Today is Saturday; 25th of the Iranian month of Dey 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 15th of the Islamic month of Rabi as-Sani 1438 lunar hijri; and January 14, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

275 solar years ago, on this day in 1742 AD, English astronomer and mathematician, Edmond Halley, died at the age of 85. He is best known for recognizing that a bright comet (later named after him) had appeared several times on a periodical basis. He calculated its orbit and successfully predicted its return. He 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. The so-called Halley’s Comet, which appears after an interval of 74-to-79 years, was believed to have been first recorded in 466 BC. Chinese, Babylonian, Greek, and Islamic astronomers have regularly recorded its observations long before Edmond Halley.

256 solar years ago, on this day in 1761 AD, the Afghans led by Ahmad Shah Abdali Durrani inflicted a crushing defeat on the Marathas at the 3rd Battle of Panipat, fought about 95 km from Delhi that changed the course of Indian history. The Marathas' French supplied artillery was no match for the "Zamburak" mounted artillery of Ahmad Shah – who as a veteran general of Nader Shah Afshar of Iran had participated in the latter's capture of Delhi in 1739. The Marathas of southwestern India, emboldened by the breakaway of the two important provinces of Bengal and Haiderabad-Deccan from the Mughal Empire, had quickly expanded their influence in the north as far as Punjab and the borders of Kashmir, bringing them into direct confrontation with the Afghans. Ahmad Shah with his two Indian allies – Najeeb od-Dowla Rohilla of the Doaab, and Shuja od-Dowla, the Nawab of Awadh – decided to crush the Maratha marauders, whose pillaging and looting of lands had alienated from them the Sikhs, the Jats, and even fellow Hindu Rajputs. The battle is considered one of the largest fought in the 18th century. The 250,000- strong Maratha army was annihilated and large numbers fled the battlefield. The earlier two decisive Battles of Panipat that also changed the course of Indian history were fought in 1526 and 1556. The first saw the defeat of the Afghan king, Ibrahim Lodhi of Hindustan (Northern Subcontinent) and establishment of the Mughal Empire by the Timurid ruler of Kabul, Zaheer od-Din Babar Shah – a protégé of Shah Ismail I of Iran. The second saw the victory of Bayram Khan Turkman, the guardian and general of Jalal od-Din Akbar Shah over Hemu, the Hindu general of the Afghan rulers of Delhi and led to the restoration of Mughal rule in the aftermath of Humayun Shah’s sudden death shortly after return from Iran and recapture of Hindustan with aid provided by Shah Tahmasp Safavi.

142 solar years ago, on this day in 1875 AD, Albert Schweitzer the physician was born in Alsace in France. He established a hospital in Gabon, spending the rest of his life assisting and medically treating the disadvantaged people of Africa. He wrote several books, including "The Philosophy of Civilization". Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953, he died in 1965.

119 solar years ago, on this day in 1898 AD, Lewis Carroll, the British logician, mathematician, photographer, and novelist, remembered for the book “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” (1865), died at the age of 65. His real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, and after graduating from Oxford University, he taught mathematics and wrote treatises there until 1881. He was the author of several mathematics books, including “A Syllabus of Plane Algebraical Geometry” (1860), and “Euclid and his Modern Rivals” (1879).

75 solar years ago, on this day in 1942 AD during World War 2, US president, Franklin Roosevelt, and British prime minister, Winston Churchill, as the main leaders of the Allied Powers held a summit in Casablanca, Morocco, to plan attacks on Fascist Italy including the bombardment of Sicily and other places by the American air force.

68 solar years ago, on this day in 1949 AD, the Durban riots occurred in South Africa against Indians predominantly by Zulus (at the instigation of the ruling whites) resulting in the massacre of 142 people, and injury to 1,087 others. It also lead to the destruction of 58 shops, 247 dwellings and one factory – all owned by Indians. The Indian business area was attacked with an assortment of improvised weapons. As the looting took place, a number of white Europeans encouraged the black people to attack, and subsequently joined the looting. The riot then spread to the peri-urban areas of Durban where numerous acts of murder, arson, rape, and looting took place. The Indians were accused of black-marketeering, opposition to the economic expansion of the Africans, and social and racial humiliation of the blacks by Indian landlords, but in reality Indians were treated far worse by Europeans because they were given the terms coolie and the jealousy that blacks and whites showed because Indians started going from extremely poor and servitude status to being their owners through close knit networks and pre planning steps in business. The Indians were descendants of low caste groups from places like Bihar, and were despised by both the whites and the blacks who resented the rise of dark skin inferior looking people.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, during the crucial days of the Islamic Revolution, major clashes erupted between the unarmed demonstrators and the Shah’s US-backed soldiers. Several soldiers, impressed by the Islamic movement, joined the people, thereby further demoralizing the Shah’s US-trained army. In his message from exile, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), encouraged soldiers to join the people for defence of the divine religion of Islam, in order to rescue the country from the yoke of hegemonic powers.

