Today is Monday; 15th of the Iranian month of Khordad 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 10th of the Islamic month of Ramadhan 1438 lunar hijri; and June 5, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

2487 solar years ago, on this day in 470 BC, according to calculations of modern-day scientists, the famous Greek philosopher Socrates was born in Athens. He served as an infantryman during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. A sophist or teacher of philosophy, he claimed not to know anything for certain and used the interrogatory method for teaching. He left no written works. He was a major critic of popular belief in Athens and was the protagonist of Plato’s dialogues. Besides Plato, another of his famous students was Xenophon. Socrates was imprisoned by the ruling authorities for his criticism of their mismanagement and sentenced to death by drinking poison at the age of over seventy years.

1441 lunar years ago, on this day, three years before Hijra, the First Lady of Islam, “Omm al-Momineen” (Mother of all True Believers), Hazrat Khadija (SA), passed away in Mecca. She spent 25 years of marital bliss with Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and as long as she was alive, the Prophet never took another spouse. A staunch monotheist, following the creed of Prophet Abraham, when 15 years after her marriage God formally entrusted her husband with the universal message of Islam, she promptly believed in his mission. As the richest lady of Arabia, she spent all her wealth for the promotion of Islam, and to feed, clothe and shelter the persecuted neo Muslim community, to the extent that when she breathed her last there was no monetary or property inheritance left for her orphaned daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA). Since within a year of the passing away of Hazrat Khadijah (SA), the Prophet lost to the cold hands of death his loving uncle and guardian, Hazrat Abu Taleb (AS), the year has become famous in Islamic history as “Aam al-Hozn" (Year of Grief). The Prophet cherished the memory of the faithful Khadija (SA) till the end of his life, despite marrying several women out of social necessity in the last ten years of his life.

1378 lunar years ago, on this day in 60 AH, Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson and 3^rd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), received the first batch of letters in Mecca from the notables of Kufa inviting him to Iraq for deliverance of the Islamic realm from the Godless rule of Yazid ibn Mu’awiyyah. In due course, the number of these letters reached 12,000, and the Imam sent his cousin, Muslim ibn Aqeel, to Iraq to probe the situation. When the tyrant Yazid sent assassins in the garb of pilgrims to assassinate him, the Imam, in order to safeguard the inviolable sanctity of the holy Ka’ba and its surroundings from any spilling of blood, left for Iraq, where those who had ardently invited him, not just turned their backs upon him, but ganged up with the brutal Omayyad hordes to cruelly martyr him, his family members, and his companions, on the plain of Karbala.

1138 solar years ago, on this day in 879 AD, the Iranian adventurer, Yaqoub Ibn Layth Saffar, founder of the short-lived Saffarid Dynasty, died in Jondi Shapour in Khuzestan at the age of 39, due to severe stomachache, and was succeeded by his brother Amr. A coppersmith by profession, he led an ascetic life and gradually started gathering fighting men around him in Sistan in the town of Zaranj, which is currently in Afghanistan, to annihilate the “khwarej” (renegades) in the region. This earned him fame, and he soon brought the whole of Sistan under his control. He turned to the east and after taking Bost, captured Kabul, before turning west to seize Herat from the fellow Iranian dynasty of Tahirids, who ruled Khorasan. In 868 he set out for Kerman, and soon wrested Shiraz from the control of the Abbasids, but continued to call himself a vassal of the caliph. In 869, he returned to Zaranj, his capital, and in 871, during the caliphate of Mo’tamid, he again descended on Shiraz and advanced towards Khuzestan. The caliph was able to prevent him from invading Iraq by appointing him the Abbasid governor of Balkh, Fars, Kerman, Sistan and Sind. In 873, Yaqoub bin Layth brought all of Khorasan under his control by seizing its capital, Neishabour, from where he marched to Gorgan and Tabarestan (present-day Mazandaran) and then as far as Chalous, before withdrawing to Rayy after collecting taxes of the Caspian region. This brought him offers from Caliph Mo’tamid of the governorship of Khorasan, Tabaristan, Gorgan, Rayy, and also the position of security-chief in Baghdad. Proud of his victories, Yaqoub bin Layth rejected the offer and invaded Khuzestan, but at Dayr al-Aqoul, some seventy km from Baghdad, he was defeated by the Abbasid forces and returned to Khuzestan, to prepare for another attack, when he died. There are conflicting reports about Yaqoub’s religious beliefs, with claims that he had Ismaili Shi’ite tendencies.

