Today is Sunday; 17th of the Iranian month of Esfand 1399 solar hijri; corresponding to 23rd of the Islamic month of Rajab 1442 lunar hijri; and March 7, 2021, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
2343 solar years ago, on this day in 322 BC, Greek philosopher Aristotle died. His writings include treatises on logic, metaphysics, ethics, politics, rhetoric and natural sciences. He described language in terms of subject and predicate as well as parts of speech. A student of Plato he was teacher of Alexander of Macedonia. Aristotelian logic is based on a small number of unambiguous constructs, such as, "if A, then B”: the truth of one implies the truth of another. The constructs also included A=A, representing that every entity is equal to itself. He defined politics as the science of the sciences that looks after well-being. His writings included "De Generatione Animalum” and "Historia Animalium”. Aristotle and his works were revived by Muslim philosophers and scientists after he was forgotten by Greeks and Europeans.
1860 solar years ago, on this day 161 AD, Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius died at the age of 75 after a 23-year reign, and is considered one of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He had succeeded his adoptive father Hadrian to the throne and was succeeded in turn by his adoptive sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. Pius could not succeed against the growing might of Iran led by the Parthian Emperor, Balaash, known to the Romans as Vologases IV.  
1700 solar years ago, on this day in 321 AD, Roman Emperor Constantine I issued a decree imposing upon the empire – in Europe, Asia Minor, Levant, Egypt and North Africa – the day of the pagan god, Solis Invicti (Unconquered Sun), as the weekly day of rest. His decree read: "On the venerable day of the Sun (Sunday) let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed.” The pagan practice of Sunday as a weekend holiday was adopted by the Christian World and continues in countries following the ways of their former European colonial masters, although this day has no link with Prophet Jesus (PuH). The Sun was worshipped as one of the gods and as a patron of soldiers in the Roman Empire. Constantine, even after conversion to Christianity – not the monotheistic message of Jesus, but the weird concept of Trinity coined by Paul the Hellenized Jew – had the symbols of the Sun engraved on his coinage. Thus, when the Roman Empire converted to Christianity, the 25th of December, which was the date of a festival of the Sun god, was renamed Christmas to give the impression that Prophet Jesus (PuH) was born on this pagan holiday.
1259 lunar years ago, on this day in 183 AH, Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS), the 7th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was given a fatal dose of poison in his food through dates, during imprisonment in Baghdad by Sindi bin Shahak on the orders of Haroun Rashid, the 5th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, and achieved martyrdom three days later.
942 solar years ago, on this day in 1079 AD, the famous Iranian astronomer, Omar ibn Ibrahim al-Khayyam Neishapouri, completed the Jalali solar hijri calendar, dating it like the lunar one from the migration of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) from Mecca to Medina in Rabi al-Awwal – the 1st month of spring. This calendar was formally adopted on 15 March the same year by the Seljuq Sultan, Jalal ad-Din Malik Shah, in whose honour it was named. The team led by Khayyam, working at the imperial observatory in the Seljuq capital Isfahan, computed the length of a solar year as 365.25 days, more perfect than the Gregorian calendar used by the Christian world.
747 solar years ago, on this day in 1274 AD, Italian philosopher and theologian, Thomas Aquinas, who wrote commentaries on the works of the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, died in Naples at the age of 51. Following Aristotle’s definition of science as knowledge obtained from demonstrations, Aquinas defined science as the knowledge of things from their causes. In his work "Summa Theologica”, he distinguished between demonstrated truth (science) and revealed truth (faith). This belief and his faith in the originality of wisdom, as opposed to the Christian Church’s irrationality, assisted in the promotion of sciences.
256 solar years ago, on this day in the year 1765 AD, the French chemist and one of the founders of photography, Nicephore Niepce, was born. By 1813, he had taken up lithography, which led to his invention of photography. In a letter in May 1816, he spoke of an apparatus that produced a (negative) image using a paper coated with silver chloride fixed with nitric acid. After further experimentation, by 1826, he achieved the first fixed positive image. In 1829, he signed an agreement with Daguerre to develop photography. He died in 1833.
222 solar years ago, on this day in 1799 AD, French general, Napoleon Bonaparte captured Jaffa in Palestine and proceeded to kill more than 2,000 Albanian Muslim captives. The French were driven out from Palestine by the Ottomans.
143 lunar years ago, on this day in 1299 AH, the prominent theologian and Islamic scholar, Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Kouh-Kamarai, passed away. He was a student in holy Najaf of Ayatollah Sheikh Morteza Ansari, and in turn groomed at least 800 Ulema. He has left behind numerous books on Islamic sciences.
85 solar years ago, on this day in 1936 AD, as prelude to World War II, German Nazi troops of Adolf Hitler violated the Treaties of Versailles and Locarno, to occupy the region of Rhineland.
70 solar years ago, on this day in 1951 AD, British agent, Ali Razmara, whom the British-installed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had appointed prime minister for his anti-Islamic views, was executed in a revolutionary manner by Khalil Tahmasebi, a carpenter by profession and member of the Fedaeen-e Islam organization. Tahmasebi was arrested by the regime and sentenced to death, but the parliament, during the premiership of Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq, quashed the verdict and ordered his release as a "soldier of Islam”. Following the overthrow of Prime Minister Mosaddeq in 1953 through a British-US coup, Tahmasebi was re-arrested, tried by a kangaroo court and sentenced to death. He attained martyrdom in 1955 on execution by a firing squad.
39 solar years ago, on this day in 1982 AD, prominent religious scholar, Ayatollah Rabbani Shirazi, passed away at the age of 54. Born in Shiraz, he was active in struggles against the despotic Pahlavi regime as of 1963 and was detained and banished to different regions on several occasions. Following victory of the Islamic Revolution, he was elected to the parliament, and spent his life serving Islam and Muslims.
31 solar years ago, on this day in 1990 AD, Hussein Qawwami, one of the prominent instructors of Iran’s traditional music, passed away. Following the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, he dedicated his music for revolutionary songs. In 1988, he received a plaque of honour from Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
28 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, musician Ahmad Ebadi, who played Setar and Iran’s traditional musical instruments, passed away. He groomed numerous students to promote Iran’s traditional music.
11 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, Iranian researcher and anthropologist, Dr. Mahmoud Rooh ul-Amini, passed away at the age of 82. Born in the southern Iranian city of Kerman, after obtaining MA in Sociology, he left for France, where in 1968 he received PhD in anthropology. On returning to Iran, he lectured at Tehran University and devoted himself to development of anthropology, resulting in the opening of the Museum of Anthropology at Golestan Palace. He wrote several books.