26 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the notorious Zionist spying agency, Mossad, in a terrorist act in Tunisia, assassinated Abu Ayad, a senior leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), along with two other Palestinian officials. The assassination smelled of treason on the part of the Tunisian regime of the now ousted Zain al-Abedin bin Ali and some Palestinian leaders, because later in the same year in October, PLO Chief, Yasser Arafat, started the so-called peace talks with the illegal Zionist entity, Israel.

18 solar years ago, on this day in 1999 AD, the combatant religious scholar, and the elected representative of the Majlis (parliament), Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Haqqi Sarabi, passed away at the age of 72. Born in Sarab near Tabriz, after initial studies he left for holy Qom and later for holy Najaf in Iraq, where he attained Ijtehad. On return to Iran, he involved himself in the struggle against the repressive rule of the Pahlavi regime. Following triumph of the Islamic Revolution, he was elected as a representative in the Majlis and the Assembly of Experts.

6 lunar years ago, on this day in 1432 AH, the prominent scholar and combatant religious leader, Ayatollah Mohammad Sadeqi Tehrani passed away at the age of 87. His father was one of the famous orators. Mohammad Sadeqi entered the Islamic seminary of Tehran at the age of 14. His teachers were Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammad Ali Shahabadi, and Mirza Mahdi and Mirza Ahmad Ashtiani. He acquired deep knowledge of Qur’anic exegesis from Ayatollah Shahabadi and later accomplished it in Qom under Allamah Seyyed Mohammad Hussain Tabatabaei – author of the famous exegesis “Tafsir al-Mizan”. He completed jurisprudence under Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Borujerdi, and attained the status of Ijtehad. Thereafter he attended the lectures of Imam Khomeini (RA) in philosophy and ethics, and was profoundly influenced by his teacher’s political thoughts. Ayatollah Sadeqi returned to Tehran after ten years at the Qom seminary, and in addition to teaching at the university, he obtained PhD in Islamic studies and Masters in four other subjects, including law. At the same time, he attended the lectures in mysticism of Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammad Taqi Amoli as well as philosophical lectures of Ayatollah Rafi’i Qazvini. After ten years of political struggle against the despotic Pahlavi regime and giving lessons on the exegesis of the holy Qur’an in Tehran, he was invited in 1962 AD by the scholars of Qom to attend an important meeting in commemoration of the first anniversary of the passing away of Grand Ayatollah Boroujerdi. At the gathering he delivered a fiery speech exposing the oppressive policies of the British-installed and American-backed Shah. As a result, he was prosecuted by the SAVAK and sentenced to death in absentia, since he had already left for holy Mecca, where during the Hajj rituals he further exposed the tyranny of the Shah. He was imprisoned by the Saudi regime but released following protests by the scholars of Iran and Iraq. He moved to holy Najaf in Iraq, where besides teaching Islamic sciences, exegesis of the holy Qur’an in particular, he continued his political activities against the Pahlavi regime, especially since his mentor Imam Khomeini was in Najaf on being exiled by the Shah. Forced to leave Iraq by the repressive Ba’th minority regime, he went to Lebanon, where he stayed for five years and then proceeded to Mecca again. His 2-year stay he held classes on Qur’anic exegesis and jurisprudence in the Masjid al-Haraam behind the "Maqam-e Ibrahim" where more than six hundred students from various countries used to attend his lectures. He organized peaceful debates with scholars of various jurisprudential schools, and convinced them by his strong arguments. As a result, the Wahhabi regime again expelled him. He went back to Beirut and three months later, after 17 years of exile, he returned home to Iran following triumph of the Islamic Revolution, to assist his teacher Imam Khomeini in establishment of the Islamic Republic. A few months after triumph of the Islamic Revolution, he arrived back in Qom for teaching Qur’an and jurisprudence. His lectures were wholly based on the Holy Qur’an. He authored about 110 books on various subjects. His main work is the 3-volume exegesis of the holy Qur’an titled “Tafsir al-Furqan”.  He also wrote a critique on the Bible titled “Aqaidona” (Our Beliefs). He made vigorous criticisms of the prevailing philosophy at Islamic seminaries, saying its foundation is inconsistent with the Qur’an and Sunnah. He also challenged Western and Eastern philosophers in a significant book titled “Talks Between Monotheists and Materialists”.

6 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, Tunisia’s pro-US-Israeli dictator, Zain al-Abedin bin Ali, faced with a popular uprising, fled the country for Saudi Arabia along with his family and billions of dollars of public wealth. On taking power in 1987 he slavishly served American interests by brutally suppressing the Tunisian Muslim people, for which he was rewarded with asylum by Saudi Arabia. His ouster freed Tunisia from over half a century of anti-Islamic rule and triggered uprisings in other countries, such as Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

AS/ME