Today is Tuesday; 15th of the Iranian month of Khordad 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 20th of the Islamic month of Ramadhan 1439 lunar hijri; and June 5, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

2488 solar years ago, on this day in 470 BC, according to calculations of modern-day scientists, the famous Greek philosopher Socrates was born in Athens. He served as an infantryman during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. A sophist or teacher of philosophy, he claimed not to know anything for certain and used the interrogatory method for teaching. He left no written works. He was a major critic of popular belief in Athens and was the protagonist of Plato’s dialogues. Besides Plato, another of his famous students was Xenophon. Socrates was imprisoned by the ruling authorities for his criticism of their mismanagement and sentenced to death by drinking poison at the age of over seventy years.

1431 lunar years ago, on this day in 8 AH, Mecca, the then centre of paganism, peacefully surrendered to Muslims at the approach of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) without notice with some 10,000 believers, following the breach of the Treaty of Hodaibiyyah signed two years earlier by the Arabs. The Prophet declared general amnesty to his bitter foes and even did not retaliate against the killers of his dear uncle, Hamza, that is, the Abyssinian slave Wahshi and his masters who had ordered him to commit the savagery at Ohad five years earlier – Hind and her husband Abu Sufyan. He spared them by calling them “tulaqa” or freed slaves. This display of the clemency had a profound effect and multitudes of Qoreish started embracing the truth of Islam, as borne out by “Surah Nasr” revealed by God on this day. The Prophet ordered demolishment of temples and the holy Ka’ba was cleansed of the idols the polytheists had installed at Abraham’s edifice of monotheism. The chief idol atop the Ka’ba was pulled down by Imam Ali (AS), who, the Prophet lifted on his shoulders to end idolatry in Arabia.

1139 solar years ago, on this day in 879 AD, Iranian adventurer and founder of the short-lived Saffarid Dynasty, Yaqoub Ibn Layth Saffar, died in Jondi Shapour in Khuzestan at the age of 39, due to severe stomachache, and was succeeded by his brother Amr. A coppersmith by profession, he led an ascetic life and gradually started gathering fighting men around him in Sistan in the town of Zaranj, which is currently in Afghanistan, to annihilate the “khwarej” (renegades) in the region. This earned him fame, and he soon brought the whole of Sistan under his control. He turned to the east and after taking Bost, captured Kabul, before turning west to seize Herat from the fellow Iranian dynasty of Tahirids, who ruled Khorasan. In 868 he set out for Kerman, and soon wrested Shiraz from the control of the Abbasids, but continued to call himself a vassal of the caliph. In 869, he returned to Zaranj, his capital, and in 871, during the caliphate of Mo’tamid, he again descended on Shiraz and advanced towards Khuzestan. The caliph was able to prevent him from invading Iraq by appointing him the Abbasid governor of Balkh, Fars, Kerman, Sistan and Sind. In 873, Yaqoub bin Layth brought all of Khorasan under his control by seizing its capital, Neishabour, from where he marched to Gorgan and Tabarestan (present-day Mazandaran) and then as far as Chalous, before withdrawing to Rayy after collecting taxes of the Caspian region. This brought him offers from Caliph Mo’tamid of the governorship of Khorasan, Tabaristan, Gorgan, Rayy, and also the position of security-chief in Baghdad. Proud of his victories, Yaqoub bin Layth rejected the offer and invaded Khuzestan, but at Dayr al-Aqoul, some seventy km from Baghdad, he was defeated by the Abbasid forces and returned to Khuzestan, to prepare for another attack, when he died. There are conflicting reports about Yaqoub’s religious beliefs, with claims that he had Ismaili Shi’ite tendencies.

897 lunar years ago, on this day in 542 AH, the Arabic literary figure, grammarian, and poet, Hibatollah Ibn Ali Ibn ash-Shajari, passed away. He was a descendant of Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS), the elder grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He spent almost seventy years lecturing on grammar and has left behind numerous works, including: “al-Amali”, and “al-Hamasah”. He has critically evaluated and beautifully explained the poetry of the famous poet, al-Mutanabbi who preceded him by two centuries.

