Today is Monday; 23rd of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 3rd of the Islamic month of Rajab 1437 lunar hijri; and April11, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1525 solar years ago, on this day in 491 AD, palace official, Flavius Anastasius, was placed on the throne of Byzantine or the Eastern Roman, with the title Emperor Anastasius I, by the deceased Emperor Zeno’s widow, Aelia Ariadne (daughter of Emperor Leo I), who subsequently married him to grant legitimacy to his rule. A person with one eye black and one eye blue that earned him the nickname “Dicorus” or the "Two-Pupiled", a decade later he started war against Iran’s Sassanid Empire in what is now south-central Turkey. Known as the Anastasian War, the 4-year seesaw struggle fought from 502 to 506, was the first major conflict between the two superpowers since the Peace Treaty of 442, and would be the prelude to a long series of destructive wars over the next century that would result in the weakening of both the empires and their conquest by Arab Muslim armies with the rise of Islam. The cause of war was the demand by Qobad I, the 19th Sassanid Emperor, for money to pay his debts to the Hephthalites (eastern Iranian tribes and ancestors of the Pashtuns of Afghanistan-Pakistan). The situation between Rome and Iran was also exacerbated by recent changes in the flow of the Tigris in lower Mesopotamia (Iraq), sparking famines and flood. When Anastasius refused to pay, Qobad seized the city of Theodosiopolis, and then captured Amida (Diyarbakr in modern Turkey). The year 503 saw much warfare without decisive results: the Romans attempted an unsuccessful siege of Amida while the Iranians invaded Osroene and laid siege to Edessa with the same results. In 504 Anastasius gained the upper hand by retaking Amida, which made Qobad to agree to an armistice because of the invasion of Armenia in the Caucasus by the Huns. Fighting, however, continued until late 506 when a treaty was finally agreed and Rome had to make payment to the Iranians. Although no large-scale conflict took place during the rest of Anastasius's reign, the building of Roman defenses in Anatolia became a lasting source of controversy with the Persians, who called it violation of the Treaty of 422, by which both empires had agreed not to establish new fortifications in the frontier zone. 

1183 lunar years ago, on this day in 254 AH, Imam Ali an-Naqi al-Hadi (AS), the 10th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was martyred in Samarra at the age of 42, as a result of a fatal dose of poisoning administered by Mo’taz, the 13th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime. His period of Imamate was 34 years during which he groomed a large number of scholars in various branches of knowledge, and institutionalized the system “Wikala” (representation), which would efficiently serve the followers of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt during the “Ghaybat as-Sughra” or Minor Occultation of his grandson, the 12th Imam, who will reappear in the end times as “Qa’em al-Mahdi” to establish the global government of peace, prosperity and justice by weeding out oppression.

1049 lunar years ago, on this day in 388 AH, the Islamic-Iranian mathematician and astronomer, Abu'l-Wafa Mohammad ibn Mohammad ibnYahya al-Bouzjani, passed away in Baghdad at the age of 60. Born in the northeastern Iranian town of Bouzhgan (present day Torbat-e Jam) in Khorasan, at the age of 19 he moved to Baghdad and remained there for forty years. He made important innovations in spherical trigonometry, and his work on arithmetic for businessmen contains the first instance of using negative numbers in an Islamic text. He was the first to build a wall quadrant to observe the sky. Bouzjani participated in an experiment to determine the difference in local time between his location in Baghdad and that of his famous contemporary, Abu Rayhan al-Berouni in Kath, Khwarezm, which is now part of the Central Asian Republic of Uzbekistan. The result was very close to present-day calculations, showing a difference of approximately 1 hour between the two longitudes. The 3rd Lunar Inequality (the variation) was first discovered by Bouzjani, a fact admitted by European scientist, Tycho Brahe, who often quotes this Iranian Islamic scientist's work. His "Kitab al-Majisti" (Almajest) covers numerous topics in the fields of plane and spherical trigonometry, planetary theory, and solutions to determine the direction of Qibla – the focal point of the daily ritual prayers for Muslims worldwide. The crater “Abu'l-Wafa” on the Moon is named after him. Bouzjani wrote several books that have not survived, including “Tarikh-e Ilm al-Hesab” (The History of Calculus).

968 lunar years ago, on this day in 469 AH, the Arabic grammarian of Fatemid Egypt, Abu’l-Hassan Taher Ibn Ahmad Ibn Babshad, passed away. He was of Iranian origin and was born in Basra, Iraq, in a family of pearl-dealers who migrated to Cairo. In his youth he came to Baghdad to learn sciences, and eventually returned to Egypt. He wrote several books, and was a rich businessman but later in life, donated to charity all his possessions, and became a hermit.

802 solar years ago, on this day in 1214 AD, the English philosopher and Franciscan friar, Roger Bacon, was born. His access to the Latin translations of the Arabic works of Islamic scholars enlightened his mind, and he was greatly influenced in the field of optics by the monumental "Kitab al-Manazer" of Abul-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen). The impact of al-Kindi (Alkindus) is also evident in his writings. Moreover, Bacon's investigations of the properties of the magnifying glass show the clear influence of the Iranian Islamic scientist Ibn Sahl's research in dioptrics. His works also indicate his familiarity with the books "Kitab ad‐Dalalaat ala'l‐Ittesalaat wa‐Qiranaat al‐Kawakeb"(Book of Indications of the Planetary Conjunctions), written by the Iranian Islamic astronomer, Abu-Ma'shar Ja'far ibn Mohammad al-Balkhi.

