Today is Wednesday; 23^rd of the Iranian month of Aban 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 6^th of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal 1440 lunar hijri; and November 14, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1453 solar years ago, on this day in 565 AD, Emperor Justinian I of Byzantine or the Eastern Roman Empire, died at the age of 83 after a 39-year reign, during which he was embroiled in a disastrous war with the Sassanid Empire of Iran. Having succeeded his maternal uncle Justin I in 527, he embarked on a policy of expansionism as he strove to become the emperor of the Western Roman Empire as well, when his generals conquered North Africa, Sicily, southern Spain and most of Italy including Rome from the Ostrogoths. On his eastern borders, however, he had to conclude an "Eternal Peace" in 532 with the new Iranian emperor, Khosrow Anushirvan by paying 11,000 pounds of gold, a year after the defeat of Roman forces near Callinicum in what is now Turkey by Emperor Qobad. In 540 the ‘Eternal Peace’ was broken because of Justinian’s intrigues in Armenia which made Khosrow I capture Beroea and then Antioch in Syria, resulting in the 22-year war that ended in 562 with conclusion of the "Fifty-Year Peace” and payment of 5,000 pounds of gold, plus 500 pounds of gold more each year to the Iranians by the Romans. Khosrow Anoushirvan’s prudent policy thus thwarted Roman designs in Syria, Anatolia, Armenia and Upper Mesopotamia, as he made sure that Rome would never be a threat to Iran by keeping close contacts with the Goths, the Huns, and the Arabs. Justinian during his long reign embellished his capital Constantinople with buildings, including a new Christian basilica – the Hagia Sophia, which is Greek for "Holy Wisdom” – as seat of the Greek Orthodox Church. He also codified the Roman law which serves as the basis of modern law in most European states.

1078 solar years ago, on this day in 940 AD, Abu’l-Fazl Mohammad ibn Obaidollah Bal'ami, the able vizier of the Iranian Samanid dynasty of Central Asia, passed away. He was from Marv and in 921 was appointed vizier by Amir Nasr II – a position he held until 938. He assisted the Amir in defeating the Zaydi invasion of Khorasan, and later crushed the rebellion of the Amir’s brothers. He was a patron of scholars and poets, including the famous Persian poet, Rudaki. He is known as Bal’ami-e Bozorg or Elder, while his equally efficient son, Mohammad, who also served as vizier and was a prominent historian, is known as Bal’ami-e Kuchak or Younger.

1042 solar years ago, on this day in 976 AD, Emperor Zhao Kuangyin, founder of the Song Dynasty of China, was murdered at the age of 49 after a 16-year rule by his brother who usurped the throne. Also known by his temple name Taizu, he was a distinguished military general under the Later Zhou, and came to power by staging a coup d'état that forced the young Emperor Gong of Later Zhou to abdicate power. During his reign, he conquered the states of Southern Tang, Later Shu, Southern Han and Jingnan, thus reunifying most of China and effectively ending the tumultuous Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

836 lunar years ago, on this day in 604 AH, the famous Persian poet and mystic, Jalal od-Din Mohammad Balkhi Rumi, was born to Iranian parents in Wakhsh, a town located on the river of the same name in Balkh, Greater Khorasan. Wakhsh is now in Tajikistan while Balkh is in Afghanistan. The most important influences upon him, besides his scholarly father Baha od-Din Walad who was connected to the spiritual lineage of the Iranian Gnostic Najm od-Din Kubra, were the Persian poets Attar Naishapuri and Sana’i Ghaznavi. He was hardly ten years when the family had to flee Khorasan towards Iraq because of the barbaric Mongol invasion. After a sojourn in Baghdad and travel to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, followed by a brief stay in Damascus, he settled in Konya in Anatolia which was under the Persianate Seljuq Sultanate of Roum – hence his title Rumi. At the age of 67, he passed away in Konya, where he produced his magnum opus the "Mathnawi”, and where his shrine has become a place of pilgrimage for Sufis. Known also as "Mowlavi” and "Mowlana”, his poems have been translated into many of the world's languages including English. His "Mathnawi” remains one of the literary glories of the Persian language. In addition to Persian literature, his poetry has influenced Urdu, Punjabi, Turkish, Pashto, Chaghatai, Bengali and Sindhi languages. In his poems he has paid homage to the unsurpassed merits of Imam Ali (AS), the divinely-decreed vicegerent of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

485 solar years ago, on this day in 1533 AD, Ecuador in South America was occupied by Spanish invaders. Ecuador was Spain’s colony for three centuries, until in the year 1822 it was liberated by the people led by Simon Bolivar. It became part of the Federation of Greater Columbia, which dissolved in 1830. Ecuador covers an area of 283,561 sq km and is located along the Pacific Ocean’s coastlines. Its capital is Quito, and it shares borders with Columbia and Peru.

