Today is Tuesday; 5th of the Iranian month of Bahman 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 25th of the Islamic month of Rabi as-Sani 1438 lunar hijri; and January 24, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1941 solar years ago, on this day in 76 AD, Hadrian was born into a Roman family in Spain. He succeeded his cousin Trajan as Roman Emperor in 117 and ruled for 21 years till his death in 138 AD. He is regarded as one of the Five Good Roman Emperors. Hadrian joined Trajan's expedition against the Parthian Empire of Iran and was serving as governor of Syria when the latter died. Neither during the first phase of the Parthian campaign nor during the second phase of the war when the Romans were repelled from Mesopotamia or modern Iraq by the Iranians, did Hadrian do anything of note. He deemed it wise to surrender Trajan's gains in Mesopotamia, considering them to be indefensible against determined Parthian pressure. There was almost a war with Parthia around 121, but the threat was averted when Hadrian succeeded in negotiating a peace with Emperor Osroes I or Khosrow.

1374 lunar years ago, on this day in 64 AH, Mu’awiyyah, the son of the tyrant  Yazid, abdicated the caliphate after only a month and eleven days in power as the self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime following the death by divine wrath of his accursed father, the perpetrator of the heartrending tragedy of Karbala. The 19-year old youth strongly denounced his father Yazid’s crimes against Islam and humanity, especially the tragic martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS), the grandson and 3^rd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), It is said he was never again seen in public and is believed to have died or killed by his own kinsmen. He was replaced by the renegade, Marwan ibn al-Hakam, which meant a shift in the lineage of the Godless Omayyad regime from the offspring of Abu Sufyan to those of Hakam – both of whom grandsons of Omayya and avowed enemies of the Prophet of Islam. After some nine months in power, Marwan was killed by his most recent wife, a widow of the tyrant Yazid, who put a pillow on his face and sat over it till his breath was snuffed out. Some 67 years later, the Marwanids were thrown into the dustbin of history with the rise of the new dynasty of usurper caliphs, the Abbasids.

1070 lunar years ago, on this day in 368 AH, the Spanish Muslim scholar, Yousuf ibn Abdullah, popularly known as “Ibn al-Abdul-Bir”, was born in Qortaba, a city in Spain which is called Cordova today. A leading Sunni jurist, he initially adhered to the Zaheri School of jurisprudence founded by the Iranian Dawoud ibn Ali az-Zaheri of Isfahan, but later in life became a follower of the Malekite School. In his work, “al-Ist’aab fi Ma’rifat al-Ashaab” or The Comprehensive List of Names of the Companions, he has considered as a ‘companion’ any person who even once in life met Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). Nonetheless, he has acknowledged the unrivalled merits of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt or Blessed Household, especially Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). His other works include “al-Aql wa’l-Uqala” or Reason and the People of Wisdom, and “al-Qasd wa’l-Umam fî Nasab al-Arab wa’l-Ajam” or Endeavors and the Nations: Genealogies of the Arabs and Non-Arabs.

970 lunar years ago, on this day in 478 AH, the prominent Iranian Shafe’i scholar, Abdul-Malik bin Abdullah al-Juwaini, passed away at the age of 59 in Neishapour, Khorasan. He was known as Imam al-Haramayn because of his sojourn in the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina, where he was in self-exile due to his jurisprudential and theological differences with the Hanafi School, which the Seljuq Turks were promoting after conquering Iran. After several years in exile, Juwaini was invited back to teach at Neishapour by the Shafe’i vizier, Khwaja Nizam ol-Molk Tousi, the founder of the Madrasa-e Nizamiyya. He was teacher of the famous Iranian Sufi scholar, Abu Hamed Mohammad Ghazali, and wrote several books.

892 solar years ago, on this day in 1125 AD King David IV, the greatest and most successful ruler of the Caucasus land of Georgia, died at the age of 52, after a reign of 36 years. He succeeded in driving out the Seljuq Turks from most of the cities including Tbilisi, especially after winning the major Battle of Didgori in 1121. His reforms of the army and administration enabled him to reunite the country and bring most of the lands of the Caucasus under Georgia’s control.