813 lunar years ago, on this day in 626 AH, the Islamic geographer and biographer, Yaqout ibn Abdullah ar-Rumi al-Hamawi, passed away at the age of 51 in Aleppo, Syria. Renowned for his encyclopedic writings, the epithet "ar-Rumi" refers to his Roman or more properly Greek Byzantine origin, while "al-Hamawi" is taken from the family name of his master who was from Hama in Syria but settled in Baghdad, Iraq. “Ibn-Abdullah” means “son of the servant of God, since the name of his Greek father was rather difficult to pronounce in Arabic. His master taught him accounting, trading and other sciences before releasing him. Yaqout, in addition to his native Greek and Latin, mastered Arabic, Persian and Turkish, and dedicated himself to scholarly tasks. He was one of the last scholars who visited the famous Islamic libraries east of the Caspian Sea before the devastating Mongol invasion of Central Asia. He spent two years in the libraries of the Khorasani city of Merv which is currently in Turkmenistan. His two famous voluminous works are “Kitab Mu'jam al-Boldaan (Encyclopedia of Lands) and “Kitab Mu'jam al-Udaba” (Encyclopedia of Writers).

765 lunar years ago, on this day in 674 AH, the literary figure and historian, Taj od-Din Ali Ibn Anjab Ibn Abdullah as-Sa’i, passed away in Baghdad at the age of 81 years.  He was the custodian of books at the al-Mustansiriyah School of Baghdad. After the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols of Hulagu Khan and the end of the Abbasid caliphate, he was made in charge of the surviving libraries of Baghdad by the renowned Iranian Islamic scientist, Khwjah Naseer od-Din Tusi. Among his works is “al-Jame’ al-Mukhtasar fi Onwan at-Tarikh wa Uyoun as-Siyar”. He also wrote the book “Nisa' al-Khluafa” on the different types of women patronized by the Abbasid caliphs.

438 solar years ago, on this day in 1580 AD, Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah, the 3rd king of the Qara Qoyunlu Dynasty of Iranian origin of Golkandah in the Deccan (southern India), passed away at the age of 62 after 30-year reign. In 1543 on the suspicious death of his father and founder of the dynasty, Sultan Quli Qutb Shah – originally from Hamedan, Iran – when his brother Jamshid seized the throne, he fled to Vijayanagar kingdom. Seven years later, on the death of Jamshid he returned to Golkandah, and was welcomed by the nobles, who deposed his young nephew Subhan and placed him on the throne. He maintained very cordial relations with the Safavid Emperors of Iran, as is evident by his correspondence with them. Ibrahim was a patron of arts, and promoted Arabic and Persian in the kingdom, where scholars and artisans from Iran used to flock, such as the historian Khurshah bin Qubad al-Hussaini, and Mullah Hussain Tabasi. His wife was Bhagirati, a princess of the Viyajnagar who embraced the truth of Islam, and he also patronized Telugu poets, such as Singanacharyudu and Kandukuru Rudrakavi. He took keen interest in the welfare of the people, repaired and fortified Golconda as the world's largest fort, developed the Hussain Sagar Lake (still a landmark in the city of Haiderabad, built by his son and successor, Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah), and undertook various other projects such as mosques and bridges. He sent to the holy shrine of Prophet Mohammad's 8th Infallible Heir, Imam Reza (AS), a beautifully embellished holy Qur'an, which is still on display at the shrine's museum in Mashhad. In 1565, he joined the Sultans of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar in the historic Battle of Talikota to conquer the Vijaynagar whose ruler Ramraya was encroaching upon the territories of the sultanates.

235 solar years ago, on this day in 1783 AD, the first hot-air balloon ascent - unmanned - flew for ten minutes. It was made by the French brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier at their home town of Annonay, France. The history of aviation is as old as Man’s quest to fly since antiquity. In the heyday of Islamic science and civilization, there are records pertaining to the Spanish Muslim polymath, Abbas ibn Firnas, who flew from Jabal al-Arous Hill by employing a rudimentary glider in the 9th century AD.

156 solar years ago, on this day in 1862 AD, the Treaty of Saigon was signed, ceding parts of southern Vietnam to France, but guerrilla leader Trương Định decided to defy Emperor Tự Đức of Vietnam and fight on against the Europeans. In the next century it was Ho Chi Minh who in 1945 declared independence from France, following Japan's defeat in World War 2 and its retreat from Southeast Asia. The French, however, attacked Vietnam in 1946 in a bid to re-impose their colonial rule, but after eight years of fighting were forced to withdraw. The US then interfered and occupied southern Vietnam and set up a puppet regime in Saigon for terrorizing the country on the pretext of stopping the spread of communism. In 1975 after their failure to crush the resistance of the Vietnamese people, despite massive bombing and use of internationally banned chemical weapons, US forces humiliatingly fled Vietnam. Vietnam was united once again. It covers an area of 329,566 sq km, sharing borders with China, Laos, and Cambodia.