302 solar years ago, on this day in 1716 AD, German philosopher and mathematician, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, died at the age of 70. He founded the science of differential calculus in 1676.

221 solar years ago, on this day in 1797 AD, Scottish geologist and scientist, Charles Lyell, was born. He was the first European to classify geology as a separate branch of science in emulation of Islamic scientists. Following years of research and study, he published in three volumes "The Principles of the Science of Geology”. He died in 1875.

129 solar years ago, on this day in 1889 AD, one of the prominent leaders of India’s struggles against British colonial rule, Jawaharlal Nehru, was born in Allahabad, in northern India in a Kashmiri family. He graduated in law from London, and on returning home, started his struggles against Britain after joining the Congress Party. He was arrested several times, and on release carried on his struggle as a disciple of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Following India's independence, Nehru became the country's first prime minister, a post he held for 16 years until his death in 1964. During his imprisonment, he wrote lengthy letters to his daughter, Indira Gandhi, and later compiled them in book form under the titles "The Discovery of India” and "Glimpses of World History”, which also deal with the glories of the Islamic civilization and ancient Iranian culture. Nehru was well versed in English, Urdu, Persian and Hindi languages, and was one of the founders of the Non Aligned Movement when the capitalist west and the communist east were converting world countries into satellite states. His daughter, Indira Gandhi, was elected prime minister in 1965 and proved to be an efficient administrator, who successfully resisted US pressures and hegemony.

129 solar years ago, on this day in 1889 AD, the prominent author and literary figure of Egypt, Dr. Taha Hussein, was born. He went blind in childhood, but given his high intelligence, he studied hard and obtained PhDs at Egyptian universities and later at the universities of Montpellier and Sorbonne in France. Thereafter, he rendered valuable services in the domain of literature and culture, including the foundation of the University of Alexandria. He was appointed to senior cultural posts and briefly served as Egypt’s minister of education. He has left behind a large number of compilations such as "History of Arabic Literature” "Ibn Khaldoun’s Philosophy” and "al-Fitnat-al-Kubra” or The Great Sedition that deals with the sorry state of affairs of the caliphate after the passing away of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He also wrote "Hafez and Shawqi”, which is a comparison between two great poets of the Persian and Arabic language, that is, Iran’s Khwaja Hafez Shirazi and Egypt’s Poet Laureate, Ahmad Shawqi. Taha Hussein passed away in 1973.

41 solar years ago, on this day in 1977 AD, vociferous chants of "Death to the Shah” by a huge protest rally of Iranians in the US – the biggest since the Vietnam War – which rent the air in Washington– was attacked by police forces using teargas that drifted inside the White House to moisten the eyes of both President Jimmy Carter and Mohammad Reza Shah of Iran, who were posing for the press, but ended up providing a sad spectacle to the TV cameras. Over a hundred protestors were injured. The Pahlavi potentate was in the US to submit a report on his suppression of Iranian people under the so-called ‘Open Atmosphere’ policy and to seek new instructions for more suppression.

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, a few days after banning of oil imports from the Islamic Republic of Iran, the US regime illegally froze all Iran’s hard currency assets in its banks, totaling scores of billions of dollars. With the blockade of Iran’s banking accounts, the US regime increased economic pressures on the Islamic Republic of Iran which continue to this day. A few days prior to this measure, Iran had stopped oil exports to the US because of American lawlessness.

8 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, Iran’s Entekhab Industrial Group signed a contract sealing its acquisition of South Korea's Daewoo Electronics for some $518 million. Daewoo was set up in the 1960s and became one of the biggest companies in the world before it disintegrated in financial disarray in the 1990s. Its shipbuilding and auto units are now independent companies in their own right.

5 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, Saudi-backed terrorists carried out twin bomb blasts at a religious gathering at as-Sa’diyah in Iraq on the anniversary of Ashura, resulting in the martyrdom of over 50 people and wounding of more than a hundred other men, women, and children.

(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)