765 solar years ago, on this day in 1241 AD, Batu Khan, the grandson of the bloodthirsty Buddhist Mongol conqueror, defeated King Bela IV of Hungary at the Battle of Muhi, laying the land waste and massacring at least 20 percent of the Christian population. Batu was the founder of the vast Golden Horde Empire or the Qipchaq Khanate that spanned most of the central parts of Eurasia for 250 years. In 1313, with the accession of Uzbeg Khan to the throne, the Golden Horde officially adopted Islam and contributed to the spread and development of Islamic religion and culture.

542 lunar years ago, on this day in 895 AH, Ahmad Nizam ul-Mulk Bahri defeated Sultan Mahmud Shah II of the Bahmani kingdom of the Deccan in south-central India, to establish the Nizam-Shahi kingdom of Ahmadnagar and took the title of Ahmad Nizam Shah. He was son of Hassan Nizam ul-Mulk Bahri, a Kanarese Brahmin who embraced the truth of Islam and was appointed governor of the northern parts of the Bahmani kingdom of Iranian origin. Two years later Ahmad Nizam Shah died, but the dynasty he founded continued to rule with fluctuating fortunes for over 125 years, until its annexation by the Mughal Empire of the northern Subcontinent. The second king, Burhan Nizam Shah, became a follower of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), due to the influence of the Iranian migrant religious scholar, Seyyed Shah Taher Hussaini. The Nizam-Shahis, like the other two Shi’ite Muslim sultanates of the Deccan, the Adil-Shahis of Bijapur and the Qutb-Shahis of Golkanda-Haiderabad, maintained cordial relations with Iran’s Safavid Emperors, exchanging ambassadors, hosting Iranians of various walks of life, and patronizing Persian literature, art, and architecture.

261 solar years ago, on this day in 1755 AD, English physician and paleontologist, James Parkinson, was born. In 1805, he wrote a little known monograph “Observations on the Nature and Cure of Gout”. He was first to recognize a burst appendix as a cause of death. In his Essay on the Shaking Palsy in 1817, he was the first to describe the neuromuscular disease which is now known by his name as “Parkinson's Disease”. The symptoms of this disease are a generalized slowness of movement, a tremor or slight shaking on one side of the body when at rest, some stiffness of the limbs, and problems of gait or balance.

157 solar years ago, on this day in 1859 AD, a chilling machine was invented for the first time by French industrialist and chemist, Ferdinand Carre, for preservation of food and medicine, especially in warm regions. This led to the eventual invention of the refrigerator.

37 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was deposed and was given asylum in Saudi Arabia despite the fact that he was known to be a brutal murderer and cannibal who ate human flesh. Saudi Arabia is notorious for its support for dictators, such as its giving of asylum to Tunisia’s Zain al-Abedin bin Ali, who was toppled in 2011.

31 solar years ago, on this day in 1985 AD, Anvar Khoja’s 40-year long communist dictatorial rule over Muslim majority Albania ended with his death at the age of 77. Born in a family following the Bektashi Sufi Order founded in 13th century Khorasan by Bektash Vali, an adherent of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), in his youth he studied in Italy and France, before travelling all over Europe and the US. He turned into a communist and on return to Albania became fierce opponent of the monarchy that had been installed by European powers on separation of Albania from the Ottoman Empire. He resisted the Fascist Italian occupation of his homeland, and became the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania. He was chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania and commander-in-chief of the armed forces from 1944 until his death. His anti-religious rule was characterized by the elimination of the opposition, prolific use of the death penalty or long prison terms of his political opponents and evictions from homes. He used Stalinist methods to destroy his associates who threatened his power. During his rule, Albania became industrialised and saw rapid economic growth, as well as unprecedented progress in the areas of education and health. Khoja’s government was characterized by his adherence to anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism from the mid-1970s onwards. He broke away from Maoism in 1976, and it was only after his death that communism ended in Albania and religion, especially Islam, made a gradual return.

24 solar years ago, on this day in 1992 AD, the Iranian university lecturer and author, Mohsen Saba, passed away. On completion of preliminary studies at Dar ul-Fonoun School, he left for France and after receiving a PhD in Law he returned to Iran to serve as university lecturer. He was the founder of Iran’s National Bibliography Society and The National Archive Committee, affiliated to the UNESCO. He has left behind numerous important compilations.

19 solar years ago, on this day in 1997 AD, a day after the unjust verdict of a local German court, under influence of the illegal Zionist entity, Israel, against the Islamic Republic of Iran’s high-ranking officials, member states of the European Union recalled their ambassadors from Tehran. Known as the Mykonos Case after the name of a Greek restaurant in Berlin in which an Iranian Kurdish figure was mysteriously killed, the kangaroo court was proof of the sham trial in a futile bid to pressure Iran. In response to EU’s unwarranted and highly politicized decision, Iran dismissed as baseless the allegations and claims of the German court, recalling its ambassadors from EU member states. As Islamic Iran refused to budge from its principled position, the EU ambassadors gradually returned to Tehran.