Today is Tuesday; 10th of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 19th of the Islamic month of Jamadi as-Sani 1437 lunar hijri; and March 29, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

899 lunar years ago, on this day in 538 AH, the famous Egyptian reciter of the Holy Qur'an, Qasem Ibn Fira ash-Shatebi, known as “Imam al-Qurra” was born. Although he was blind, he had a sharp memory and authored a book on the seven different ways of recitation of the holy book. He passed away in Cairo in 590 AH.

586 solar years ago, on this day in 1430 AD, the Ottoman Empire under Murad II captured the Byzantine city of Thessalonica, and made it the commercial hub of the Turkish Empire. For almost five centuries the city called Selanik in Turkish was under Ottoman rule, until its occupation by Greece in 1912 during the First Balkan War. The mostly Muslim population of this city was deported to Turkey in 1922 and resettled with Greeks to change its Islamic atmosphere.

443 solar years ago, on this day in 1573 AD, the French King Charles IX issued an edict in favour of Protestants, according to which the French Protestants who had beaten Catholics in the 4th War of Religion, gained freedom in observance of their rituals. This 4th War of Religion between Catholics and Protestants, which started as of July 16, 1572, is known as La Rochelle Battle.

340 solar years ago, on this day in 1676 AD, the Ottoman Turks defeated Poland and gained control of parts of Ukraine. This battle started as of the year 1671 with the unrest of Poland’s Cossacks and the Ottoman Empire’s support for them.

245 solar years ago, on this day in 1772 AD, Swedish thinker and mystic, Emanuel Swedenborg, passed away at the age of 104. He based his philosophy on separation from the materialistic world and observance of the spiritual universe. He believed that whatever exists in the materialistic world is a symbol of the superior spiritual universe. He believed that the more pure and chaste the human being, the better he would be able to understand God. He wrote 50 books on his thoughts.

167 solar years ago, on this day in 1849 AD, the British colonialists formally annexed the Punjab region of the subcontinent after defeating the Sikhs. Punjab is today divided between Pakistan and India.

146 solar years ago, on this day in 1870 AD, Italian-French explorer, Paul-Emile Botta, died at the age of 68. He was assigned as French consul to Mosul in Iraq, where his interest in archaeology led to the discovery in 1843 of the palace of the Assyrian king Sargon II (721 to 705 BC) at Dur Sharrukin or modern Khorsabad.

136 solar years ago, on this day in 1885 AD, the famous Iranian historian, writer, and poet, Mirza Mohammad Taqi Sepehr Kashani, titled “Lisan ol-Mulk”, passed away at the age of 86. After his initial education in his hometown Kashan, he moved to Tehran and on the encouragement of the poet laureate Saba he started writing books. On Saba's death, he returned to Kashan and was appointed deputy to Prince Mahmoud son of Fath Ali Shah and was given the pen name "Sepehr" by the Prince. He was called to Tehran by Fath Ali Shah and entered government service. During Mohammad Shah’s reign, he was the royal eulogist and the secretary to the Finance Department. He was commissioned by Mohammad Shah's royal decree in 1843 to write a comprehensive history from the creation of Adam. He compiled it in several volumes titled “Nasekh at-Tawarikh” which covers the world history up 1272 AH (1855 AD) when he was given the title “Lisan ol-Mulk” by Nasser od-Din Shah. He also wrote the books “Aina-e Jahan-Nama” and “Merits of the Infallible Imams”.

114 solar years ago, on this day in 1902 AD, Marcel Ayme, the French novelist, children's writer, humour writer, screenwriter and theatre playwright, was born. After the great success of his novel “La Jument Verte” in 1933, translated into English as "The Green Mare", he concentrated mostly on writing and published children's stories, novels, and collections of stories. He died in 1967.

113 solar years ago, on this day in 1903 AD, regular wireless news service began between New York and London on Marconi’s wireless. On 30 March 1903, The Times in London became the first newspaper to establish an ongoing arrangement with the Marconi Telegraph Company for regular transmission of news between the US and the UK. Shortly thereafter, the New York Times requested that it be part of the arrangement. Despite extensive teething problems the importance of wireless as a cheap form of communication quickly became obvious.

69 solar years ago, on this day in 1947 AD, the Malagasy uprising against French colonial rule in Madagascar started through coordinated attacks by the local people, armed mainly with spears, against military bases and French-owned plantations in the eastern part of the island around Moramanga and Manakara. The nationalist cause was rapidly adopted in the south and spread to the central highlands and the capital of Antananarivo by the following month, with the number of Malagasy fighters estimated at over one million. The French savagely attacked the independence-seekers and engaged in a variety of terror tactics designed to demoralize the population. The French military force carried out mass execution, torture, rape, torching of entire villages, collective punishment and other atrocities such as throwing live Malagasy prisoners out of airplane – called death flights. As many as 100,000 Malagasies were killed, while only 550 French soldiers lost their life. By August 1948, the majority of the nationalist leaders were killed or captured, and the Uprising was effectively put down by December 1948. The violent repression of the nationalist uprising left deep scars in Malagasy society. A generation of the managerial class was wiped out, creating challenges for the country upon achieving independence in 1960. The Malagasy trace their origin to Borneo in Southeast Asia. Muslims form over 10 percent of the population. The first Muslims to arrive were Arabs and Somalis in the 9th century. The written history of Madagascar began with the Arabs, who established trading posts along the northwest coast by the 10th century and introduced Islam and the Arabic script that was formally used to transcribe the Malagasy language in a form of writing known as “Sorabe”. Today the language is written in the Latin script imposed by the French and the majority of people are Christians – a legacy of European colonial rule. Over 90% of Madagascar’s wildlife is not found anywhere.

55 solar years ago, on this day in 1961 AD, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Tabatabaei Boroujerdi, passed away in holy Qom. After studying preliminary Islamic sciences in his hometown, Boroujerd, he left for the Najaf Seminary in Iraq, acquiring knowledge under the prominent Ulema of his time. On returning to Iran he engaged in scholarly and social activities. In 1945, he went to holy Mashhad and thereafter Qom, and soon became a Source of Emulation. Under his supervision, the Qom Seminary vastly expanded. Grand Ayatollah Boroujerdi took the opportunity to introduce the rich Islamic culture globally and to take positive steps for the proximity and unity of Muslim denominations with the cooperation of other thinkers of the World of Islam. His important measures include revival of important and valuable works of Ulema; compilation of numerous scientific and religious books; construction of mosques in Iranian cities; development of the Hamburg Mosque in Germany; and grooming of prominent students, such as the Father of Islamic Revolution, late Imam Khomeini (RA).

43 solar years ago, on this day in 1973 AD, following the humiliating American failure to suppress the aspirations of the Vietnamese people for national unity and reconciliation, despite intense bombing and use of chemical weapons, the last US combat soldiers left the artificial entity called South Vietnam, whose capital Saigon fell on 30 April 1975, thereby ending the war that had started in 1955 with unwarranted American intervention.

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, following the victory of Islamic Revolution and ouster of the Pahlavi regime, a nationwide referendum was held for determination of the type of system governing Iran. It lasted two days due to wide scale participation. Finally, 98.2% of the participants voted for the Islamic system.

6 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, Iran’s intelligence personnel carried out an “intricate” cross-border mission and freed Iranian diplomat, Heshmatollah Attarzadeh, who was kidnapped in 2008 by terrorists in northwestern Pakistan on November 13, 2008, along with his Pakistani bodyguard, while driving over a narrow bridge in Peshawar, when two gunmen blocked their way with a car and opened fire.

AS/ME