Today is Wednesday; 10th of the Iranian month of Bahman 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 23rd of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1440 lunar hijri; and January 30, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

463 solar years ago, on this day in 1556 AD, the 2^nd Moghal Emperor of Hindustan (northern subcontinent), Naseer od-Din Mohammad Humayun, died in Delhi, as a result of a fatal blow to his head, three days after tumbling down the stairs of his library with his arms full of books, when he caught his foot in his robe, while bowing in reverence on hearing the call of the muezzin for prayer. He was 48 years old and his death occurred only a year after recovering with Iranian help the kingdom he had lost 15 years earlier to the Pashturn adventurer, Sher Shah Suri. Born in Kabul (in present day Afghanistan), he was 22 years old when he succeeded his father, Zaheer od-Din Babar in India in 1530, while his step-brother Kamran Mirza, obtained the sovereignty of Kabul and Lahore. His peaceful personality, patience and non-provocative methods, in addition to his addiction to opium, cost him the kingdom ten years later, forcing him to flee to Safavid Iran, where he was cordially received by Shah Tahmasp I, who provided him aid to regain the Moghal Empire. Humayun's return from Iran, accompanied by a large retinue of Iranian noblemen, signaled an important change in Moghal court culture, as the Central Asian origins of the dynasty were largely overshadowed by the influences of Persian art, architecture, language and literature.  His most noted achievement was in the sphere of painting. His devotion to the early Safavid School, developed during his stay in Iran, led him to recruit Persian painters of merit to accompany him back to India. These artists laid the foundation of the Moghal style which emerged from its Persian chrysalis as an indigenous achievement in which Indian elements blended harmoniously with the traditions of Iran and Central Asia. Even Humayun's tomb, built by his widow, Hamida Bano Begum (daughter of Shaikh Ali Akbar Jami, an Iranian Shi'ite Muslim descended from the mystic Shaikh Ahmad Jami of Torbat-e Jam in Khorasan), fits into the Iranian tradition of imperial mausoleums. It is said Humayun had embraced the school of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt. He was succeeded by his son, Akbar.

358 solar years ago, on this day in 1661 AD, in a sadistically repulsive act, King Charles II of Britain on the 12th anniversary of the execution of his father, King Charles I by Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, exhumed the latter’s grave and ordered the ritual beheading of the corpse more than two years after burial.

230 solar years ago, on this day in 1789 AD, the forces of Vietnam’s Tay Sơn emerged victorious against Qing armies of China, and liberated the capital Thang Long.

133 lunar years ago, on this day in 1307 AH, the Islamic scholar of Northern India, Seyyed Mohammad Ibrahim, titled “Seyyed ul-Ulema” passed away. To him goes the credit of persuading the British occupiers of Lucknow to vacate the grand Asefi Mosque, the Alamgir Mosque and the magnificent Asefi Imambara (Hussainiyya), which they defiled for 27 years, using it as a gunpowder storage house, following their forcing into exile of the last King of Awadh, Wajed Ali Shah of the Naishapuri Dynasty founded by the Iranian adventurer, Seyyed Mohammad Amin Musavi entitled Sa’adat Khan Burhan ol-Mulk. After return of these religious structures to the Shi'ite Muslims Seyyed ul-Ulema revived the congregational prayers at the two mosques and the mourning ceremonies for the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS) at the Hussainiyya. Soon the Friday and Eid Prayers were revived at the Asefi Mosque. Over a century earlier, it was Seyyed ul-Ulema’s famous ancestor, Seyyed Dildar Ali Naqavi Naseerabadi, who had led the first exclusive public congregational prayers of Shi'ite Muslims in Lucknow on 13th Rajab 1200 AH, on the birth anniversary of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), followed by establishment of the weekly Friday prayers.

118 solar years ago, on this day in 1901 AD, the world's tallest geyser was discovered by Dr Humphrey Haines on the North Island of New Zealand. It appeared after an enormous eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886. The Waimangu Geyser was the largest geyser in the world and erupted on a 36 hour cycle for four years, hurling black mud and rocks in the air. Waimangu is Maori for "black water." It stopped in 1904 when a landslide changed the local water table. Eruptions would typically reach 600 feet. Some super bursts are known to have reached 1,600 feet (10 times as high as Yellowstone's famous Old Faithful, and which would be higher than the Empire State Building.)

94 solar years ago, on this day in 1925 AD, US electrical engineer Douglas Carl Engelbart, inventor of the computer mouse which he patented in November 1970, was born. For input, he collaborated with others in the invention of joystick, track ball and light pen devices. It was part of his larger work developing a computer graphical user interface (as opposed to merely keyboard input and text display). This involved a multiple window display, and the ability to display not only text, but also images, audio, video in a single document. After earning his Ph.D. in 1955, he joined the Stanford Research Institute. On 9 December 1968, at a computer conference, he conducted the world's first video conference, multiple window display, as well as collaboration online, and his mouse device for input.

85 solar years ago, on this day in 1934 AD, the dictatorial rule of German Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, as chancellor and president commenced. Earlier in 1930, his National Socialist Party had won the legislative elections by securing 107 seats in the Reichstag. Soon Hitler proclaimed himself the sole leader. He set up the dreaded SS security organization and sent his opponents to labour camps. A person of doubtful parentage, Hitler massacred millions of people for his racist goals. He ignited the flames of World War II by occupying the Danzig Corridor in Poland in 1939. Germany and its Axis allies were defeated in World War II and Hitler committed suicide.

