Today is Friday; 13th of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 22nd of the Islamic month of Jamadi as-Sani 1437 lunar hijri; and April 1, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1489 solar years ago, on this day in 527 AD, the ailing Byzantine Emperor , Justin I, named his nephew (sister’s son), Justinian I, as co-ruler and successor to the throne. On the death of Justin in August the same year, Justinian became the sole ruler and embarked on a policy of expansionism as he strove to become the emperor of the Western Roman Empire as well, when his generals conquered North Africa, Sicily, southern Spain and most of Italy including Rome from the Ostrogoths. On his eastern borders, however, he had to conclude an ‘Eternal Peace’ in 532 with the new Iranian emperor, Khosrow I Anushirvan by paying 11,000 pounds of gold, a year after the defeat of Roman forces near Callinicum in what is now Turkey by Emperor Qobad. In 540 the ‘Eternal Peace’ was broken because of Justinian’s intrigues in Armenia which made Khosrow Anushirvan capture Beroea and then Antioch in Syria, resulting in the 22-year war that ended in 562 with conclusion of the “Fifty-Year Peace” and payment of 5,000 pounds of gold, plus 500 pounds of gold more each year to the Iranians by the Romans. Khosrow Anoushirvan’s prudent policy thus thwarted Roman designs in Syria, Anatolia, Armenia and Upper Mesopotamia, as he made sure that Rome would never be a threat to Iran by keeping close contacts with the Goths, the Huns, and the Arabs. Justinian during his long reign embellished his capital Constantinople with buildings, including a new Christian basilica – the Hagia Sophia, which is Greek for “Holy Wisdom” – as seat of the Greek Orthodox Church. He also codified the Roman law which serves as the basis of modern law in most European states.

1423 lunar years ago, on this day in 13 AH, Abu Bakr, who assumed the caliphate or political rule of the Islamic state, following the passing away of the Almighty's Last Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), died at the age of 63, after a rule of 2 years, three months and 22 days. Son of Osman ibn Amer of the Tamimi clan of the Qureish, he is said to have given up idolatry and become a Muslim in the early days of the Prophet's public proclamation of the divine mission well after the initial private invitation to the near relatives. He found himself propelled to the caliphate at the dubious gathering of Saqifa Bani Sa'dah, where following a heated dispute and a fistfight among the Mohajer (Immigrants) of Mecca and the Ansar (Helpers) of Medina for political leadership, his friend Omar ibn Khattab suddenly clasped his hand and pledged allegiance to him as caliph. This action created the greatest discord in the Islamic ummah, the scars of which are still evident on the body politic of the Muslim World. Many of the Prophet's companions questioned Abu Bakr's credentials in the absence of any ayah of the holy Qur'an or a statement from the Prophet in his favour. Most of them vividly remembered that only two months and ten days earlier on 18th Zilhijja, 10 AH, while returning from his Farewell Hajj pilgrimage, the Prophet had halted at Ghadeer-Khom on God's express commandment to proclaim as vicegerent his dear cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), regarding whose prime position in Islam and his God-given merits, God's Messenger had always emphasized upon. It is also an undeniable fact of Islamic history, as found in all reliable texts, the Prophet's daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), strongly protested the usurpation of the political right of leadership of her husband in an eloquently moving sermon, but sadly she became the target of the wrath of the new regime, which in a bid to force Imam Ali (AS) to swear allegiance to Abu Bakr, stormed her house with fire and crowbars and smashed upon her the door – as a result of which she suffered miscarriage, broken ribs, and eventual martyrdom. In short, before his death, Abu Bakr made a will in favour of his friend, Omar ibn Khattab, as the next caliph, ignoring the protests of several companions of the Prophet, such as Talha ibn Obaidollah.

438 solar years ago, on this day in 1578 AD, the physician and father of modern physiology, William Harvey, was born in England. He improved upon the writings of Islamic scientists to determine the true nature of the circulation of the blood and of the function of the heart as a pump. He died in the year 1657.

201 solar years ago, on this day in 1815 AD, Prussian statesman and 1st Chancellor of unified Germany, Otto von Bismarck, was born in Schonhausen, west of Berlin to a wealthy estate owner and named Otto Eduard Leopold. Educated and trained as a lawyer, he entered politics at the age of 32, and became a skillful politician, dominating German and European affairs from the 1860s until 1898. In 1862, following his appointment by King Wilhelm I as Minister President of Prussia, he engineered a series of wars against Denmark, Austria and archenemy France that unified the German-speaking states (excluding Austria) into a powerful German Empire under Prussian leadership. With that accomplished by 1871 he skillfully used balance of power diplomacy to preserve German hegemony in Europe. He remained undisputed world champion at the game of multilateral diplomatic chess for almost twenty years. His diplomacy of realpolitik and powerful rule at home gained him the nickname of "Iron Chancellor". German unification and its rapid economic growth were indebted to his policies. 1890, Bismarck was dismissed by the German Emperor, Wilhelm II. After his dismissal he started writing his political testament, in which he highly criticized the emperor.

