Today is Sunday; 11th of the Iranian month of Tir 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 7th of the Islamic month of Shawwal 1438 lunar hijri; and July 2, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1127 lunar years ago, on this day in 311 AH, the renowned Iranian statesman, scientist, and geographer, Abu Abdullah Mohammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Jeyhani, passed away in Bukhara, where he served as vizier to the Iranian Samanid Dynasty. It was his political acumen that consolidated the Samanid realm in Central Asia and Khorasan (including present-day Afghanistan), following the murder of Ahmad Ibn Ismail, the second ruler and the ascension of the latter's 8-year old, Nasr. Poets and historians have eulogized him for his policies that included clemency towards fallen foes. His son and grandson also served as viziers. His lasting fame is indebted to the valuable works he wrote, the most important of which is in the geographical book “al-Masaalek wa’l-Mamalek”.

1054 solar years ago, on this day in 963 AD, the Byzantine army proclaimed Nikephorus Phocas II as Emperor on the plains outside Cappadocia in what is now central Turkey, some three months after the death of Emperor Romonos II, after secret negotiations with the widowed Empress Theophano, who bypassed her own young sons and married the new emperor. A notorious enemy of Muslims, during his 6-year reign and before that as an army commander, Nikephorus Phocas had seized the Muslim emirate of the island of Crete, and led frequent raids into Syria against Sayf od-Dowla, the ruler of the Hamdanid Shi’ite Muslim dynasty of Aleppo. Several times he was beaten with heavy losses. In Crete he pillaged the flourishing cities, destroying mosques, libraries, bathhouses, bazaars, and irrigation canals. The capital Rabz al-Khandaq, where currently the city of Heraklion stands, was totally destroyed. Cretan Muslims were either killed or carried off into slavery, while the emir, Abdul-Aziz ibn Shu’ayb, and his son Nu’man were taken captive to Constantinople and forced to become Christians. On the western front, after renouncing his payments of tribute to the Shi’ite Muslim Fatemid dynasty of North Africa, he attacked, but was forced by defeats on land and sea to evacuate the island completely. In 967 he had to make peace with the Fatemids. In 969, he was assassinated by his wife, Empress Theophano and her new her lover – his own nephew (sister’s son), John I Tzimiskes, who now styled himself emperor.

501 solar years ago, on this day in 1566 AD, French apothecary, astrologer and supposed seer, Michel de Nostredame, known by his Latin name "Nostradamus" died at the age of 63. He published collections of so-called prophecies that have since become famous. The first edition appeared in his lifetime in 1555. He has since attracted a following that credits him with predicting many major world events. Academic sources maintain that the associations made between world events and Nostradamus' quatrains are largely the result of misinterpretations or mistranslations (sometimes deliberate) or else are so tenuous as to render them useless as evidence of any genuine predictive power. Nevertheless, many have used a process of free interpretation and determined 'twisting' of his words to predict an apparently imminent event. For example, in 1867, three years before it happened, Le Pelletier did so to anticipate either the triumph or the defeat of Napoleon III in a war that, in the event, begged to be identified as the Franco-Prussian war, while admitting that he could not specify either which or when. There have also been several well-known Internet hoaxes, where quatrains in the style of Nostradamus have been circulated by e-mail as the real thing. The best-known examples concern the collapse of the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 that led to hoaxes and to reinterpretations by enthusiasts of several quatrains as supposed prophecies. With the advent of 2012 Nostradamus's alleged prophecies started to be co-opted as evidence suggesting that the end of the world is imminent, notwithstanding the fact that his book never mentions the end of the world, let alone the year 2012.

472 solar years ago, on this day in 1555 AD, the Ottoman Admiral Turgut Ra’ees, who was Greek Christian before conversion to Islam, sacked the Italian city of Paola in retaliation for the Christian raids on Turkish Muslim possessions in the Mediterranean Sea.

358 lunar years ago, on this day in 1080 AH, the prominent Iranian Islamic scholar, Seyyed Rafi od-Din Mohammad ibn Seyyed Haidar, known popularly as Mirza-e Rafi'a Na’ini, passed away in Isfahan and was laid to rest in the Takht-e Foulad Cemetery. He was the teacher of the famous scholar, Allamah Baqer Majlisi. His works include the book titled “Hamla-e Haidari”. He wrote important works on beliefs and philosophy.

239 solar years ago, on this day in 1778 AD, French author and thinker, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, died. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, he joined social discussions as of the age of 40 and started publishing his viewpoints which later became well-known. His ideological, political, and social works profoundly influenced the French people and some thinkers believe that his views were among the reasons that shaped the French revolution. Among his books, are “The Social Contract”, “Emile”, and “The Confessions”.

128 solar years ago, on this day in 1889 AD, Portuguese rule ended in Brazil with the final defeat of the monarchists in the province of Bahia. The Portuguese royal family had shifted to Brazil following the occupation of Portugal by Napoleon. With the end of the Napoleonic wars, King Joaop VI moved back to Portugal leaving his son as regent, who later declared himself Pedro I as independent ruler of Brazil. When monarchial rule ended in Brazil Pedro II was the emperor, whose reforms such as abolishment of slavery in 1888, angered plantation owners. A year later, the republicans toppled the monarchy and Brazil became a republic.

92 solar years ago, on this day in 1925 AD, Congo’s independence leader, Patrice Lumumba, was born. He struggled against Belgian rule, and after independence was instated as the premier and the minister of defense. His downfall was brought about by the US which backed the military rebellion in Katanga Province and had him dismissed from his post by the Congo president. In 1961, this freedom fighter was murdered after suffering barbaric tortures at the hand of mercenaries of the US and Belgium. With the publication of the reports on his death, a wave of popular protests swept across Congo and other African states. Lumumba has left behind several books including “Congo My Country”.

