Today is Tuesday; 18th of the Iranian month of Shahrivar 1393 solar hijri; corresponding to 13rd of the Islamic month of Zil-Qa’dah 1435 lunar hijri; and September 9, 2014, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1442 solar years ago, on this day in 572 AD, the seven-year war broke out between the Persian and Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empires with the invasion of part of the Sassanid Empire by Emperor Justin II, who eventually suffered a shattering defeat at the hands of the Iranian Emperor, Khosrow I Anushiravan. Justin was forced to abdicate and was succeeded by Tiberius as the new Byzantine emperor. The Romans agreed to pay 45,000 gold coins to Iran as war reparations.
1140 lunar years ago, on this day in 295 AH, the 17th caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, al-Muktafi Billah, died at the age of 33 after a reign of over six years. Son of the previous ruler, al-Mu'tadid, by a Turkic slave-girl, he started on a good note by abolishing his father’s secret prisons – the terror chambers of Baghdad – and gaining popularity through acts of generosity. It was during his rule that the Carmathian (Qarameta) sedition emerged, while hostilities continued with the Greeks, who were able to ravage at will the coasts of Syria, both by land and sea. The Byzantine legions led by ten golden crosses, each followed by 10,000 soldiers, swept a trail of devastation and kidnapped thousands of Muslims. In Egypt, however, Muktafi met with success by sending a force to end the 37-year secession of the province under the Tulunids, the descendants of the Central Asian Turkic slave, Ahmad bin Tulun. In the last years of his reign he was immersed in pleasures and oppressed the people. As his health worsened he was confined to the sickbed for several months before his death.
927 lunar years ago, on this day in 508 AH, the Hanbali theologian Abdur-Rahman ibn Ali ibn Mohammad, known popularly as Abu’l-Faraj Ibn Jowzi, was born in Baghdad. He claimed descent from the first caliph’s son Mohammad Ibn Abu Bakr, who was a loyal follower of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). He is famous for his theological stance against other Hanbalis of the time for their deviation concerning God's Attributes, so much so that he criticized them of tarnishing the image of Islam by making it synonymous with extreme anthropomorphism. His famous work in this regard is his "Daff' Shubah at-Tashbih”. He was a prolific writer and is said to have authored more than 300 books and treatises, including a book on the unsurpassed merits of Imam Ali (AS) and a ten-volume history titled: "al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa’l-Umam.” He passed away in 597 AH at the age of 89.
873 solar years ago, on this day in 1141 AD, Yelü Dashi, the Mongol Liao dynasty general who founded the Qara-Khitai dynasty in the northern parts of Central Asia, defeated the combined army of the Iran-based Seljuqid Empire and its Qara-Khanid vassals at the Battle of Qatwan near Samarqand, in what is now the Republic of Uzbekistan. The decisive defeat, with Sultan Ahmad Sanjar barely escaping alive, signalled the beginning of the end of the Great Seljuq Empire. Yelu Dashi had moved west from Northern China when the Jurchens invaded and destroyed the Liao Dynasty in 1125. In 1137 he took the Eastern Qara-Khanid capital of Balasaghun and later the same year he defeated at Khojand the Western Qara-Khanids, who were vassals of the Seljuqs. Qara-Khanid ruler Mahmud II appealed to his Seljuq overlord Sultan Sanjar for protection. After defeating the Sultan Sanjar, Yelü Dashi spent ninety days in Samarqand, accepting the loyalty of Muslim nobles and appointing Mahmud's brother Ibrahim as the new ruler. However, he did allow the Muslim Burhan family to continue to rule Bukhara. After this battle, Khwarezm became a vassal state of the Qara-Khitan. In 1142, Yelü sent Erbuz to Khwarezm to pillage the province, which forced Atsiz to agree to pay 30,000 dinars annual tribute.
852 lunar years ago, on this day in 583 AH, the famous Iranian poet and scholar, Abu’l-Muzaffar Mohammad Ibn Mohammad Anvari Abiverdi, passed away. His Diwan of poetry is currently available and consists of several odes, which have been reprinted on several occasions. Among his famous poems is the one depicting the sorry state of Syria and Palestine at the hands of the Crusader occupiers, and his appeal to the Muslims to unite and rise against the usurpers of Islamic lands. Here are some of his verses:
"To shed tears is a man's worst weapon when swords stir up embers of war;
"Sons of Islam behind you are battles in which heads roll at your feet.
"Dare you slumber in the blessed shade of safety, where life is soft like orchid?
"While your Syrian brothers can only sleep on the back of the chargers or in the vultures' bellies!
"Must the foreigner feed on our ignominy, while you trail behind you the train of a pleasant life?
"When sword points are red with blood and at the hammering of swords on lances the hairs of children turn white.
"This is war and the infidel's sword is naked in his hand, ready to be sheathed again in man's necks and skulls.”
521 solar years ago, on this day in 1493 AD, Ottoman Sultan, Bayezid II defeated a joint army of the kingdoms of Croatia and Hungary at the Battle of Krbava, a part of Lika region in southern Croatia. The Ottoman forces were led by Khadem Yaqub Pasha, the Governor of Bosnia.
407 lunar years ago, on this day in 1028 AH, the prominent and pious Iranian scholar, Seyyed Meerza Mohammad Ibn Ali Astarabadi, passed away in Mecca, where he was settled, after residing for long in holy Najaf, Iraq. He was a prolific writer and among his books mention could be made of "Sharh Ayaat al-Ahkaam" on explanation of selected passages of the holy Qur'an and a book on Rijal or the science of evaluation of hadith narrators.
