. Both Milayin and Ding Guodong were captured and killed in 1648, and by 1650 the Muslims had been crushed in campaigns that inflicted heavy casualties. In the 1650s, he faced a resurgence of Ming loyalist resistance, but by 1661 his armies had defeated their last enemies, seafarer Koxinga (1624–1662) and the Prince of Gui (1623–1662) of the Southern Ming dynasty. The Shunzhi Emperor died at the age of 22 of smallpox.

360 solar years ago, on this day in 1656 AD, English astronomer, geophysicist and mathematician, Edmond Halley was born. He is best known for recognizing that a bright comet – later named after him – had appeared several times. He calculated its orbit in 1682 and successfully predicted its return. Halley became an influential Fellow of the Royal Society. After originating the question that prodded Isaac Newton to write the seminal Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Halley edited it and arranged its publication. Halley was a professor of geometry at Oxford and later appointed Astronomer Royal. Halley identified the proper motion of stars, studied the moon's motion and tides, realized that nebulae were clouds of luminous gas among the stars, and that the aurora was a phenomenon connected with the earth's magnetism. His prediction of the transit of Venus led to Cook's voyage to Tahiti.

342 solar years ago, on this day in 1674 AD, English Poet, John Milton, died in London at the age 66 years. One of his most important works is “Paradise Lost”, which is an epic poem. He was a supporter of freedom of religion, and opponent of the monarchy. He served under Oliver Cromwell in the Commonwealth of England after overthrow of the monarchy. After restoration of the monarchy, Milton retired from public life, and had gone completely blind when he died.

121 solar years ago, on this day in 1895 AD, the acclaimed German physicist, Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen, discovered the X-Ray. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in the year 1901 due to this important discovery. X-Ray goes through human tissues and is the best means for taking photographs of limbs, and diagnosis of damages and fractures to limbs.

116 solar years ago, on this day in 1900 AD, US author, Margaret Mitchell, was born in Atlanta, Georgia State. She first studied medicine but her sorrow over the death of her mother, led her to drop out of medical college and start writing books at the age of 22. She worked as a journalist for a long time, before her novel “Gone with the Wind” catapulted her to fame. She was killed in a car accident in 1949.

83 solar years ago, on this day in 1933 AD, Mohammad Nadir Shah of Afghanistan was shot to death after a 4-year rule, during a graduation ceremony at a high school in Kabul by Abdul Khaliq, an ethnic Hazara, who was immediately caught and later executed after being tortured. Born in Dehra Dun in northern India where his grandfather was exiled by the British, he belonged to the Telai branch of the ruling family of Afghanistan – of the Mohammadzai clan of Barakzai Pashtuns. After growing up in India, he first went to Afghanistan when his grandfather Mohammad Yahya was authorized to return from exile by the British. He joined the army, rose through its ranks to become a general under King Amanullah Khan and led the Afghan National Army in the Third Anglo-Afghan War, after which he was made Minister of War and later ambassador to France. Shortly after a rebellion by an allied force of Pashtun tribesmen and Persian-speaking Tajiks of Habibullah Kalakani, Nadir Khan was exiled due to disagreements with King Amanullah. After the overthrow of Amanullah by Kalakani, he returned to Afghanistan with his tribal Waziri army and took most of Afghanistan. By 13 October 1929, he captured Kabul and subsequently sacked the city. His forces looted government buildings and houses of wealthy citizens. He captured Kalakani and executed him on 1 November 1929, along with several others, including supporters of the ousted king, Amanullah. On 15 October 1929, Nadir Khan seized the throne and styled himself Nadir Shah. On his assassination he was succeeded by his son, Mohammad Zahir Shah, who 40 years later in 1973 was overthrown in a military coup by Daud Khan. This marked the end of monarchy in Afghanistan – a mountainous land which had no independent existence before 1747 when Ahmad Shah Abdali taking advantage of the political chaos resulting in Iran following the murder of Nader Shah Afshar set up the Durrani kingdom.

40 solar years ago, on this day in 1976 AD, Hojjat al-Islam Nosratollah Ansari achieved martyrdom after six months of intense torture by the notorious SAVAK in the prison of the British-installed and US-backed Pahlavi regime. Born in Bo’en Zahra near Qazvin, besides his religious activities, he was politically active in the Islamic movement.

19 solar years ago, on this day in 1997 AD, Ayatollah Shaikh Mohammad Hussain Kalbasi Isfahani, passed away at the age of 92. Born in Isfahan, at the age of 18 he went to Iraq to study at the famous seminary of holy Najaf, where he attended the classes of such prominent ulema as Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Hassan Isfahani, Ayatollah Ziya od-Din Iraqi, and Ayatollah Shaikh Mohammad Kazem Shirazi. After thirty years stay in Najaf during which he achieved the status of Ijtehad, he returned to Iran and busied himself with teaching at the seminary of holy Qom. He authored several books including one on the merits of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) Blessed Progeny, titled “Faza’el Ahl al-Bayt”.

3 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, struck the Visayas region of the Philippines. The storm left at least 6,340 people dead with over 1,000 still missing, and caused S$2.86 billion (USD) in damage.

AS/MG