Today is Tuesday; 6th of the Iranian month of Tir 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 2nd of the Islamic month of Shawwal 1438 lunar hijri; and June 27, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

855 lunar years ago, on this day in 583 AH, the Baghdadi poet and literary figure, Mohammad ibn Obaidollah Ibn Abdullah at-Ta’awizi, passed away at the age of 64. He has left behind several long odes in praise of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and the Infallible Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt.

834 lunar years ago, on this day in 604 AH, the prominent Sunni Muslim Iraqi scholar, Mohammad bin al-Hassan bin Mohammad, Abu Bakr an-Naqqash al-Mawsili, passed away. After studying in Baghdad he traveled to various Islamic lands to acquire knowledge. He was considered an exegete of the holy Qur'an and an authority on hadith. In his book titled “Shifa as-Sudour”, he has mentioned events relating to the historic occasion of Ghadeer-Khom, where on the 18th of Zilhijja in the year 10 AH, on the express commandment of God, while returning from his Farewell Hajj pilgrimage, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) proclaimed Imam Ali (AS) as his vicegerent.

834 lunar years ago, on this day in 604 AH, the historian, judge, and literary figure, Jamal od-Din Wasel, was born in the city of Hamah, in Syria. He started his studies under his father, who was a teacher at the Naseriyyah School in Bayt al-Moqaddas. Ibn Wasel had a varied career under both the Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties of Egypt-Syria. He served as an ambassador under the Mamluk sultan, Rukn od-Din Baybars, and had various interactions with the Christian Crusader invaders. He ended his lengthy and distinguished career as Grand Qazi of his home city of Hamah. The major work of Ibn Wasel that addresses the crusades is translated as “The Dissipater of Anxieties Concerning the History of the Ayyubids”. He especially focused on the career and deeds of Salah od-Din during the Third Crusade.

833 lunar years ago, on this day in 605 AH, the famous Imami scholar, Shaikh Saleh Abu'l-Hassan Warram Ibn Abi Firas, passed away. He was the maternal grandfather of the celebrated scholar, Seyyed ibn Tawous. He authored the book “Tanbih al-Khawater” which is also known as "Majmou-at-al-Warram".

443 solar years ago, on this day in 1574 AD, Giorgio Vasari, Italian historian, painter, and architect, died at the age of 63 in Florence. He is famous for writing the book “Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects”, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing. Born in Arezzo, Tuscany, he became a pupil of Guglielmo da Marsiglia, a skillful painter of stained glass. At the age of sixteen he moved to Florence and became apprentice to leading painters. He was befriended by the famous Michelangelo whose painting style would influence his own. He was more successful as an architect, and designed some still flourishing passageways and churches including the Basilica of Our Lady of Humility in Pistoia. His book is notoriously in favour of Florentines and tends to attribute to them all the new developments in Renaissance art – for example, the invention of engraving. Venetian art in particular let alone other parts of Europe is systematically ignored. Vasari often wrote with carelessness, confusing dates and places, and taking no pains to verify the truth of his assertions, but despite these shortcomings, it is one of the basic sources for information on the Renaissance in Italy.

257 solar years ago, on this day in 1760 AD, Cherokee warriors defeated British forces at the Battle of Echoee near present-day Otto, North Carolina during the Anglo-Cherokee War.

182 solar years ago, on this day in 1835 AD, the Iranian statesman and political figure, Mirza Abu’l-Qasem Qa’em Maqaam Farahani, was killed for carrying out political and administrative reforms that the colonialists and their local agents deemed against their interests. He served as regent to the young Mohammad Shah Qajar, and later as Grand Vizier. But within a year, due to the intrigues of John Campbell, the British representative in Iran, Farahani was arrested and subsequently murdered. He was kept for five or six days in a room in the basement of Negarestan without any food so that he would die when his strength diminishes. Eventually, the executioner, Safar Ismael Khan Qarajeh Daghi entered the basement and thrusting a handkerchief in his mouth, suffocated him. Farahani had mastered many sciences of the day in addition to literary techniques and initiated a new style in Persian prose. Among his works is a Divan of Persian poetry and the “Mansha’at” in prose.

178 solar years ago, on this day in 1839 AD, the Sikh ruler, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, died after a reign of nearly forty years and within ten years the empire he had built up by conquering Punjab, Kashmir, and the Pashtu areas up to the frontier of Afghanistan, was annexed by the British. Acquainted with the Persian language, he began as a young soldier in the service of the Afghan king, Zamaan Shah Durrani, who made him governor of a part of Punjab. He then assembled his Sikh army and began war with his Afghan benefactors by seizing Lahore and ending their rule in Punjab. He desecrated the grand Badshahi Mosque of Lahore by turning it into a stable. In 1818, he occupied Multan and advanced upon Peshawar. His dreams of invading Afghanistan did not materialize, but when Shah Shuja sought asylum with the Sikhs, Ranjit Singh forced him to give up the fabulous Koh-e Noor diamond which Nader Shah of Iran had taken from the Mughal Emperor Mohammad Shah of Delhi and which after him had fallen to the share of the Afghan general, Ahmad Shah Abdali Durrani. In 1849, when the British defeated the Sikhs, they seized Koh-e Noor (Persian for Mountain of Light), which is currently in the crown of the British queen.