77 solar years ago, on this day in 1942 AD, following Iran’s invasion by British and Soviet forces in 1941 in violation of Iran’s neutrality in World War II, a trilateral treaty was signed between the three countries, according to which the Pahlavi regime agreed to put Iran’s ground, air, and sea routes at the disposal of Allied Powers in the war against Germany. Moscow and London pledged to leave Iran, at the most, eight months after termination of World War 2. The occupation of Iran by Britain and the Soviet Union inflicted irreparable damages on this country. After end of World War 2, the crafty British withdrew their troops but controlled the Shah and his regime, while the Soviet Union refused to leave Iran and tried to disintegrate the country by planting puppet regimes in the provinces of Azarbaijan and Kurdistan. The plot, however, failed and the Red Army was forced to leave Iran’s soil.

71 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, leader of India's struggle for independence from British colonial rule, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, was assassinated by a Hindu anarchist at the age 79. Born in the port city of Por Bandar in Gujarat, he graduated in Law from England, and for a while was in South Africa where he tried to improve the situation of Indian settlers. After returning to India he involved himself in politics and was sentenced to six years in prison in 1922. After his release, he advocated the policy of passive resistance against the British, and although a non-Muslim, he said that he learned this non-violent movement by studying the exemplary life of the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson and 3rd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). India gained independence in August 1947.

71 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, American inventor and aviator, Orville Wright, who along with his brother, Wilbur, had invented on 17 December 1903 the first powered airplane, “Flyer”, capable of sustained, controlled flight, died at the age 76. At Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville made the first ever manned powered flight, airborne for 12 seconds. By 1905, the two brothers had improved the design, built and made several long flights in Flyer III, which was the first fully practical airplane able to fly up to 38-min and travel 24 miles (39-km). In 1908 they produced Model A, capable of flight for over two hours. After Wilbur died of typhoid in 1912, Orville sold his interest in the Wright Company in 1915. 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.

51 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, during the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong forces of the south along with the North Vietnam army decisively confronted the US occupiers in fifty towns and cities simultaneously. They mobilized public opinion against the US meddlers, and despite being massacred in large numbers by the savage Americans, they continued their resistance until final victory in 1975 that expelled the US and reunited Vietnam.

40 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, in the wake of the sit-in of ulema at the Tehran University Mosque, teachers and other strata of the community announced their solidarity and joined the protest against the Pahlavi regime. While the number of strikers rose every moment, Shapour Bakhtiar, the prime minister of the fugitive Shah, was forced to lift the obstructions he had placed at the airports to prevent the return home from exile of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). The welcoming committee announced that the beloved leader would arrive in Tehran on February 1, 1979, at 9 a.m. Meanwhile, with the opening of Tehran airport, the US military planes flew the Americans out of Iran.

40 lunar years ago, on this day in 1400 AH, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Baqer as-Sadr, and his venerable sister, Amena Haidar, known popularly as Bint al-Hoda, after days of torture in prison were martyred by Saddam, the tyrannical ruler of the Ba'th minority regime of Baghdad. Ayatollah Sadr was a brilliant scholar and studied under such immortal ulema as Grand Ayatollah Mohsin al-Hakeem and Grand Ayatollah Abu’l-Qassem Khoie. At a young age he reached the status of Ijtehad – or independent reasoning based on Holy Qur'an and Prophet's Hadith. His lectures at the Najaf Seminary, during which he used to critically evaluate the western and eastern materialistic schools of thought, were widely attended by youths and academicians. He wrote outstanding works on Islamic economic and philosophy titled “Iqtasadona” (Our Economics) and “Falsafatona” (Our Philosophy). The awareness which he instilled in the Iraqi people, especially political consciousness, greatly alarmed the oppressive Ba'thist regime, in view of his attachment to the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). Following victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the jubilation of the Iraqi people for repeating this experience in Iraq, Ayatollah Sadr and his equally learned and socially active sister, were imprisoned, tortured and brutally martyred by Saddam. Grand Ayatollah Baqer as-Sadr authored many valuable books. His religious-political legacy is alive today, since many of the statesmen in the Iraq are either his students or inspired by his thoughts.

34 solar years ago, on this day in 1985 AD, the US openly gave a 47-million dollar loan to Saddam of Baghdad’s repressive Ba’th minority regime for procurement of weapons, during the 8-year war Washington had imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran through Iraq. The total declared US grants to Saddam during his war were 1.5 billion dollars, in addition to supply of internationally banned chemicals, latest defence technology, and information on movement of Iranian forces through spy aircraft.

9 lunar years ago, on this day in 1430 AH, the great Gnostic Grand Ayatollah Shaikh Mohammad Taqi Bahjat passed away in holy Qom at the age of 96 and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Hazrat Fatema Ma’souma (SA). Born in Foumen in Gilan Province, after preliminary studies in his hometown he left for the holy city of Karbala in Iraq at the age of 14 for higher studies. Four years later he moved to holy Najaf, where he attended the classes of prominent ulema, including Ayatollah Murtaza Taleqani, Seyyed Abu’l-Hassan Isfahani, Mirza Mohammad Hussain Naeeni, and Seyyed Ali Qadhi Tabatabaei. Ayatollah Bahjat paid special attention to piety, self-cultivation and moral perfection. After 15 years of study in Iraq during which he mastered several branches of Islamic sciences including the philosophy of Abu Ali Ibn Sina, he returned to Iran and settled in holy Qom, where he attended the classes of Grand Ayatollah Hujjat Kuhkamrei and Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi. On attaining Ijtehad, he started teaching theology and jurisprudence for almost 50 years at his house. He composed poems of praise and eulogy of the Infallible Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), especially the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS). He has left behind a large number of compilations, including: “Jama'e al-Masa’el”, and “Zakhirat-al-Ebaad”.

AS/SS