149 solar years ago, on this day 1867 AD, the British forced the Sultan of Johor to cede Singapore and the surrounding 62 islands, which were later permanently separated from Muslim Malaysia and declared an independent country.

92 solar years ago, on this day in 1924 AD, German Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, was sentenced to five years in jail for his participation in the "Beer Hall Putsch" that his party had planned for seizure of political power. However, he spent only nine months in jail, during which he wrote “Mein Kampf” (My Story), and soon shot to fame, winning the elections and becoming chancellor in 1933.

80 solar years ago, on this day in 1936 AD, Pakistani physicist, chemist, and nuclear engineer, Abdul-Qadeer Khan, was born in Bhopal in undivided India. In 1952, 16-year old Abdul-Qadeer, along with his parents migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi, where he earned a degree in metallurgy. In 1961, he went to Germany for higher studies and in 1965 enrolled at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, where he obtained his MS. In 1967, he joined the Catholic University of Leuven for his doctoral studies, obtaining PhD in metallurgical engineering in 1972. His doctoral thesis dealt and contained fundamental work on martensite, and its extended industrial applications to the field of morphology— a field that studies the shape, size, texture and phase distribution of physical objects. In 1972, he worked at a Dutch plant where he gained knowledge on uranium enrichment technology. On 17 Sep 1974, he offered Pakistan’s prime minister, his help to build an atomic bomb. He returned to Pakistan, was involved in the uranium enrichment project, and participated in the successful weapons-grade nuclear fields tests on 28 May 1998, a week after neighbouring India detonated nuclear blasts.

71 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, the US forces’ major aggression on Japan’s Okinawa Island started. This offensive which took place in the waning days of World War II, is considered as the last and largest naval and ground confrontation between the US and Japan. During this 83-day attack, 1300 US warships and almost 10,000 US warplanes were deployed. But, the Japanese strongly defended their soil, destroying 36 US warships and damaging 389 others, mainly through Kamikaze or suicide aerial attacks. The US also lost a total 763 warplanes during these battles. The Japanese paid a heavy price for defending Okinawa Island, losing to death and injury 110,000 of the 120,000 troops deployed on the island. The Japanese also lost 16 ships and 7830 warplanes. Although the US forces ultimately occupied Okinawa Island, the resistance of the Japanese prevented the Americans from invading mainland Japan. Instead, the US officials, in an inhuman act, and in order to force Japan into submission, ordered the nuclear bombardment of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Currently the US main base in Japan is located in the Okinawa Island and the people of this Island have long demanded the closure of this US base.

70 solar years ago, on this day in 1946 AD, the Malayan Union was formed with its capital at Kuala Lumpur. The sultans of the various British-ruled Malay states agreed to its formation despite the loss of their political power. The Union ceased to exist in January, 1948 and was replaced by the Federation of Malaya, and in 1963 was joined by Sabah and Sarawak.

56 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, the first weather observation satellite, Tiros I, was launched from Cape Kennedy in the US and made the first television picture from space. TIROS stands for Television Infrared Observation Satellite, and the goal was to improve satellite applications for Earth-bound decisions, such as "should we evacuate the coast because of the hurricane?" It became extremely successful for weather forecasting.

14 years ago, on this day in 1992 AD, the Serbs started the Bosnian War, as part of their genocide of Europe’s native Muslims. The almost 4-year long war saw the coldblooded massacre of Bosnian Muslims, especially in Srebrenica and Markale, while the western world and the UN turned a blind eye. Over 100,000 Muslims were slaughtered in addition to an estimated 50,000 women raped, and over 2.2 million people displaced, making it the most devastating conflict in Europe since the end of World War II. When the Bosnian defenders, with help from Muslim countries were about to turn the tide of the war against the Serb aggressors, the US intervened to stop the conflict by imposing the Dayton Accord. Till this day, mass graves are being found in various parts of Bosnia.

5 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, Bahrain human rights organization and opposition groups said at least 20 people have been killed in total, since protests began February 14 and hundreds of activists have been either detained or questioned since martial law was imposed by the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime on the overwhelming population of the Persian Gulf island state in mid-March.

AS/AS/ME