Today is Friday; 12th of Azar 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 2nd of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal 1438 lunar hijri; and December 2, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

808 lunar years ago, on this day in 630 AH, the historian, compiler of hadith, and literary figure, Abu’l-Hassan Ali ibn Mohammad, better known as Izz od-Din Ibn al-Athir al-Jazari, passed away in Mosul, Iraq at the age of 75. Born in a Kurdish family in Jazirat Ibn Umar in Iraq, which was then part of the Great Seljuq Empire with its capital in Isfahan, he spent his scholarly life in Mosul, often visiting Baghdad, where he learned from the Iranian scholar Khateeb-e Tusi. With the disintegration of the Seljuqid Empire, he was with the army of the Kurdish adventurer Salah od-Din Ayyoubi in Syria, and has written eyewitness accounts of the battles with the Crusader invaders from Europe, who had usurped Palestine and illegally set up the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was about 28 years old when Bayt al-Moqaddas and Palestine were conquered after 88 years of Crusader occupation by the joint Islamic army of Kurds, Turks, Arabs and Iranians. His chief work is a general history of the world, titled "al-Kamel fi’t-Tarikh" (The Complete History), in which he has included reports of the destructive events taking place in the last years of his life in the Islamic east, particularly in Central Asia and Khorasan, where the barbaric Mongol onslaught was destroying centuries of flourishing civilized life. He has also written a specialized history of the Atabek Dynasty of Mosul titled "at-Tarikh al-Baher fi’l-Dowlat-al-Atabekiyah bi’l-Mawsil". His other famous work is "Usod al-Ghabah fi Ma‘rifat as-Sahabah", which is bibliography of the companions of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Izz od-Din should not be confused with his elder brother, Majd od-Din Ibn Athir, the author of "Jame' al-Usoul" – a compendium of the "Sihah as-Sitta" or the Six Authoritative Hadith Books of Sunni Muslims, compiled almost wholly by Iranian converts to Islam.

607 solar years ago, on this day in 1409 AD, the Leipzig University, was founded in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, by Frederick I, Elector of Saxony and his brother William II, Margrave of Meissen. It is one of the oldest universities in the world and its famous alumni include the scientist Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, as well as nine Nobel laureates are associated with this university.

469 solar years ago, on this day in 1547 AD, Hernan Cortes, the notorious Spanish invader and destroyer of the Aztec Amerindian Empire through deceit and treachery, died embittered in Spain at the age of 62. He took Emperor Cuauhtemoc and several other indigenous nobles as prisoners, forced them to accompany him to Honduras, and while in the Chontal Maya capital of Itzamkanac, treacherously murdered them. He looted the gold and silver of the Aztec people and destroyed flourishing Amerindian cities. 

422 solar years ago, on this day in 1594 AD, Flemish (Dutch) philosopher and cartographer, Gerardus Mercator, who coined the word “Atlas” for a collection of maps, died at the age of 82. Highly influenced by Muslim geographers, their travels and world maps, such as Seyyed al-Idrisi (who flourished centuries earlier in Sicily under King Rogers II), his dream was to publish a volume of maps, which would give a history of the world since creation. His "Atlas", the first section of which came out in 1569, contained a chronology of his version of creation till 1568.

212 solar years ago, on this day in 1804 AD, at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, General Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France, the first French Emperor in a thousand years. Born in Corsica in a relatively modest family of Italian ancestry, he was well-educated, although he spoke French with a heavy Corsican accent. He joined the army and rose rapidly during the later stages of the French Revolution. He became prominent under the First French Republic, and on being appointed general, he established his reputation as a military leader, especially in his Italian and Egyptian campaigns. On return to France, he contrived to undermine the elected assembly and finally seized totalitarian powers, embroiling France in continental wars for the next ten years for supremacy over all Europe. After his defeat in the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon was exiled St. Helena, where it is said the British poisoned him to death.

212 solar years ago, on this day in 1804 AD, as part of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Austerlitz resulted in a resounding victory for French troops over a joint Russo-Austrian force. Also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, it involved French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Tsar Alexander I of the Russian Empire and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II of Austro-Hungary. The battle took place in the present day Czech Republic, and was a tactical masterpiece of the same stature as the ancient Battle of Gaugamela in which Alexander of Macedonia defeated Acheamenid Emperor Darius III of the Persian Empire. 

193 solar years ago, on this day in 1823 AD, the Monroe Doctrine was declared by the United States of America, warning European colonial powers against interfering in both North and South America. In his State of the Union message, US President James Monroe also proclaimed American neutrality in all European conflicts.

178 lunar years ago, on this day in 1260 AH, the combatant scholar, Seyyed Mohammad Baqer Shafti passed away at the age of 85. Born in Gilan, northern Iran, he travelled to Iraq for higher studies at the famous Islamic seminary of holy Najaf. On his return to Iran, he stayed for a while in holy Qom and Kashan before settling in Isfahan, where he groomed students, wrote books, and was active in social affairs, especially helping the needy. This brought him into conflict with the tyrannical Qajarid regime. Among his works is “Tuhfat al-Abrar al-Mustanbitt”, and Commentary on Allamah Hilli’s “Tahzib al Osoul”.

