This Day in History (May 28)
Today is Saturday; 8th of the Iranian month of Khordad 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 21st of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1437 lunar hijri; and May 28, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
2601 solar years ago, on this day in 585 BC, as per the prediction of Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus four days earlier, a solar eclipse occurred in the midst of a battle outside Sardis in what is now western Turkey, between the Medes of Iran and the Lydians. The battle ended in a draw. Alyattes of Lydia, agreed to enter into a truce with the Medean Emperor, Cyaxares, thus ending the Battle of Halys. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.
931 lunar years ago, on this day in 506 AH, the Iranian Sunni Muslim hadith scholar, historian and genealogist, Abdul-Karim Ibn Mohammad as-Sam’ani, was born in the Khorasani city of Marv, which is currently in the Republic of Turkmenistan. After basic Islamic studies in Naishapur, he travelled widely throughout Iran, Iraq, Syria, Hejaz, and Transoxiana to acquire more knowledge. His most important book is "al-Ansaab” on the genealogy of the notables. He has also left behind other valuable books such as "Mujam ash-Shuyoukh” and "Tarikh-e Marv” (History of Marv).
492 solar years ago, on this day in 1524 AD, Selim II, the Drunkard, the 3rd self-styled Turkish caliph and the 11th Ottoman Sultan, was born in Istanbul. Son of Sultan Suleiman and the Rutherian (Ukrainian-Polish) concubine, Khurram Sultan (original name: Alexandra Lisowska), he succeeded to the throne at the age of 42 through intrigue and fraternal dispute. Despite claiming to be caliph and having a powerful fleet that controlled the Mediterranean Sea, he refused the pleas for help by the Spanish Muslims during the 3-year Morisco Revolt (1568-71) in Granada, southern Spain. As a result the uprising was ruthlessly crushed by a joint Christian armies of Spain, Austria, and Italy, in the aftermath of which hundreds of thousands of Spanish Muslims were forcibly Christianized and all books and documents in Arabic burned. Selim II died at the age of 50 after an incompetent reign of 8 years, as a result of drunkenly slipping on the wet floor of a bath-house, and fatally injuring his head.
471 lunar years ago, on this day in 966 AH, Prince Bayazid lost the Battle of Konya against the forces of his father, Sultan Sulaiman, the 10th Ottoman Emperor and 2nd self-styled Turkish caliph, and sought refuge in Iran at the court of Shah Tahmasp I in Qazvin, roughly the same time when the Safavid Emperor was hosting another royal dignitary as refugee – the Mughal Emperor Humayun Shah who had been ousted from India by the Afghan rebel, Sher Shah Suri. Eventually, Humayun, through Iranian support managed to regain the throne of Delhi, but when Shah Tahmasp tried to patch up the differences between the Ottoman Sultan and his son, by persuading Bayazid to return, the latter along with his four sons, was cruelly killed by Sulaiman the so-called ‘Magnificent’ and self-styled caliph, who years earlier had killed his eldest son, Prince Mustafa on mere suspicion.
278 solar years ago, on this day in 1738 AD, French physician Joseph Ignace Guillotin, who promoted a law requiring the use of a "machine that beheads painlessly” as a humane mode for all executions for commoners or nobles alike, was born. Without any further specifications from Guillotin, others actually designed and built the machine, and yet it still became known by his name—the guillotine. After experiments on cadavers taken from a public hospital, the first such machine was erected in the Place de Greve in Paris (4th April 1792), and first used to execute a highwayman (25th April 1792). It was widely used during the French Revolution. Known first as the "machine”, after the beheading of King Louis XVI of France it became known also as "la louisette” or "le louison,” but the name "la guillotine” prevailed. It was used in many other countries.
173 solar years ago, on this day in 1843 AD, Noah Webster, US lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and prolific author, died. He has been called the "Father of American Scholarship and Education." His blue-backed speller books taught five generations of American children how to spell and read. His name became synonymous with "dictionary," especially the modern Merriam-Webster dictionary that was first published in 1828 as An American Dictionary of the English Language. In 1806, Webster published his first dictionary, titled "A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language". In 1807 he began compiling an expanded and fully comprehensive dictionary, titled "An American Dictionary of the English Language"; it took eighteen years to complete. To evaluate the etymology of words, Webster learned twenty-six languages, including Old English (Anglo-Saxon), German, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Arabic, and Sanskrit. He hoped to standardize American speech, since Americans in different parts of the country used different languages. They also spelled, pronounced, and used English words differently. His book contained seventy thousand words, of which twelve thousand had never appeared in a published dictionary before.