153 lunar years ago, on this day in 1286 AH, the eminent scholar, Shaikh al-Iraqayn, Abdul-Husain Ibn Ali Tehrani, passed away in Karbala, and was laid to rest in the holy shrine of the Chief of Martyrs, Imam Husain (AS). Iraq. An authority in theology, hadith, and exegesis of the Holy Qur’an, he groomed many students, including the famous Mirza Hussain Nouri, the teacher in turn of the celebrated Shaikh Abbas Qomi – the author of widely circulated prayer-supplication manual “Mafatih al-Jenaan”.  He had a vast collection of books and before his death endowed his library for the use of scholars and researchers.

150 lunar years ago, on this day in 1289 AH, the eminent jurist, Seyyed Mohammed Taqi Ibn Seyyed Mohammed Reza Ibn Seyyed Mohammed Mahdi Bahr al-Uloum, passed away.

135 solar years ago, on this day in 1883 AD British economist, John Maynard Keynes, was born in Cambridge. His ideas profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics and shaped the economic policies of western governments. His ideas are the basis for the school of thought known as Keynesian economics and its various offshoots. He explained the mass murder during the first years of the communist era in Russia on a racial basis as part of the “Russian and Jewish nature”. Writing in his "Short View of Russia" published after a trip to Russia that there is "beastliness on the Russian and Jewish natures when, as now, they are allied together." Later in life he became a supporter of Zionism.

102 solar years ago, on this day in 1916 AD, during the First World War, Britain instigated the Arab Revolt through its agent Sharif Hussein of Hijaz against the Turkish Ottoman Empire, on promises of making him ‘sultan’ of a single unified state stretching from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen. The infamous Colonel Lawrence was the architect of this conspiracy to defeat the Turks and deceive the Arabs. After dismembering the Ottoman Empire and creating the secular republic of Turkey, Britain, which in 1919 at the Treaty of Versailles in Paris, took pledge from Sharif Hussein’s son, Sharif Ali, of implementing the scandalous Balfour Declaration of 1917 for setting up a state for European Jews in Palestine, reneged on its promises of a single unified Arab sultanate. Although the British installed two of Sharif Hussein’s sons, Abdullah and Faisal, as kings of two new states called Jordan and Iraq, London conspired with another of its local agents, the desert brigand Abdul-Aziz Aal-e Saud of Najd to attack and occupy Hijaz, including the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in 1925, and after ending the several centuries-long rule of the Sharifs of Hijaz, created the spurious entity called Saudi Arabia in 1932.

77 solar years ago, on this day in 1941 AD, during World War II, four thousand men, women, and children of Chongqing in China, were asphyxiated in a bomb shelter during the Bombing of Chongqing, part of an operation of state terrorism conducted by Japan. A total of 268 air raids were conducted against Chongqing, with more than 11,500 bombs dropped, mainly incendiary bombs. The targets were usually residential areas, business areas, schools, and hospitals – all non-military targets. These bombings were aimed at cowing the Chinese government,

55 solar years ago, on this day in 1963 AD, the Iranian people staged massive demonstrations against the British-installed and US-backed Shah, following news of detention of the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) in the aftermath of his bold exposure to the public of the evil nature of the Pahlavi regime. The regime attacked the people and brutally suppressed them, martyring and wounding a large number of Iranian Muslims. The historical uprising known as "15th of Khordad" marked the starting point of the Islamic movement which was to change Iran's destiny. Though Imam Khomeini was exiled a year later, the movement culminated in his eventual return home and the triumph of Islamic Revolution on February 11, 1979.

51 solar years ago, on this day in 1967 AD, the third major war was launched by the usurper state of Israel on Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. In the 6-day war, helped by the US and the UK, the illegal Zionist entity occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, the Golan Heights of Syria, the West of River Jordan, parts of southern Lebanon, and the whole of the Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas. Although they have left the Sinai and driven out from southern Lebanon, the Zionists are refusing to leave the Golarn Heights and the West Bank despite the passing of several UN Security Council Resolutions.

46 solar years ago, on this day in 1972 AD, the first international conference on environment was held in the Swedish Capital, Stockholm with representatives from 113 countries in attendance, under the motto “There is only one Earth”. The outcome was formation of a new international organization for protection of environment and prevention of discharge of pollutants in oceans and seas; in addition to restriction of production and usage of chemicals. It marked the starting point of internationalization of the process of protection of environment. Thereafter, different countries have studied different plans to reduce environmental pollution.

5 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, the Syrian army triumphantly announced liberation of the strategic town of Qusair on the Lebanese border, after a three week battle with Takfiri terrorists financed by reactionary Arab regimes, and supported by the US, Turkey and the illegal Zionist entity called Israel. The Syrian army was assisted by Lebanon’s legendry anti-terrorist movement, Hezbollah. The government in Damascus called the liberation of Qusair as "a message" to Syria's enemies everywhere.

AS/ME