953 lunar years ago, on this day in 485 AH, the renowned vizier of the Seljuqid Dynasty, Hassan Ibn Ali Ibn Ishaq Tusi, titled Khwajah Nizam ul-Mulk, was assassinated near Nahavand at the age of 75 while on his way to Baghdad from the capital Isfahan. Born in the northeastern city of Tous, he initially served the Ghaznavid sultans as chief administrator of Khorasan Province. Four years later with the rise of the Seljuqs, he served as vizier to the Sultans, Alp Arslan and Malik Shah I. He set up schools of higher education in several cities, which were named after him as Nizamiyyah and turned out to be models of universities that were later established in Europe. Nizam ul-Mulk is also widely known for his treatise on kingship titled "Siyasat-Nama" or "Siyar al-Molouk" (Book of Government). Although it is claimed he was stabbed by a member of the Assassins (corruption of “Hashshashin”) sent by his former friend, Hassan Sabbah of Alamut, his son-in-law Muqatel Ibn Atiyyah, has said he was assassinated in the same year as Malik Shah I after a debate between Sunni and Shi'a Muslim scholars that led to his and the Sultan’s conversion to the Creed of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt.

437 solar years ago, on this day in 1580 AD, Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah, the 3rd king of the Qara Qoyunlu Dynasty of Iranian origin of Golkandah in the Deccan (southern India), passed away at the age of 62 after 30-year reign. In 1543 on the suspicious death of his father and founder of the dynasty, Sultan Quli Qutb Shah – originally from Hamedan, Iran – when his brother Jamshid seized the throne, he fled to Vijayanagar kingdom. Seven years later, on the death of Jamshid he returned to Golkandah, and was welcomed by the nobles, who deposed his young nephew Subhan and placed him on the throne. He maintained very cordial relations with the Safavid Emperors of Iran, as is evident by his correspondence with them. Ibrahim was a patron of arts, and promoted Arabic and Persian in the kingdom, where scholars and artisans from Iran used to flock, such as the historian Khurshah bin Qubad al-Hussaini, and Mullah Hussain Tabasi. His wife was Bhagirati, a princess of the Viyajnagar who embraced the truth of Islam, and he also patronized Telugu poets, such as Singanacharyudu and Kandukuru Rudrakavi. He took keen interest in the welfare of the people, repaired and fortified Golconda as the world's largest fort, developed the Hussain Sagar Lake (still a landmark in the city of Haiderabad, built by his son and successor, Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah), and undertook various other projects such as mosques and bridges. He sent to the holy shrine of Prophet Mohammad's 8th Infallible Heir, Imam Reza (AS), a beautifully embellished holy Qur'an, which is still on display at the shrine's museum in Mashhad. In 1565, he joined the Sultans of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar in the historic Battle of Talikota to conquer the Vijaynagar whose ruler Ramraya was encroaching upon the territories of the sultanates.

234 solar years ago, on this day in 1783 AD, the first hot-air balloon ascent - unmanned - flew for ten minutes. It was made by the French brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier at their home town of Annonay, France. The history of aviation is as old as Man’s quest to fly since antiquity. In the heyday of Islamic science and civilization, there are records pertaining to the Spanish Muslim polymath, Abbas ibn Firnas, who flew from Jabal al-Arous Hill by employing a rudimentary glider in the 9th century AD.

163 lunar years ago, on this day in 1275 AH, the prominent scholar of Iraq, Sheikh Hussain ibn Shaikh Radhi ibn Sheikh Nasar an-Najafi, passed away.

155 solar years ago, on this day in 1862 AD, the Treaty of Saigon was signed, ceding parts of southern Vietnam to France, but guerrilla leader Trương Định decided to defy Emperor Tự Đức of Vietnam and fight on against the Europeans. In the next century it was Ho Chi Minh who in 1945 declared independence from France, following Japan's defeat in World War 2 and its retreat from Southeast Asia. The French, however, attacked Vietnam in 1946 in a bid to re-impose their colonial rule, but after eight years of fighting were forced to withdraw. The US then interfered and occupied southern Vietnam and set up a puppet regime in Saigon for terrorizing the country on the pretext of stopping the spread of communism. In 1975 after their failure to crush the resistance of the Vietnamese people, despite massive bombing and use of internationally banned chemical weapons, US forces humiliatingly fled Vietnam. Vietnam was united once again. It covers an area of 329,566 sq km, sharing borders with China, Laos, and Cambodia.

134 solar years ago, on this day in 1883 AD British economist, John Maynard Keynes, was born in Cambridge. His ideas profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics and shaped the economic policies of western governments. His ideas are the basis for the school of thought known as Keynesian economics and its various offshoots. He explained the mass murder during the first years of the communist era in Russia on a racial basis as part of the “Russian and Jewish nature”. Writing in his "Short View of Russia" published after a trip to Russia that there is "beastliness on the Russian and Jewish natures when, as now, they are allied together." Later in life he became a supporter of Zionism.

