This Day in History

Date: 14 February 2020 - 23:12

News ID: ۷۶۱۲۶

(February 15)

Today is Saturday; 26th of the Iranian month of Bahman 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 20th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1441 lunar hijri; and February 15, 2020, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1449 lunar years ago, on this day, some nine years before Hijra, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) was blessed with the radiant daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), whom God Almighty refers in the holy Qur’an as "Kowsar” or the Perennial Fountain of Abundant Munificence. The birth of this noblest-ever lady, after her brothers had died in infancy, ensured continuation of the blessed progeny of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger to all mankind. She was the perfect daughter, the perfect wife for the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali and the perfect mother for sons Imam Hasan and Imam Husain, and daughters Hazrat Zainab and Hazrat Omm Kolsoum (peace upon them). Several ayahs in the holy Qur’an refer to the unsurpassed merits of this Most Virtuous Lady, including the Verse of Purity, and the Verse of Mobahela, on whose revelation, she accompanied her father, husband and two small sons to the historical debate with the Christians of Najran that made the truth of Islam triumph. Her birthday is marked as Mother’s Day in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Over the years Muslims in several other countries have begun to hold such gatherings in order to more clearly tread the path of Fatema (SA), the daughter at whose threshold the Prophet used to salute and stand to his feet whenever she entered his presence, so as to give a practical demonstration of the rights and dignity of women in Islam.
1430 solar years ago, on this day in 590 AD, Khosrow II was crowned the 22nd Sassanid Emperor of Persia, following his revolt against his father, Hormizd IV, who was deposed, blinded and killed. Grandson of the wise, just and benevolent ruler, Khosrow I (Anushirvan), he styled himself Perviz (Victorious) but lacked the traits of virtue, as was evident by incidents during his 38-year reign that ended in 628 with his torturous death in prison at the hands of his generals, after he had haughtily torn the letter of invitation to Islam from the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and threatened to attack Hijaz from Iranian-controlled Yemen, following the reversal of his fortunes in the 26-year long Roman-Iranian War.
1314 solar years ago, on this day in 706 AD, General Leontios, who in 695 had usurped the throne of Byzantine (Eastern Roman Empire) by deposing Emperor Justinian II and exiling him to Crimea after slitting his tongue and nose, only to be overthrown in 698 by Apsimarus Tiberius, was executed along with the latter by the restored Justinian.
456 solar years ago, on this day in 1564 AD, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, was born in the city of Pisa where he mastered physics and mathematics. With the usage of lens, invented by the famous Muslim astronomer, Ibn al-Haytham, he developed a telescope for observing stars. With the help of this instrument, and with the aid of the writings of Islamic scientists, he wrote that the surface of the moon has plains and altitudes, while each galaxy is made of small and large stars. He also recorded as his own, the discoveries of Islamic scientists that the Sun is at the centre of the Solar System and other planets, including the Earth, revolve around it. These discoveries were already made several centuries earlier in the Islamic world by the renowned Iranian astronomer, Abu-Rayhan Birouni, who as a follower of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), had proved the circular movement of the spherical Earth around the Sun. Following publication of Galileo’s theory on the movement of the Earth and other planets around the Sun, the Cathlotic Church charged him with blasphemy, forcing him to renounce his views or risk execution. He died in 1642.
310 solar years ago, on this day in 1710 AD, King Louis XV of France was born. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity in 1723, his kingdom was ruled by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, as regent.
238 solar years ago, on this day in 1782 AD, a naval battle broke out between France and Britain off the coast of India and lasted seven months, as part of the two European colonial powers’ rivalry in controlling the Subcontinent and plundering its rich resources. Earlier, France had relinquished its Indian possessions following its defeat in the 13-month long Madras War.
