Today is Sunday; 26th of the Iranian month of Mordad 1399 solar hijri; corresponding to 26th of the Islamic month of Zil-Hijjah 1441 lunar hijri; and August 16, 2020, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1057 solar years ago, on this day in 963 AD, Nikephoros II Phokas seized the Byzantine throne in Constantinople and crowned himself emperor, ignoring the rights of the young sons of the deceased emperor, Romano – the future emperors, Basil II Constantine VIII – and then, despite the opposition of the patriarch, he  married their mother, the regent Empress Theophano. A notorious enemy of Muslims, Nikephoros Phokas, during his 6-year reign and before that as an army commander, had seized the Muslim emirate of the island of Crete, and led frequent raids into Syria against Sayf od-Dowla of the Hamdanid Shi’a Muslim dynasty of Aleppo.
882 lunar years ago, on this day in 559 AH, the religious scholar and literary figure, Abu’l-Fazael Amedi, was born in the Iraqi city of Waset. In Baghdad he mastered theology, jurisprudence, literature, and mathematics. He was an excellent poet and passed away in his hometown at the age of 49.
642 solar years ago, on this day in 1378 AD, the 4th emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China was born as Zhu Gaochi during the reign of his grandfather and founder of the dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor. In 1424, he succeeded his father, the Yongle Emperor, and took the title Hongxi Emperor, which means "Vastly Bright”.
636 solar years ago, on this day in 1384 AD, the Hongwu Emperor of Ming China, Emperor Dong, heard a case of a couple who tore paper money bills during a quarrel – a case considered equal to the act of destroying stamped government documents, which by law necessitated one hundred floggings by a bamboo rod. The emperor, however, decided to pardon them, since their intention was not to tear up the money.
208 solar years ago, on this day in 1812 AD, US General William Hull, despite having a larger number of troops, surrendered Detroit without a fight to the British Major General Isaac Brock and his native Amerindian allies under the Shawnee leader, Tecumseh. Many Amerindian people in the Northwest Territory were inspired to take arms against US outposts and settlers. The British held Detroit for more than a year before their small fleet on Lake Erie was defeated, which forced them to abandon the western frontier of Upper Canada.
151 solar years ago, on this day in 1869 AD, the Battle of Acosta Nu occurred in which a Paraguayan battalion of 6,000 children was massacred by the Brazilian Army during the Paraguayan War. In Paraguay, Children’s Day is celebrated on August 16. It is a national holiday to commemorate the memory of the children who lost their lives in the Battle of Acosta Nu/Campo Grande.
132 solar years ago, on this day in 1888 AD, notorious British intelligence operative, Thomas Edward Lawrence, was born out of wedlock to a baron – the result of illicit relations with his daughter’s governess. He joined the army and was trained as a spy. Known as "Lawrence of Arabia”, his job was to befriend, deceive and destroy Muslim rulers in Arabia. During the years 1910 to 1914, under guise as a member of an archeological delegation in Iraq, Syria, and Palestine, he sowed the seeds of sedition between the Arabs and Turks as part of the British policy to disintegrate the Ottoman Empire. It was through his designs that the artificial country called Jordan was created for Abdullah, the son of the British agent, Sharif Hussain of Hejaz; while another son, Faisal, was first made king of Syria, and four months later when driven out from Damascus, was installed as king of Iraq in order to crush the aspirations of the Shi’ite Muslim majority. Next, when Sharif Hussain was driven out from the Hijaz by the Wahhabi desert brigand from Najd, Abdul-Aziz Aal-e Saud, another artificial state called Saudi Arabia was created, on condition that no objection would be raised to the British plan to create for European Zionists an illegal entity called Israel in Palestine. Lawrence has shamelessly referred to part of these plots during World War I in his book titled: "Seven Pillars of Wisdom”. He died in an accident at the age of 47.
114 solar years ago, on this day in 1906 AD, an 8.6 magnitude earthquake in Valparaiso, Chile, left an estimated 20,000 people dead.
106 solar years ago, on this day in 1914 AD, revolutionary leader, Emiliano Zapata, overran Mexico. Zapata, who remains an iconic figure in Mexico, as a nationalist symbol and symbol of the neo-Zapatista movement, was killed in 1919.
60 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, the Island of Cyprus gained its independence from British rule as per the Zürich and London Agreement between Britain, Greece and Turkey, with quotas on ethnic basis for government posts and public offices, which were violated by the Greek majority.
58 solar years ago, on this day in 1961 AD, the prominent Muslim scholar and linguist of the subcontinent, Maulavi Abdul Haq, passed away in Karachi, Pakistan at the age of 91. Abdul- Haq’s work, especially helped preserve the distinct Deccani or "Old Urdu” linguistic and literary traditions of Hyderabad and southern India.
39 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, Mullah Saleh Khosravi, a Sunni Muslim religious leader of Iran’s ethnic Kurdish minority, was martyred by US mercenaries, along with his 18-year old son, at the Jame’ Mosque in the city of Sanandaj (Kurdistan)  before start of the evening congregational prayers. He joined the grassroots Islamic movement of the Iranian people under the leadership of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), braving imprisonment several times by the British-installed and US-backed Pahlavi regime. On the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he defended national solidarity and Islamic unity, opposing the anti-revolutionary activities of the mercenary outfits in Kurdistan.
30 solar years ago, on this day in 1990 AD, the Islamic Republic of Iran received an official letter from Saddam, the head of Iraq’s repressive Ba’th minority regime, to reaffirm the 1975 Iran-Iraq Accord on border delineation, which Saddam himself had signed in Algiers the capital of Algeria, but five years later in 1980 arrogantly tore it in front of TV cameras on the eve of his 8-year war. Saddam had to eat the humble pie following the shattering of his US-inspired dream to overthrow the Islamic Republic and seize Iran’s border provinces, thanks to the heroic defence of Iran by the Muslim combatants. The letter was addressed to the then Iranian president, Hojjat ol-Islam Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani   
27 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abdul-A’la Musavi Sabzevari, passed away in holy Najaf, Iraq, at the age of 83. Born in the northeastern Iranian city of Sabzevar, Khorasan, he learned Islamic sciences in his hometown until the age of 14 before moving to holy Mashhad, the provincial capital, to continue his studies. After completing his basic studies, he left for Iraq to pursue higher studies at the famous Islamic seminary of holy Najaf, where he studied philosophy and jurisprudence under the prominent scholar, Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Hussain Na’ini of Iran. He soon attained the status of Ijtehad and for almost 50 years taught at the seminary. He was a firm supporter of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), and in 1992 following the passing away of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Qassim Khoyi, he became Chief of the Najaf Seminary. He has left behind several compilations, including the two-volume book: "Tahzib al-Osoul”, and the 21-volume exegesis of the holy Qur’an: "Mawaheb ar-Rahman fi Tafsir al-Qur’an”.
6 lunar years ago, on this day in 1435 AD, Head of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani passed away at the age of 85. As a disciple of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), he strove against the despotic regime of the Shah, and after establishment of the Islamic Republic, he served as Acting Prime Minister from 2 September until 29 October 1981. Before that, he was Minister of Interior and Minister of Justice in the cabinets of Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Mohammad-Javad Bahonar. He was the leader of Combatant Ulema Association and founder and president of Imam Sadeq (AS) University.