This Day in History (August 9)

Date: 08 August 2018 - 21:52

News ID: ۵۶۰۹۳

Today is Thursday; 18th of the Iranian month of Mordad 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 26th of the Islamic month of Zil-Qa’dah 1439 lunar hijri; and August 9, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1640 solar years ago, on this day in 378 AD, the Battle of Adrianople in what is now Edirne in the European part of Turkey resulted in a resounding defeat for the Roman Empire and the killing of Emperor Valens, along with over half of his army, by a joint force of Visigoths and the Iranian semi nomadic Alans – ancestors of present day Ossetians of the Caucasus in Georgia and the southwestern part of the Federation of Russia. Valens, who reigned for 14 years was constantly embroiled in wars, especially with Shapur II of Iran’s Sassanid Empire in northeastern Syria, southeastern Anatolia, and Armenia. The Alans who were offshoots of the Iranian Scythians or Sakas which were once widespread throughout Central Asia before the influx of Turkic tribes from Eastern Asia, infiltrated Europe as far as Spain, from where they crossed over into Northern Africa, were Europeanized and Christianized in the course of history.
1205 solar years ago, on this day in 803 AD, Byzantine Empress, Irene of Athens died at the age of 51 on the island of Lesbos, a year after she was exiled on her overthrow by her finance minister, Nikephoros. During her absolute reign of five years, following a 17-year period as regent for her son, Constantine VI, who predeceased her, she entered into a disastrous military confrontation in 782 with a Muslim army in Asia Minor that backfired on her, and made her pay an annual tribute of 70,000 or 90,000 dinars to the caliphate in Baghdad, for a three-year truce, as well as to give them 10,000 silk garments, and to provide them with guides, provisions, and access to markets during their withdrawal.
1185 solar years ago, on this day in 833 AD, Abdullah al-Mamoun, the 7th self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid dynasty, died at the age of 48 near Tarsus in what is now southwestern Turkey, during a campaign against the Byzantine Empire. Of his 24-year reign, four years were involved in civil war with his step brother, Amin, the rival caliph in Baghdad whom he ordered killed. Born to Haroun's Iranian concubine, Marajil, his capital was initially the Khorasani city of Marv (currently in Turkmenistan). Mamoun earned lasting notoriety for forcing Imam Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), to come to Marv from distant Medina, as part of his plot to isolate the Ahl al-Bayt from the ummah. When his plot failed and the Imam's popularity grew among the people during his 2-year sojourn in Khorasan, Mamoun martyred the Prophet's rightful heir in Tous through a fatal dose of poison.
845 solar years ago, on this day in 1173 AD, construction began of the campanile of a cathedral in the Italian city of Pisa – later to be known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It took two centuries to complete.
717 lunar years ago, on this day in 722 AH, Iranian Sunni Hanafi scholar, Sa'd od-Din Mas'oud ibn Omar Taftazani, was born in Taftazan near Qochan in Khorasan. He studied in Herat, Gulistan, Khwarezm, Samarqand and Sarakhs. He mainly resided in Sarakhs, which today straddles the Iran-Turkmenistan border. He was active during the reign of the Turkic conqueror Amir Timur, and was attached to his court. He died in Samarqand at the age of 70 and was buried in Sarakhs. He wrote books and treaties on grammar, rhetoric, theology, logic, law and the exegesis of the holy Qur'an. His works were used as textbooks for centuries in Ottoman madrasahs. The bulk of his writing is in Arabic, although he wrote a commentary of the Qur'an in his native Persian and translated the poems of the famous Persian poet, Mosleh od-Din Sa'di of Shiraz, into Turkic.
518 solar years ago, on this day in 1500 AD, during the 4-year Ottoman-Venetian War, the Turks captured Methoni and Messenia in southern Greece, as part of the gradual conquest of the Peloponnese Peninsula.
387 solar years ago, on this day in 1631 AD, John Dryden, English poet, playwright, critic, and translator was born. He died at the age 69.
251 lunar years ago, on this day in 1188 AH, Jalal od-Din Haidar Shuja od-Dowla, the Nawab Wazir of the Moghal Empire and ruler of the Naishapuri dynasty of Iranian origin of the State of Awadh, died in his capital Faizabad after ruling for 21 years. He was succeeded by his son Asaf-od-Dowla. Son of Muqim Ali Khan Safdar Jung the Prime Minister of the Moghal Empire, who was a Seyyed from Naishapur in Khorasan, Shuja od-Dowla was an experienced military commander and an able administrator. He played key roles in two definitive battles in Indian history. The first was the Third Battle of Panipat during which his decision to join Ahmad Shah Durrani of Afghanistan ended the Maratha domination of the northern regions of the Mughal Empire. He next overthrew the Maratha installed usurper of the Mughal Throne, Shah Jahan III, and reaffirmed Shah Alam II as the rightful emperor in Delhi. Shuja od-Dowla also assisted on several occasions Ali-Vardi Khan the Nawab Nazem of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, when the latter’s territories were ravaged by the Marathas. Known for his opposition to British expansionism, he played a key role in the Battle of Buxar, along with the forces of Emperor Shah Alam II and Nawab Mir Qasim Ali Khan of Bengal – although the battle was lost. He is buried in the beautiful Golbari mausoleum in Faizabad which he developed into a full- fledged city, with gardens, palaces, markets, roads and other infrastructure. He was a patron of Persian literature.