164 solar years ago, on this day in 1852 AD, French orientalist, Eugene Burnouf, who made significant contributions to the deciphering of Old Persian cuneiform, died. Son of Professor Jean-Louis Burnouf (1775-1844), who was a classical scholar of high reputation, Eugene undertook deciphering of the "Avesta” manuscripts of the Zoroastrians. By his research, the knowledge of the Avestan language was first brought into the scientific world of Europe. He caused the "Vendidad Sade”, to be lithographed with the utmost care from the manuscript in the Bibliotheque Nationale, and published it in folio parts during the years 1829-1843. He made significant contributions to the deciphering of Old Persian cuneiform. In 1836, he discovered that the first of the inscriptions contained a list of the satrapies of Darius. With this clue in his hand, he was able to identify and publish an alphabet of thirty letters, most of which he had correctly deciphered. He was also an expert of Sanskrit and translated books from that language into French.
111 solar years ago, on this day in 1905 AD, the 2-day Battle of Tsushima ended with the destruction of almost the entire Russian Fleet by Admiral Togo Heihachiro of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Fought in the Tsushima Strait between Korea and Japan, it was the first naval battle in which wireless telegraphy (radio) played a critically important role. It was the first time in modern history, following the Industrial Revolution in the West that a European power had been defeated by an Asian country. The Russians lost 4,380 killed and 5,917 captured, including two admirals, with a further 1,862 interned. The Japanese lost only three torpedo boats, with 117 men killed and 500 wounded.
109 solar years ago, on this day in 1907 AD, the Persian newsletter "Sour-e Israfeel” started publication in Tehran. The owner was Mirza Jahangir Khan, titled "Sour-e Israfeel”, and its chief-editor Ali Akbar Dehkhoda. It was launched to promote the Constitutional Movement and to highlight the problems of the lower strata of the society. It started as a weekly newsletter and became a daily, but after only 32 editions ceased publication because of government pressures.
82 solar years ago, on this day in 1934 AD, the Majlis or parliament of Iran passed a resolution for establishing Tehran University made up of several colleges.
76 solar years ago, on this day in 1940 AD, during World War II, Belgium, was occupied by German Nazi forces. On the other hand, on this day the Allied Forces, in the wake of a deadly confrontation with German troops, started to retreat from the Port of Dunkirk in eastern France. During these operations, 1774 warships of the Allied Forces took part to rescue 350,000 British, French, and Belgian soldiers. But, due to the air strikes against this French port and its siege by German Nazi forces, nearly 50,000 Allied Forces were killed and 400 of their warships were destroyed. France was subsequently completely occupied by German troops.
MUSIC
52 solar years ago, on this day in 1964 AD, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed by several combatant groups with the purpose of creating the independent State of Palestine. It is recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by over 100 world countries and has enjoyed observer status at the United Nations since 1974.
40 solar years ago, on this day in 1976 AD, the famous Bengali painter, Zain ul-Abedin, passed away at the age of 62. 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 now 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.
27 solar years ago, on this day in 1989 AD, the Iranian Islamic scholar, Ayatollah Mir Seyyed Ali Fani Isfahani, passed away at the age of 74. He studied in his hometown Isfahan, where after attaining the status of Ijtehad; he left for holy Najaf in Iraq, where he stayed for 30 years lecturing on theology, jurisprudence, exegesis of Holy Qur’an, and ethics. He returned to Iran in 1973 and until his death 16 years later, he used to lecture in the seminary of holy Qom. He has left behind more than 80 books, on various topics, including "Exegesis of Surah Fateha”, and "Arb’ain Hadith”.
18 solar years ago, on this day in 1998 AD, Pakistan responded to a series of nuclear tests by India 17 days earlier with five of its own, codenamed Chagai-I. Pakistan celebrates this event every year as "Youm-e Takbir” or Day of God’s Majesty. By conducting simultaneous atomic testing of the five nuclear devices, Pakistan became the seventh nuclear-armed power. Both India and Pakistan have refused to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
7 solar years ago, on this day in 2008 AD, the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declared the country a republic, thus ending the 240-year reign of the Hindu Shah dynasty. Islam, which accounts for some 10 percent of the country’s 27 million population is the third but fastest growing religion in Nepal.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://english.irib.ir)
2601 solar years ago, on this day in 585 BC, as per the prediction of Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus four days earlier, a solar eclipse occurred in the midst of a battle outside Sardis in what is now western Turkey, between the Medes of Iran and the Lydians. The battle ended in a draw. Alyattes of Lydia, agreed to enter into a truce with the Medean Emperor, Cyaxares, thus ending the Battle of Halys. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.