275 solar years ago, on this day in 1739 AD, the Stono Rebellion, the largest uprising of the enslaved black people in Britain's North American colonies, erupted near Charleston, South Carolina, prior to the American Revolt.  The uprising was led by Africans who were likely from the Kingdom of Congo. Their leader, Jemmy (referred to in some reports as "Cato") was a literate person who led other enslaved Africans, who may have been former soldiers, in an armed march south from the Stono River. After crushing the rebellion, the British executed most of the captured blacks and sold the few survivors in in the West Indies.
223 solar years ago, on this day in 1791 AD, Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, wass named after President George Washington.
186 solar years ago, on this day in 1828 AD, the Russian author and literary figure, Leo Tolstoy, was born. He joined the Caucasian army and wrote his first novel: "Childhood" in this period. Later he left the army, and spent all his time studying and writing novels. Among his most important works, mention can be made of "War and Peace". Tolstoy died in the year 1910.
159 solar years ago, on this day in 1855 AD, during the last phase of the Crimean War, the Siege of Sevastopol ended when Russian forces abandoned the city. Sevastopol is one of the classic sieges of all time. The city of Sevastopol was the home of the Tsar's Black Sea Fleet, which threatened the Mediterranean Sea and the Ottoman Empire. The Russian army withdrew before the allies the British, French and Ottoman allies could encircle it. The siege was the culminating struggle for the strategic Russian port in 1854–1855 and was the final episode in the Crimean War. The Siege of Sevastopol was the subject of Crimean soldier Leo Tolstoy's "Sebastopol Sketches”. The Battle of Balaklava was made famous by Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and Robert Gibb's painting "The Thin Red Line”.
92 solar years ago, on this day in 1922 AD, the Greek invasion of Turkey (1919–22) effectively ended with Turkish victory over the Greeks in Smyrna near Izmir.
69 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD Japanese occupation troops in China laid down their arms and decided to withdraw. The victory was the outcome of the unification of the armed communist forces and the Chinese state army. The Empire of Japan formally surrendered to China.
66 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, following the termination of World War II, withdrawal of Japanese occupation forces, and the occupation of the southern half of the Korean Peninsula by the Americans, North Korea declared its independence. Less than a month earlier, American-occupied South Korea had announced its independence. North Korea shares borders with Russia and China to the north, and South Korea to the south. It covers an area of over 120,000 sq km.
45 solar years ago, on this day in 1969 AD, the Iranian author and critic, Jalal Aal-e Ahmad, passed away at the age of 46. Born in Tehran, he graduated in Persian Literature from Tehran University. During the tough years of World War II, he entered the scene of politics and started his career in journalism. As of 1953, he focused on research, compilation of books, and teaching, and published critical articles and short stories. He maintained a particular style in writing stories. He used verbal language precisely and in a delicate manner within the framework of attractive stories, and social and political criticisms. The infiltration of Western culture in Iran's society was the grave concern of Aal-e Ahmad. Hence, he published the book "Gharbzadagi” or "Westoxication" in the year 1962, warning against this unwanted phenomenon, and saying the strengthening of belief in sacred religion of Islam is the solution in this regard. Among his other important books, mention could be made of "Modir-e Madraseh", and "Nafrat-e Zamin".
38 solar years ago, on this day in 1976 AD, China’s communist leader, Mao Zedong, died at the age of 83. In 1921 he founded China's Communist Party and won the support of the rural masses. In 1934, he led the 100,000-strong communist forces on a long march from the South to the North on foot to prevent clashes with the governmental forces. During this march which lasted for a year, more than 60,000 people lost their lives. After the termination of World War II the communists, led by Mao, defeated the nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-Shek, who was supported by the West, and declared the foundation of People's Republic of China in the year 1949. Mao managed to form a powerful central government in China. The ideas of Mao about communism were different to those of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, and are popularly known as Maoism.
23 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the Central Asian country of Tajikistan declared its independence from the Soviet Union. Since the 6th century BC, Tajikistan was part of the Iranian empires of the Achaemenian, Parthian and Sassanid Dynasties. After the advent of Islam, it became part of the caliphate and subsequently was an integral part of the Bukhara-based Iranian Muslim Samanid Dynasty. It fell to waves of Turkic conquerors and in the 19th century was occupied by the Russians. The people speak Tajik, a form Persian language. Tajikistan covers an area of more than 143,000 sq km, and shares borders with China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan.
13 solar years ago, on this day in 2001 AD, Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance of Afghanistan was assassinated by two al- Qaeda terrorists disguised as Arab journalists wanting an interview.  One of the main commanders of Afghan combatants and the minister of defense of the interim government of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Massoud was born in 1952, and fought the Soviet communist forces during the years 1979-to-1989. He was a highly skilled commander, such that Soviet forces and his other opponents, such as Taliban failed to occupy the region under his authority, known as Panjshir Valley. He fought the Taliban, who were supported by Pakistan and the US. As the leader of Afghan Northern Alliance he defeated the Taliban on several occasions. After the assassination of Ahmad Shah Masoud, the Taliban also didn't last long and the Northern Alliance forces completely defeated the Taliban.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://english.irib.ir)