137 solar years ago, on this day in 1880 AD, the researcher and author, Helen Keller, was born in the US. She lost her eyesight and hearing ability in childhood due to illness and started learning as of the age of seven. She learned the alphabet of the blind within three years. She gradually recovered her hearing ability, learning to speak with the hard efforts of her teacher, thereby opening a new window to her surrounding environment. Following completion of her academic studies, she penned and published numerous books. She also delivered speeches in different circles and assemblies and founded several educational centers for the blind in the US and other countries, out of the revenues of her speeches. Among her most important books is “The Story of My Life”.

109 solar years ago, on this day in 1908 AD, people of the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, rose against the tyrannical rule of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar, under the leadership of Sattar Khan (Sardar Milli) and Baqer Khan (Salar Milli), following the artillery shelling of the parliament and constitutionalists in the capital Tehran by government’s forces in league with Russian troops. A force of 40,000 troops sent from Tehran by the Shah to besiege Tabriz was held at bay for several months by the resistance of people under these two leaders, who instantly became national heroes and inspired people of other cities and provinces to rise against the dictatorship of the Qajarid regime. On mediation by the British and Russians, the situation was eased and the siege was lifted, but with the entry of Russian troops, Sattar Khan feeling danger to his life, sought refuge in the Ottoman consulate in Tabriz. In 1910, Sattar Khan and Baqer Khan set out for Tehran with 300 soldiers, where they were greeted by large numbers of supporters April 3. They refused to obey the Shah's order to disarm, and were violently attacked, resulting in the wounding of Sattar Khan who died at the age of 48 on November 9, 1914, and was buried in the mausoleum of Seyyed Abdul-Azim al-Hassani in Rayy.  

63 solar years ago, on this day in 1954 AD, the world's first atomic power station began producing electricity in Obninsk, USSR, a small town 60 miles south of Moscow. The plant used a small, graphite moderated, water-cooled reactor, and could produce 5 megawatts. The reactor was used for both civilian power needs and also military purposes, such as research into the possibility of propelling submarines with nuclear power. It generated electricity until 1968, but continued in use for experiments and to warm the town's centrally distributed hot water supply. Final shutdown took place in 2002 for reason of being unprofitable.

63 solar years ago, on this day in 1954 AD, CIA-sponsored rebels overthrew the elected government of Guatemala. A US supported force of mercenaries invaded from Honduras to topple President Arbenz whose government was replaced by 30 years of military rule.

40 solar years ago, on this day in 1977 AD, Djibouti was liberated from the yoke of French colonial rule after 81 years of occupation and this day is marked as National Day in this country situated in the Horn of Africa. It was one of the last countries to join the Arab League. Djibouti is situated in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which links the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and therefore maintains a highly strategic position.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, the Leader of Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who at the time was representative of the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) at the Supreme Defence Council, in addition to being Tehran’s Permanent Friday Prayer leader, became the target of an assassination attempt by MKO terrorists. The terrorists, known as hypocrites, detonated a bomb severely wounding him while he was delivering a speech at a Tehran mosque. He survived this assassination attempt to become the elected president of the country for two consecutive terms (8 years), before becoming Leader of the Islamic Revolution in 1989. His right hand was severely damaged in this assassination attempt. Imam Khomeini (RA), in his message pointed out that the evil enemies of the Islamic Republic are desperately trying to undermine Ayatollah Khamenei, who as a descendent of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), has spared no efforts to serve the holy religion of Islam and the Islamic country.

24 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, the US targeted the Iraqi capital, Baghdad and its outskirts, with 23 long-range missiles under the pretext of involvement of the Ba’th regime in an assassination attempt against former US president, George Bush Senior, during his visit to Kuwait on April 1993. Bush Senior, during his presidency, had ordered the offensive to drive out the Iraqi army from Kuwait.

22 solar years ago, on this day in 1995 AD, Hamad Aal-e Thani toppled his father Khalifa bin Hamad Aal-e Thani and seized power as ruler of the Persian Gulf Sheikhdom of Qatar, on the orders of the US, while the latter was in Geneva, Switzerland on a pleasure trip. On June 25, 2013, after 20 years in power, Hamad was ordered by the US to hand over power to his 33-year son Tamim. It is interesting to note that Khalifa who is still alive at 83 years of age, had come to power himself by deposing his cousin, Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali on 22nd February 1972 while the latter was on a hunting trip in Iran and had ruled since 1960 when his own father, Ali bin Abdullah had abdicated in his favour under British pressure.

20 solar years ago, on this day in 1997 AD, Tajik President, Emomali Rahman, and the leading Tajik Islamist, Seyyed Abdullah Nouri, signed a peace treaty in Moscow, thereby terminating the five-year civil war in the Central Asian Persian speaking republic. A year after Tajikistan’s independence, civil war broke out between Islamists and the former communist rulers. The UN and regional countries including Iran tried to restore peace, and an agreement was signed in Tehran in May 1997 which was finalized in Moscow with Iran’s mediation. Based on the accord, 30% of governmental posts were given to the opponents and the opposition forces were merged in the Tajik army. Several articles of the constitution were amended to meet the demands of Islamists in Tajikistan. Tajikistan covers an area of almost 143,000 sq km. Its capital is Dushanbe and it shares borders with China, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

9 solar years ago, on this day in 2008 AD, in Indian-controlled Kashmir tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets, burning flags and effigies of Indian leaders on the fifth day of protests against the transfer of land to a Hindu shrine in the Muslim-majority region.

AS/MG