931 lunar years ago, on this day in 506 AH, the Iranian Sunni Muslim hadith scholar, historian and genealogist, Abdul-Karim Ibn Mohammad as-Sam’ani, was born in the Khorasani city of Marv, which is currently in the Republic of Turkmenistan. After basic Islamic studies in Naishapur, he travelled widely throughout Iran, Iraq, Syria, Hejaz, and Transoxiana to acquire more knowledge. His most important book is "al-Ansaab” on the genealogy of the notables. He has also left behind other valuable books such as "Mujam ash-Shuyoukh” and "Tarikh-e Marv” (History of Marv).
492 solar years ago, on this day in 1524 AD, Selim II, the Drunkard, the 3rd self-styled Turkish caliph and the 11th Ottoman Sultan, was born in Istanbul. Son of Sultan Suleiman and the Rutherian (Ukrainian-Polish) concubine, Khurram Sultan (original name: Alexandra Lisowska), he succeeded to the throne at the age of 42 through intrigue and fraternal dispute. Despite claiming to be caliph and having a powerful fleet that controlled the Mediterranean Sea, he refused the pleas for help by the Spanish Muslims during the 3-year Morisco Revolt (1568-71) in Granada, southern Spain. As a result the uprising was ruthlessly crushed by a joint Christian armies of Spain, Austria, and Italy, in the aftermath of which hundreds of thousands of Spanish Muslims were forcibly Christianized and all books and documents in Arabic burned. Selim II died at the age of 50 after an incompetent reign of 8 years, as a result of drunkenly slipping on the wet floor of a bath-house, and fatally injuring his head.
471 lunar years ago, on this day in 966 AH, Prince Bayazid lost the Battle of Konya against the forces of his father, Sultan Sulaiman, the 10th Ottoman Emperor and 2nd self-styled Turkish caliph, and sought refuge in Iran at the court of Shah Tahmasp I in Qazvin, roughly the same time when the Safavid Emperor was hosting another royal dignitary as refugee – the Mughal Emperor Humayun Shah who had been ousted from India by the Afghan rebel, Sher Shah Suri. Eventually, Humayun, through Iranian support managed to regain the throne of Delhi, but when Shah Tahmasp tried to patch up the differences between the Ottoman Sultan and his son, by persuading Bayazid to return, the latter along with his four sons, was cruelly killed by Sulaiman the so-called ‘Magnificent’ and self-styled caliph, who years earlier had killed his eldest son, Prince Mustafa on mere suspicion.
278 solar years ago, on this day in 1738 AD, French physician Joseph Ignace Guillotin, who promoted a law requiring the use of a "machine that beheads painlessly” as a humane mode for all executions for commoners or nobles alike, was born. Without any further specifications from Guillotin, others actually designed and built the machine, and yet it still became known by his name—the guillotine. After experiments on cadavers taken from a public hospital, the first such machine was erected in the Place de Greve in Paris (4th April 1792), and first used to execute a highwayman (25th April 1792). It was widely used during the French Revolution. Known first as the "machine”, after the beheading of King Louis XVI of France it became known also as "la louisette” or "le louison,” but the name "la guillotine” prevailed. It was used in many other countries.
173 solar years ago, on this day in 1843 AD, Noah Webster, US lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and prolific author, died. He has been called the "Father of American Scholarship and Education." His blue-backed speller books taught five generations of American children how to spell and read. His name became synonymous with "dictionary," especially the modern Merriam-Webster dictionary that was first published in 1828 as An American Dictionary of the English Language. In 1806, Webster published his first dictionary, titled "A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language". In 1807 he began compiling an expanded and fully comprehensive dictionary, titled "An American Dictionary of the English Language"; it took eighteen years to complete. To evaluate the etymology of words, Webster learned twenty-six languages, including Old English (Anglo-Saxon), German, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Arabic, and Sanskrit. He hoped to standardize American speech, since Americans in different parts of the country used different languages. They also spelled, pronounced, and used English words differently. His book contained seventy thousand words, of which twelve thousand had never appeared in a published dictionary before.