57 lunar years ago, on this day in 1381 AH, the religious leader and famous political figure of Iran, Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Qasem Kashani, passed away. He attained the status of Ijtehad at the Najaf Seminary at a young age, simultaneous with his struggles against British colonial rule over Iraq, in the company of other ulema. He was expelled by the British, and on arriving in Iran, he launched his struggle against British colonial infiltration, which led to his imprisonment for several years. Following his release, he was elected to the parliament. With Ayatollah Kashani’s support for Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq and the continued struggles of the masses, Iran’s oil industry was nationalized and Mosaddeq was chosen as Prime Minister. But, when the Shah appointed the British stooge, Qawwam os-Saltanah, as the Premier; Ayatollah Kashani issued a statement calling on the people to enter the scene. As a result, the July 21, 1952 uprising took place. The terrified Shah removed Qawwam and Mosaddeq was reinstated as the Premier. Following the US-staged coup in 1953 and the fugitive Shah’s return to Iran, his agents put Ayatollah Kashani under surveillance until his death on this day, after his lifelong struggles against domestic despotism and foreign hegemony.

56 solar years ago, on this day in 1961 AD, the American author, Ernest Hemingway, died at the age of 62. For a while, he worked as a reporter in England and France. He was the innovator of short stories in simple language. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. Among his books, are “The Old Man and the Sea”, “A Farewell to Arms”, and “For Whom the Bell Tolls”.

47 solar years ago, on this day in 1970 AD, Allamah Abdul-Hussain Amini, the renowned Islamic scholar and theologian, and compiler of the valuable book “al-Ghadeer”, passed away at the age of 68 in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq. He was born in the city of Tabriz, in north-western Iran, in a religious family, and after completion of preliminary studies, left for holy Najaf, where he attended the classes of prominent ulema, such as Shaikh Abdul-Karim Haeri and Mirza Mohammad Hussein Na’ini. Soon he attained the status of Ijtehad at a relatively young age, and started writing books. His most valuable work is the 11-volume book titled “al-Ghadeer fi’l-Kitab wa’s-Sunna wa’l-Adab”, in which he refers to the ayahs of the holy Qur’an, the Prophet’s hadith and Arabic literature, regarding the historical event of Ghadeer-Khom on the 18th of Zilhijja 10 AH, when Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) while returning from his Farewell Hajj Pilgrimage was commanded by God Almighty to proclaim Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) as his vicegerent. While writing this monumental book Allamah Amini bore the hardships of travel to several countries, including India, Turkey, Syria, Egypt and Iraq to study different sources. He gathered from Sunni sources the narrations of at least 110 Sahaba or the Prophet’s companions about the event of Ghadeer, and then recorded the Hadiths narrated in this regard by 360 reliable narrators. He also wrote several other books including an exegesis of the Holy Qur’an. He founded a large library in the holy city of Najaf, which stands to this day and is still used by scholars.

45 lunar years ago, on this day in 1393 AH, the exegete of the Holy Qur’an, Ayatollah Mirza Abu’l-Hussain Sha’rani, passed away at the age of 73. As an authority on Islamic sciences, he was fluent in French, Arabic, and English languages. His works include a 10-volume exegesis of the Holy Qur’an.

39 lunar years ago, on this day in 1399 AH, the prominent Iranian religious scholar and exegete of the Holy Qur’an, Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmoud Taleqani, died of heart attack at the age of 70. He was involved in the political developments from an early age, and in 1963 was jailed by the Pahlavi regime for participating in the Khordad 15 Uprising (June 5, 1963), following the arrest of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). In the subsequent years till the triumph of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he was incarcerated or banished to the country’s remote places. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he was named by the Late Imam as Head of the Revolutionary Council as well as the Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran. In the first round of elections for the Assembly of Experts, he was elected as the Tehran representative for an 8-year term. He was a prolific writer and among his works is an exegesis of several surahs of the Holy Qur’an as well as a book titled "System of Ownership in Islam".

35 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, the prominent Islamic scholar, Ayatollah Mohammad Saduqi, was martyred by MKO terrorists while leading the Friday Prayer in Yazd city. A student of such prominent ulema as Ayatollah Khwansari and Grand Ayatollah Boroujerdi, he was a firm supporter of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), and struggled against the Shah’s despotic regime. 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.

27 solar years ago, on this day in 1990 AD, prominent Iranian painter and calligrapher, Mohammad Ali Zavieh, passed away at the age of 78. He attended the “Kamal ul-Molk” School of Art at a young age and soon created his own style.  He has left behind more than 2,000 works during his sixty years of hard work. His first work won the major prize of Brussels painting exhibition. Some of his works are kept at the National Arts Museum of Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organization.

27 solar years ago, on this day in 1990 AD, Some 1402 Hajj pilgrims were killed in a stampede inside a tunnel leading to Mecca from Mena, because of the mismanagement of traffic police and security officials of the Wahhabi regime of Saudi Arabia. It was one of the worst tragedies during the annual Hajj, until it was surpassed in 2015 when thousands of pilgrims, many of them from the Islamic Republic of Iran were trampled to death because of the closing of the main highway in Mena through which Mohammad bin Salman the son of the Saudi ruler, Salman bin Abdul-Aziz, drove in a reckless manner, indifferent to the plight of the pilgrims.

10 solar years ago, on this day in 2007 AD, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting launched the English-language satellite television channel Press TV to counter the Western media's distorted presentation of news, and to convey to the English-speaking people worldwide facts and realities.

AS/ME