212 solar years ago, on this day in 1808 AD, Russia seized Finland, which since the 12th century had been occupied by Sweden. Following the Russian Revolution in 1917 Finland gained independence.
151 solar years ago, on this day in 1869 AD, the famous Urdu-Persian poet of the Subcontinent, Mirza Asadollah Khan Ghaleb, passed away in Delhi at the age of 73.
122 solar years ago, on this day in 1898 AD, as a pretext to start a war with Spain, the USS Maine was deceitfully blown up and sank by US agents in Havana harbour in Cuba, killing more than 260. The resulting 4-year war with Spain saw the US seize Cuba, Guam Island and the Philippines.
121 lunar years ago, on this day in 1320 AH, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) was born in the city of Khomein, on the auspicious birth anniversary of his blessed ancestress, Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA). From childhood he was immersed in the study of Islamic sciences, and at the same time was aware and conscious of the political developments around in those days of Iran’s subservience to the British and the Russians. When he entered manhood, and was already a scholar of repute in hadith, philosophy and other subjects, he saw the British replace the Qajarid dynasty with an illiterate soldier named Reza Khan, who assumed the surname Pahlavi and unleashed oppression on the people and the ulema through his anti-Islamic policies. Reza Khan forcibly unveiled Iranian women, and banned men from wearing the traditional Iranian dress by imposing upon them European style of clothing. In 1941, Seyyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini saw the British replace Reza Khan with his son, Mohammad Reza on the Peacock Throne, and this new self-styled king was even more submissive to his masters. In the early 1950s, the oil nationalization movement took shape and the Shah fled but was restored to power in the August 1953 CIA coup by the Americans, his new masters. In 1963, the Imam openly spoke against the anti-Islamic policies of the corrupt Pahlavi regime, for which he was imprisoned and then exiled – initially to Turkey and thereafter to Iraq, where he spent 14 years in holy Najaf, beside the shrine of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), grooming a large number of scholars. His guidelines generated the Islamic Revolution, and in February 1979, after a brief three-month stay in Paris, he returned to Iran to found the Islamic Republic. He thus delivered the country, not just from domestic despotism but foreign hegemony. It was his astute guidance that saved Islamic Iran from the intricate plots of the Great Satan (the US) including the 8-year war imposed by the American stooge Saddam. Imam Khomeini, who led the worldwide Islamic revival, was a prominent Mujtahid and a Gnostic of the highest order, who wrote several books. His concept of "Wilayat-e Faqih” or Governance of the Supreme Jurist in the absence of the Infallible Imam is indeed unique and the keys to the steadfastness and success of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of heavy odds. His speeches and messages are gathered in the 21-volume "Sahifa-e Noor” or Scripture of Light. He also has a diwan of Persian poetry.
78 solar years ago, on this day in 1942 AD, during World War II, Singapore fell to the Japanese with the surrender of General Arthur Percival, along with some 80,000 Indian, British and Australian troops – the largest surrender of British-led military forces in history.
58 solar years ago, on this day in 1962 AD, Iranian dramatist and playwright, Seyyed Ali Nasr, considered one of the founders of theatre in Iran, passed away in Tehran at the age of 70. He taught the history of art at the university level and wrote several books including the 6-volume "Science of Physics”, and "History of Iran”. He also translated into Persian "History of Greece” and "History of France”.
31 solar years ago, on this day in 1989 AD, faced with the people’s stiff resistance, Soviet forces were forced to withdraw from Afghanistan after almost ten years of occupation.
9 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, Fadhel al-Matrook attained martyrdom in the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain. While, participating in the funeral procession of Ali Abdul-Hadi Mushaima, who was martyred the day before, he succumbed to his wounds in hospital after being shot at close range that caused internal bleeding and punctured his lungs. The Bahraini people are campaigning for restoration of their denied birthrights in a peaceful manner since the past seven years, but the US-supported Aal-e Khalifa minority regime, has answered them with bullets, artillery fire, razing of mosques, burning of copies of the holy Qur’an, desecration of Hussainiyahs, and torture and killing of the unarmed activists.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)