Today is Saturday; 8th of the Iranian month of Dey 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 21st of the Islamic month of Rabi as-Sani 1440 lunar hijri; and December 29, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1840 solar years ago, on this day in 178 AD, the Roman city of Izmir on the Aegean Sea coast of Asia Minor, in what is now Turkey, was flattened due to a major quake. This quake killed almost half of the city’s pagan population, while making numerous others homeless. Izmir was later rebuilt by Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius.

510 solar years ago, on this day in 1508 AD, Portuguese naval commander, Francisco de Almeida, attacked the port of Dabhol on the Konkan coast of India, and massacred its inhabitants, both Muslims and Hindus, to avenge the death of his marauding son, Lorenzo de Almeida, who was killed earlier in the year in the Battle of Chaul, which was won by a joint Egyptian-Indian naval force, led by Mir Hussain Kurdi, the admiral of the Mamluk Dynasty, and the Zamorin of Kerala's Muslim ambassador, Mayimama Marakkar. Dabhol (also known as Dabul) was the main Arabian Sea port of the Bahmani Empire of Iranian origin of the Deccan, and later fell under the jurisdiction of the Adel-Shahi kingdom of Bijapur – also of Iranian origin.

205 solar years ago, on this day in 1813 AD, British soldiers burned Buffalo, the second largest city in New York State, during the War of 1812.

183 solar years ago, on this day in 1835 AD, the Treaty of New Echota was imposed on Amerindians by the white Anglo-Saxon government in Washington that forced the Cherokees to cede all the lands east of the Mississippi River to the United States of America. The US has a bleak, black and bloody history of genocide against the natives, who were almost exterminated and their homelands seized.

173 solar years ago, on this day in 1845 AD, the United States annexed the Republic of Texas, which had been independent since the Texas Revolution of 1836, and thereupon made it the 28^th state. Texas was a Spanish and consequently Mexican state in which the US first instigated a rebellion to set up an independent republic and then annexed it as part of its expansionist policies.

128 solar years ago, on this day in 1890 AD, the Wounded Knee Massacre, the last major conflict of the Amerindian War, occurred on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, resulting in the cold-blooded massacre of over 300 men, women, and children of the Lakota tribe of the Sioux Nation by the 7^th Cavalry Regiment of the US commanded by Major Samuel M. Whitside. To pour salt on the wounds of the natives, the US army awarded twenty Medals of Honor, its highest commendation, to officers of the 7^th Cavalry – similar to the Medal of Honor given to Captain Will Rogers of the Vincennes for his cowardly shooting down of the Iranian passenger plane with some 300 men, women and children on board. In 2001, the National Congress of Amerindians passed two resolutions condemning the awards and calling them “Medals of Dishonor”. It has demanded that the US government withdraw these medals.

112 solar years ago, on this day in 1906 AD, Iran's first Constitution, drafted by the newly formed parliament, was signed by the Qajarid king, Mozaffar od-Din Shah. It initially contained 51 articles, and later 107 more articles were added to it. The constitution was tampered with and changed constantly, especially during the despotic rule of the British-installed and American-backed Pahlavi regime. Passages pertaining to people's rule and the Islamic shari'ah were eliminated, while clauses were added to spread corruption and depravity in society for weakening the people's cultural values in order to strengthen the repressive rule of the Pahlavis. Following the triumph of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 that ended domestic despotism and foreign hegemony, the Iranian people voted for a popularly drafted constitution to replace the obsolete one.

104 solar years ago, on this day in 1914 AD, famous Bengali painter, Zain ul-Abedin, was born in Kishoreganj in what is now Bangladesh. Much of his childhood was spent near the scenic banks of the Brahmaputra River, which would later appear in many of his paintings as a source of inspiration all throughout his career. He shot into prominence in 1938 winning the gold medal while studying art in Calcutta, and got the breakthrough in 1944 with his Famine Series paintings of 1943 on the great famine that afflicted Bengal. On the partition of the subcontinent, his hometown Kishoreganj became part of East Pakistan, which in 1971 became Bangladesh. An artist of exceptional talent and international repute, he is rightly considered the Father of Bangladeshi Art. He passed away at the age of 62.

88 solar years ago, on this day in 1930 AD, the famous poet-philosopher of the Subcontinent, Mohammad Iqbal Lahori, in his address in Allahabad as President of the Muslim League, outlined a vision for the creation of Pakistan, by joining together the overwhelmingly Muslim majority northwestern parts of the Subcontinent. He said: "I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan (all overwhelmingly Muslim regions) amalgamated into a single state... the formation of a consolidated Northwest Indian Muslim state appears to me to be the final destiny of the Muslims (of these areas).” Iqbal also considered Kashmir to be part of his vision of Pakistan, although he did not make any specific comment on the other Muslim majority areas of India like Bengal and parts of United Provinces (Uttar Pradesh). He rejected secularism and nationalism, and was also critical of his Muslim League colleague, Mohammad Ali Jinnah (the future Founder of Pakistan), for politicizing the issue of the rights of Muslims throughout India.

81 solar years ago, on this day in 1937 AD, the accord for independence of the Irish Republic from British occupation was signed. However, on the pretext of outbreak of World War II two years later in 1939, the British regime did not implement the accord. In 1949, four years after the end of World War II, the Irish Republic officially announced its independence from Britain. The independence was the result of eight centuries-long struggle of the Irish people against Britain, which continues to occupy the six northern counties of Ireland on the pretext that the Protestant sect of Christianity has a relative majority in these areas. Catholics, however, have refused to acknowledge British rule, and continue their struggle for the exit of British forces and nationals.

69 lunar years ago, on this day in 1371 AH, Ayatollah Mohammad Nahavandi passed away. Born in holy Najaf, Iraq, to Ayatollah Abdur-Rahim Nahavandi, he followed in his father’s footsteps to master various branches of Islamic sciences. His notable work is the book “Nafahat ar-Rahman” on the exegesis of the holy Qur’an, which he wrote in both Arabic and Persian in four volumes.

46 solar years ago, on this day in 1972 AD, Operation Linebacker II ended after the most intensive US bombing campaign of the entire Vietnam War with over 100,000 bombs dropped on Hanoi and Haiphong. Fifteen of the 121 B-52s participating in the air raid were shot down by the North Vietnamese defenders. Some 1318 men, women, and children were killed by the US bombing that failed to dent the resolve of the defenders who eventually triumphed in the long drawn war. 

10 solar years ago, on this day in 2008 AD, a day after the Zionist army launched its 22-day holocaust on the besieged Gaza Strip, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, issued a fatwa (religious decree) saying that anyone killed while defending Palestinians in Gaza would be considered a martyr. Despite the brutality of its attack that resulted in the death of almost 1,500 men, women, and children, and destruction of the infrastructure, in addition to several thousand wounded, the illegal Zionist entity failed to topple the popularly elected Hamas-led Palestinian government.

AS/SS