204 solar years ago, on this day in 1814 AD, the Amerindian Creek Tribe was forced to sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson by the expansionist US, thus giving up huge parts of Alabama and Georgia to the white European settlers. As part of the genocide of the native population, successive US regimes from time to time encroached upon the lands of the Amerindians, and almost exterminated them.
73 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, three days after the US act of state terrorism in dropping an atomic bomb on the unsuspecting Japanese city of Hiroshima, faraway from any warfront, Washington repeated its crime against humanity by targeting another Japanese city with an atomic bomb, and this time the port of Nagasaki, where almost 50,000 people were instantly killed and tens of thousands of others severely injured. The sadistic Americans jokingly called this weapon of mass destruction "Fat Man”. At a time when World War 2 was almost over, the atomic bombardment was ordered by President Harry Truman, who was barely three months in office.
53 solar years ago, on this day in 1965 AD, Singapore was expelled from the Federation of Malaysia and became the first and only country to gain independence unwillingly. In 1819, Britain was leased what is now Singapore by the Sultan of Johor, and after independence from British rule, joined the Federation of Malaysia in 1963.
44 solar years ago, on this day in 1974 AD, US president Richard Nixon, was forced to resign due to tapping of phones of rival Democrats during the presidential campaign of 1972. Known as the Watergate scandal because of the situation of the Democratic Party’s headquarters in the locality of the same name in Washington, the disclosure of the ruling Republicans’ plot made the House call for Nixon’s impeachment. Hence, to prevent further controversy, he resigned by handing over power for the remaining two years of his term to vice-president, Gerald Ford.
34 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, prominent Iranian writer and translator, Abu’l-Qassem Najafabadi "Payandeh”, passed away at the age of 71. Born in Najafabad, after completing his studies in Isfahan, he settled in Tehran, and became a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines. For over 40 years he was active in producing several works, which included a translation of the holy Qur’an, as well as the translations of important Arabic works into Persian, such as "Murouj az-Zahab” of the historian al-Mas’oudi, and Abu Ja’far Tabari’s monumental history "Tarikh Rusol wa’l-Muluk”.
32 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, in the Persian Gulf, pilot of an Iranian jet showed his remarkable dexterity and control of the skies when targeted by US Navy F-14 "Tomcat" fighter. In the ensuing dogfight, the Iranian pilot deftly evaded the two missiles fired at it by the aggressor American jet-fighter whose volleys completely missed their target, thus causing frustration and forcing it to flee the Iranian skies in fear of retaliatory action by Iran.
33 solar years ago, on this day in 1985 AD, Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Saqafi, passed away at the age of 90. Born in Tehran, he was a product of the Qom Seminary. He spent his life promoting Islam and writing books on exegesis of the Holy Qur’an, theology, jurisprudence and hadith. Among his works is the 5-volume "Ravaan-e Javid”.
20 solar years ago, on this day in 1998 AD, a day after the US-Saudi created Taliban terrorists occupied the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif and violated the diplomatic immunity of the Iranian consulate by brutally martyring 8 diplomats and IRNA journalist Mahmoud Saremi, they massacred in cold blood over four thousand men, women, and children of the Hazara Shi’a Muslim community.
10 solar years ago, on this day in 2008 AD, Palestinian revolutionary poet and author, Mahmoud Darwish, who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet, died at the age of 66, three days after heart surgery at a hospital in Houston, US. His body was flown to Ramallah in the West Bank of River Jordan for burial. Born in al-Birwa in Western Galilee and driven into exile along with his parents by illegal Zionist settlers from Europe who set up the spurious state of Israel, he later returned briefly to Occupied Palestine before being banned from re-entry because of his joining of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). In his works, Palestine became a metaphor for the loss of the Garden of Eden, birth, resurrection, the anguish of dispossession and exile. He has been described as incarnating and reflecting the tradition of the political poet in Islam, and the man of action whose action is poetry. His prose works include "Farewell War Farewell Peace”, "A River Dies of Thirst”, and "Something about the Homeland”. Among his famous poetical works are "Wingless Birds”, "Ode to Beirut”, and "The Adam of Two Edens”.
August 9 is observed as the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples each year to promote and protect the rights of the world’s various ethnicities in their native lands. This event also recognizes the achievements and contributions that indigenous people make to improve world issues such as environmental protection. It was first pronounced by the General Assembly of the United Nations in December 1994, marking the day of the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, in 1982.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)