164 solar years ago, on this day in 1852 AD, French orientalist, Eugene Burnouf, who made significant contributions to the deciphering of Old Persian cuneiform, died. Son of Professor Jean-Louis Burnouf (1775-1844), who was a classical scholar of high reputation, Eugene undertook deciphering of the "Avesta” manuscripts of the Zoroastrians. By his research, the knowledge of the Avestan language was first brought into the scientific world of Europe. He caused the "Vendidad Sade”, to be lithographed with the utmost care from the manuscript in the Bibliotheque Nationale, and published it in folio parts during the years 1829-1843. He made significant contributions to the deciphering of Old Persian cuneiform. In 1836, he discovered that the first of the inscriptions contained a list of the satrapies of Darius. With this clue in his hand, he was able to identify and publish an alphabet of thirty letters, most of which he had correctly deciphered. He was also an expert of Sanskrit and translated books from that language into French.
111 solar years ago, on this day in 1905 AD, the 2-day Battle of Tsushima ended with the destruction of almost the entire Russian Fleet by Admiral Togo Heihachiro of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Fought in the Tsushima Strait between Korea and Japan, it was the first naval battle in which wireless telegraphy (radio) played a critically important role. It was the first time in modern history, following the Industrial Revolution in the West that a European power had been defeated by an Asian country. The Russians lost 4,380 killed and 5,917 captured, including two admirals, with a further 1,862 interned. The Japanese lost only three torpedo boats, with 117 men killed and 500 wounded.
109 solar years ago, on this day in 1907 AD, the Persian newsletter "Sour-e Israfeel” started publication in Tehran. The owner was Mirza Jahangir Khan, titled "Sour-e Israfeel”, and its chief-editor Ali Akbar Dehkhoda. It was launched to promote the Constitutional Movement and to highlight the problems of the lower strata of the society. It started as a weekly newsletter and became a daily, but after only 32 editions ceased publication because of government pressures.
82 solar years ago, on this day in 1934 AD, the Majlis or parliament of Iran passed a resolution for establishing Tehran University made up of several colleges.
76 solar years ago, on this day in 1940 AD, during World War II, Belgium, was occupied by German Nazi forces. On the other hand, on this day the Allied Forces, in the wake of a deadly confrontation with German troops, started to retreat from the Port of Dunkirk in eastern France. During these operations, 1774 warships of the Allied Forces took part to rescue 350,000 British, French, and Belgian soldiers. But, due to the air strikes against this French port and its siege by German Nazi forces, nearly 50,000 Allied Forces were killed and 400 of their warships were destroyed. France was subsequently completely occupied by German troops.
MUSIC
52 solar years ago, on this day in 1964 AD, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed by several combatant groups with the purpose of creating the independent State of Palestine. It is recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by over 100 world countries and has enjoyed observer status at the United Nations since 1974.
40 solar years ago, on this day in 1976 AD, the famous Bengali painter, Zain ul-Abedin, passed away at the age of 62. 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 now 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.
27 solar years ago, on this day in 1989 AD, the Iranian Islamic scholar, Ayatollah Mir Seyyed Ali Fani Isfahani, passed away at the age of 74. He studied in his hometown Isfahan, where after attaining the status of Ijtehad; he left for holy Najaf in Iraq, where he stayed for 30 years lecturing on theology, jurisprudence, exegesis of Holy Qur’an, and ethics. He returned to Iran in 1973 and until his death 16 years later, he used to lecture in the seminary of holy Qom. He has left behind more than 80 books, on various topics, including "Exegesis of Surah Fateha”, and "Arb’ain Hadith”.
18 solar years ago, on this day in 1998 AD, Pakistan responded to a series of nuclear tests by India 17 days earlier with five of its own, codenamed Chagai-I. Pakistan celebrates this event every year as "Youm-e Takbir” or Day of God’s Majesty. By conducting simultaneous atomic testing of the five nuclear devices, Pakistan became the seventh nuclear-armed power. Both India and Pakistan have refused to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
7 solar years ago, on this day in 2008 AD, the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declared the country a republic, thus ending the 240-year reign of the Hindu Shah dynasty. Islam, which accounts for some 10 percent of the country’s 27 million population is the third but fastest growing religion in Nepal.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://english.irib.ir)