760 lunar years ago, on this day in 638 AH, the first Muslim queen of India, Razia Sultan, was killed while fleeing along with her husband, Altunia by Jat brigands, a day after the two were defeated in battler by her younger brother, Bahram, who had seized the Delhi sultanate through a plot. Razia, was designated heir-apparent and subsequently ruler by her father, Shams od-Din Iltutmish, the Turkic slave-sultan of India, following the death of her elder brother. She had exceptional administrative and military qualities, and established schools, academies, research centers, and public libraries that included the works of ancient philosophers along with the teaching of the holy Qur'an and the Prophet’s hadith. Pre-Islamic Sanskrit works on philosophy, astronomy, and literature were reportedly translated and studied in the schools and colleges she had established. Razia called herself “sultan” and refused to be addressed as Sultana because it meant "wife or mistress of a sultan"

351 solar years ago, on this day in 1667 AD, the Treaty of Breda was signed by Britain and Holland, according to which the latter handed over its colonies in the newly-discovered American Continent. The most important region that came under British control was the present day State of New York, which the Dutch used to call New Amsterdam. In return, Britain gave to Holland part of the region of Guyana in South America.

278 solar years ago, on this day in 1739 AD, Iranian forces led by Nader Shah Afshar defeated the Moghal armies at Shahdaula in Punjab and proceeded towards Karnal for the final battle that saw the surrender of Emperor Mohammad Shah “Rangileh”. Nader invaded the subcontinent in pursuit of the Hotaki Afghan rebels and the failure of the weak administration in Delhi to hand over these refractory elements despite his writing of several letters to the Mughal Emperor. Nader Shah restored Mohammad Shah to the throne of Delhi and returned to Iran with a huge booty that included the world famous “Koh-e Noor” (Mountain of Light) diamond, the “Takht-e Tawous” (Peacock Throne) and the Tent of Pearls.

241 solar years ago, on this day in 1776 AD, the German author, Ernst Hoffmann, was born. He had a strong sense of imagination and has left behind a number of books, including “Strange Tales”. He died in 1822.

160 solar years ago, on this day in 1857 AD, the University of Calcutta was formally founded by the British colonialists as the first fully-fledged university in south Asia.

158 solar years ago, on this day in 1859 AD for the first time oil was extracted through drilling by Edwin Laurentine Drake in the US State of Pennsylvania at a depth of 230-meter. The oil rig and other drilling equipment of this well are kept in a museum in the US as symbols of emergence of the global oil industry.

78 solar years ago, on this day in 1939 AD, the deadliest earthquake in Chilean history struck Chile, killing approximately 28,000 to 30,000 people

59 solar years ago, on this day in 1958 AD, after warming to hundred million degrees, 2 light atoms were bashed together in the US to create a heavier atom, resulting in the 1st man-made nuclear fusion. Unethical and Godless regimes have misused science and technology for destructive and suicidal pursuits, instead of working for peace, tranquility and collective development of mankind. The US is the world’s most criminally armed nuclear power whose doomsday terrorism includes the dropping of atomic bombs on the unsuspecting Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 when World War 2 had almost ended. 

52 solar years ago, on this day in 1965 AD, British politician, Winston Churchill, died at the age of 91. He entered the British army in 1895 and participated in colonial wars. He was elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative Party MP, and later served as a minister in various positions, including war. He was twice elected as Prime Minister – the second time during World War 2. He authored several books, including “The World Crisis” in four volumes, and a series of books under the name of “The Second World War”, in addition to the “History of the English-Speaking Peoples”. Churchill was an unabashed imperialist and was notorious for his defence of Britain’s colonialist policies of expansion and exploitation around the world.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, more people attained martyrdom in various cities of Iran at the hands of the military forces of the Shah's despotic regime. On this day, a number of air force officers took to the streets of Tehran, staging protests and announcing their loyalty to the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). They released a statement, strongly condemning the crimes committed by the British-installed and US-backed regime.

32 solar years ago, on this day in 1985 AD, the prominent religious scholar of Iran’s Kurdistan region, Mullah Abdullah Modarres Gorji, passed away at the age of 88. He was active in the western regions of Iran, grooming several scholars and writing many books for the guidance of the people.

15 solar years, on this day in 2002 AD, the illegal Zionist entity murdered its own former agent, Elie Hobeika of the Christian Phalangist militia of Lebanon, along with three others in Beirut through a car bomb, following the latter’s agreement to testify against the then Zionist premier Ariel Sharon who as war minister in 1982 had ordered the cold-blooded massacre of over 5,000 Palestinian men, women, and children at the Sabra and Shatillah refugee camps. Hobeika was among the Zionist agents involved in the said massacre in southern Lebanona.

6 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, two car bombs struck holy Karbala, resulting in the martyrdom of over 30 people and injury to scores of others, as pilgrims massed for Arba’een rituals marking the end of the annual 40-day mourning period for Imam Husain (AS), the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). A year later on this same day, a series of car bombs triggered by Saudi- backed terrorists exploded in Shi’ite Muslim areas of the capital Baghdad, resulting in the martyrdom of over 20 people, while over 60 others were injured as day labourers were targeted.

AS/MG