101 solar years ago, on this day in 1916 AD, during the First World War, Britain instigated the Arab Revolt through its agent Sharif Hussein of Hijaz against the Turkish Ottoman Empire, on promises of making him ‘sultan’ of a single unified state stretching from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen. The infamous Colonel Lawrence was the architect of this conspiracy to defeat the Turks and deceive the Arabs. After dismembering the Ottoman Empire and creating the secular republic of Turkey, Britain, which in 1919 at the Treaty of Versailles in Paris, took pledge from Sharif Hussein’s son, Sharif Ali, of implementing the scandalous Balfour Declaration of 1917 for setting up a state for European Jews in Palestine, reneged on its promises of a single unified Arab sultanate. Although the British installed two of Sharif Hussein’s sons, Abdullah and Faisal, as kings of two new states called Jordan and Iraq, London conspired with another of its local agents, the desert brigand Abdul-Aziz Aal-e Saud of Najd to attack and occupy Hijaz, including the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in 1925, and after ending the several centuries-long rule of the Sharifs of Hijaz, created the spurious entity called Saudi Arabia in 1932.

76 solar years ago, on this day in 1941 AD, during World War II, four thousand men, women, and children of Chongqing in China, were asphyxiated in a bomb shelter during the Bombing of Chongqing, part of an operation of state terrorism conducted by Japan. A total of 268 air raids were conducted against Chongqing, with more than 11,500 bombs dropped, mainly incendiary bombs. The targets were usually residential areas, business areas, schools, and hospitals – all non-military targets. These bombings were aimed at cowing the Chinese government,

54 solar years ago, on this day in 1963 AD, the Iranian people staged massive demonstrations against the British-installed and US-backed Shah, following news of detention of the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) in the aftermath of his bold exposure to the public of the evil nature of the Pahlavi regime. The regime attacked the people and brutally suppressed them, martyring and wounding a large number of Iranian Muslims. The historical uprising known as "15th of Khordad" marked the starting point of the Islamic movement which was to change Iran's destiny. Though Imam Khomeini was exiled a year later, the movement culminated in his eventual return home and the triumph of Islamic Revolution on February 11, 1979.

50 solar years ago, on this day in 1967 AD, the third major war was launched by the usurper state of Israel on Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. In the 6-day war, helped by the US and the UK, the illegal Zionist entity occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, the Golan Heights of Syria, the West of River Jordan, parts of southern Lebanon, and the whole of the Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas. Although they have left the Sinai and driven out from southern Lebanon, the Zionists are refusing to leave the Golarn Heights and the West Bank despite the passing of several UN Security Council Resolutions.

45 solar years ago, on this day in 1972 AD, the first international conference on environment was held in the Swedish Capital, Stockholm with representatives from 113 countries in attendance, under the motto “There is only one Earth”. The outcome was formation of a new international organization for protection of environment and prevention of discharge of pollutants in oceans and seas; in addition to restriction of production and usage of chemicals. It marked the starting point of internationalization of the process of protection of environment. Thereafter, different countries have studied different plans to reduce environmental pollution.

36 lunar years ago, on this day in 1402 AH, prominent Islamic scholar, Ayatollah Mohammad Sadouqi, was martyred by MKO terrorists while leading the Friday Prayer in his hometown Yazd. Born in a scholarly family tracing its descent from the famous jurisprudent, Abu Ja’far Mohammad ibn Ali Ibn Bab, popular as Shaikh Sadouq, after initial studies in Yazd and Isfahan, he studied Islamic sciences and theology in holy Qom for 21 years. His teachers included Ayatollah Shaikh Abdul-Karim Ha’iri Yazdi, Ayatollah Seyyed Sadr od-Din as-Sadr, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Taqi Khwansari, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi, and the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him). He was politically active against the British-installed and American-backed Pahlavi regime, beginning from the famous 15^th of Khordad Uprising. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he was elected to the Assembly of Experts, and played a valuable role in preparation of Islamic Iran’s Constitution. As a representative of Imam Khomeini, and the Friday Prayer leader of Yazd, he spared no efforts to develop the region, and also visited the frontlines of the war imposed by the US through Saddam.

4 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, the Syrian army triumphantly announced liberation of the strategic town of Qusair on the Lebanese border, after a three week battle with Takfiri terrorists financed by reactionary Arab regimes, and supported by the US, Turkey and the illegal Zionist entity called Israel. The Syrian army was assisted by Lebanon’s legendry anti-terrorist movement, Hezbollah. The government in Damascus called the liberation of Qusair as "a message" to Syria's enemies everywhere.

AS/ME