165 solar years ago, on this day in 1851 AD, French President Charles Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Second Republic, and the next year on this same date, declared himself, Emperor Napoleon III. The nephew and heir of Napoleon I and son of Louis Bonaparte (who had been placed as king of Holland from 1805-1810 by his famous elder brother), he was the first President of France to be elected by a direct popular vote. However, when he was blocked by the constitution and parliament from running for a second term, he organized a coup d’etat in 1851, and took the throne as Napoleon III on 2 December 1852, the forty-eighth anniversary of Napoleon I's coronation. One of the first priorities of Napoleon III was modernization of the French economy. During his 18-year rule, he initiated an energetic foreign policy which aimed to remove the limitations imposed on France since 1815, and succeeded in reasserting French influence in Europe and the French colonial empire. He spearheaded allied action against Russia in the Crimean War and secured the Papal States against annexation by Italy by defeating the Italians at Mentana. In Southeast Asia, he established French rule in what is now Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, as well as New Caledonia. French interests in China were upheld in the Second Opium War; an abortive campaign against Korea was launched in 1866 while a military mission to Japan ended in failure. French intervention in Mexico was also unsuccessful, and ended in 1867 due to mounting Mexican resistance and US diplomatic pressure. Eventually, the French Empire was overthrown three days after his defeat 1870 in the Battle of Sedan by the Prussian (Germany) Empire that resulted in his capture, imprisonment and later exile to London where he died three years later at the age of 65. Domestically, Napoleon III's reign saw an era of prosperity and industrialization. He reconstructed Paris, built new aqueducts, rebuilt the sewers, created new boulevards and avenues and laid parks.

74 solar years ago, on this day in 1942 AD, the first self-sustained nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated in Chicago, Illinois. At the University of Chicago, Enrico Fermi and his team achieved the world's first artificial nuclear chain reaction, in a makeshift lab underneath the University's football stands at Stagg Field. Work on the experimental pile had begun on 16 November 1942. It was a prodigious effort. Physicists and staffers, working around the clock, built a lattice of 57 layers of uranium metal and uranium oxide embedded in graphite blocks. A wooden structure supported the graphite pile. The chain reaction was part of the Manhattan Project, a secret wartime project to develop nuclear weapons, which initiated the modern nuclear age. This was a discovery that changed the world

62 solar years ago, on this day in 1954 AD, Laos, in Southeast Asia gained independence from French colonial rule that had been imposed in 1893. Following independence, a civil war started and continued till 1975 when the communists overthrew the king and declared the country a republic. Laos is situated in southeastern Asia. It covers an area of 236800 sq km and shares borders with China, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, and Cambodia.

60 solar years ago, on this day in 1956 AD, Fidel Castro landed in Cuba aboard the Yatch “Granma” with a group of 81 lightly armed revolutionaries, including his brother, Raul, and the famous Argentine revolutionary, Dr. Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevera, after a year and four months in exile, following his release from prison in the wake of the attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953, as part of the struggle to liberate his homeland from the US-backed regime of General Fulgencio Batista. In January 1957, the handful of revolutionaries burst out from their jungle hideout to launch guerilla warfare that began to attract hundreds and soon thousands of oppressed peasants to their cause. In 1958, Castro attacked the military bases and sensitive points of the capital, Havana, and other cities, making Batista seek shelter in a US base in Cuba, before fleeing to the US with as much as 300 million dollars. Castro, the son of a Spanish migrant to Cuba, served as Prime Minister from February 1959 to December 1976, and subsequently as president till 2008, when he retired due to ill-health by handing over power to his brother Raul. He died a week ago on November 25 in Cuba at the age of 90.

45 solar years ago, on this day in 1971 AD, the seven Persian Gulf sheikhdoms of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras al-Khaimah, Umm al-Quwain, and Fujairah, banded together as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on gaining independence from 51 years of British colonial rule. The day is marked as UAE National Day. Initially, Qatar joined the confederation but soon withdrew. The UAE covers an area of 83600 sq km, and lies on the southern coastlines of Persian Gulf. It shares borders with Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar.

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Constitution was ratified following overwhelming majority of votes, cast by the people. The Constitution determines the principal policies of the country based on Islamic teachings and values, social justice, and human rights. In 1989, an amendment to the Constitution took place following its ratification by the Guardian Council and vote of approval by the people.

30 solar years ago, on this day in 1986 AD, following the call of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), for bolstering of defence forces on the frontlines of the war imposed by the US through Saddam of Iraq’s repressive Ba’th minority regime, tens of thousands of volunteers registered nationwide, vowing their resolve for jihad and martyrdom for protection of the Islamic Republic. The result was formation of the elite “Mohammad Rasoulollah Corps” which created panic in the hearts of the enemies of Islamic Iran.

29 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, Iran test-fired its first ballistic surface-to-surface missile during the US-imposed war on the Islamic Republic of Iran through Saddam’s repressive Ba’th minority regime. It was a major stride for the defence industries following years of sanctions on purchase of weapons from abroad during the 8-year unequal war, in which the Islamic Republic was fighting virtually the whole world – the Capitalist West and the Communist East. Soon, Iran started mass producing ballistic missiles, and now has an arsenal of highly advanced missiles of various categories– surface, air, marine – far longer in range, faster in speed, and accurate on targets.

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