This Day in History (September 20)

Date: 19 September 2020 - 21:42

News ID: ۸۲۹۷۸

Today is Sunday; 30th of the Iranian month of Shahrivar 1399 solar hijri; corresponding to 2nd of the Islamic month of Safar 1442 lunar hijri; and September 20, 2020, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
2500 solar years ago, on this day in 480 BC, an Iranian army was defeated by an alliance of Greek city states in the Battle of Salamis in the straits between the mainland and the island of Salamis in the Saronic Gulf near Athens.
1321 lunar years ago, on this day in 121 AH, Zayd bin Ali, a son of Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) – the great-grandson and 4th Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) – was cruelly martyred near Kufa in Iraq by the Godless Omayyad regime, at the age of 42. His mother was a virtuous lady from Sindh in what is now Pakistan, and he rose up against the tyranny of Hesham Ibn Abdul-Malik, the 10th self-styled caliph of the usurper regime, in order to safeguard the achievements of the uprising of his Infallible Grandfather, Imam Husain (AS). After being deserted by the Kufans, he bravely fought until he was martyred. His son Yayha buried him in the riverbed of the Euphrates by briefly diverting the waters and then restoring their normal flow, but the Omayyads bribed turncoats to find the location. They took out the corpse of this pious and learned member of the Prophet’s Household, decapitated it, and hung it on the gallows for four years. Zayd’s martyrdom was foretold by the Prophet of Islam over a hundred and ten years ago when he put his hand on the back of his younger grandson, and said: "O Husain, it will not be long until a man will be born among your descendants. He will be called Zayd; he will be killed as a martyr. On the day of resurrection, he and his companions will enter heaven.” Zayd’s body was later buried, and his head which had been sent to Damascus was, after the fall of the hated Omayyads, buried in Karak in Jordan, which was then part of Syria. Zayd’s sons were also persecuted, especially Yayha, who was martyred in 125 AH, after a valiant fight in distant Khorasan in the area called Jowzajan which is presently in Afghanistan. The Zaydi Shi’ite Muslims of Yemen revere Martyr Zayd as an Imam, although he never claimed the imamate, and was obedient to his elder brother, Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS), and after him to his nephew, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS).
1175 lunar years ago, on this day in 257 AH, a person of obscure origin and said to be a descendant of slaves, who went by the name of Ali bin Mohammad and styled himself Sahib az-Zanj or Leader of the black-skinned people of East African origin, was finally killed in southern Iraq after having unleashed a great sedition and destruction. The Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), had prophesied the revolt of Saheb az-Zanj two centuries earlier, citing Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) as source of information.
833 solar years ago, on this day in 1187 AD, the Kurdish ruler of Egypt-Syria, Salah od-Din Ayyoubi besieged Bayt al-Moqaddas which the Crusader invaders from Europe had seized in 1099 from the Fatemid Ismaili Shi’a Muslim dynasty of Egypt-Syria. His army of Turks, Arabs, Iranians and Kurds liberated the city on October 2 after 88 years of occupation by the illegal Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
697 lunar years ago, on this day in 745 AH, Spanish Muslim poet and literary figure, Mohammad Ibn Yusuf Ibn Ali al-Barbari, known as Abu-Hayyan al-Gharnati, passed away at the age of 91 in Cairo, Egypt. He wrote the famous book "al-Bahr al-Muheet” on the linguistic meanings of the holy Qur’an. A master of Arabic grammar, he considered himself a student of the school of the celebrated Iranian grammarian of Arabic language, Sibwaiyh of Shiraz. He has left behind numerous books, including a Diwan or collection of poems.
692 solar years ago, on this day in 1328 AD, the highly controversial Hanbali pseudo scholar, Ahmad ibn Abdul-Haleem Ibn Taymiya, died in Damascus at the age of 65, while serving a prison sentence for discouraging celebrations on the Prophet of Islam’s birth anniversary, for declaring pilgrimage to the Prophet’s tomb as "bid’ah” (innovation), and for belittling the sanctity of Islam’s two principal mosques – the Masjid al-Haram around the holy Ka’ba in Mecca and Medina’s Masjid an-Nabi that encloses Prophet of Islam’s holy shrine. Earlier also, he had spent over 18 months in jail in Cairo (1319-21) for his views which the ulema considered heretical.
680 lunar years ago, on this day in 762 AH, Muslim astronomer, mathematician, and theologian, Ali Ibn Mohammad Ibn ad-Durayhim, passed away. Ibn ad-Durayhim’s book entitled "Clear Chapters Goals and Solving Ciphers” was recently discovered. It includes the use of statistical techniques pioneered by the famous philosopher Yaqub Ibn Ishaq al-Kindi.
632 solar years ago, on this day in 1388 AD, Ferouz Shah, the 3rd Sultan of the Turkic Toghlaq Dynasty of North India, died in Delhi at the age of 79, after a 37-year reign. The famous Persian history of his reign is "Tarikh-e Ferouz Shahi” written by Shams-e Siraj Afif.
400 solar years ago, on this day in 1620 AD, the Battle of Jassy took place in Romania when the Ottoman Turks beat King Sigismund III of Poland.
189 solar years ago, on this day in 1831 AD, the first bus empowered by steam engine was manufactured in Europe. It had the capacity to carry thirty passengers; and maintained a low speed.
163 solar years ago, on this day in 1857 AD, British troops of the East India Company captured Delhi to crush the Indian Uprising of 1857, and cold-bloodedly massacred the people. They dethroned the last Mughal monarch, the aged Bahadur Shah Zafar, and before exiling him to Rangoon in Burma (Myanmar), mercilessly shot his sons and grandsons. They then sadistically sent their heads to the king as gifts on the day of Nowrouz, or the Spring Equinox, when traditional celebrations were in progress for the new solar hijri year.
153 solar years ago, on this day in 1867 AD, with annexation of Hungary to Austrian soil, Franz Joseph was officially instated as Austro-Hungarian emperor. Hungary, which had been part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire before its seizure by Austria, gained independence at the end of World War I following Austria’s defeat.
150 solar years ago, on this day in 1870 AD, Rome was seized by the forces of King Victor Emmanuel II, resulting in the unification of Italy as a national state.
87 solar years ago, on this day in 1933 AD, Annie Wood Besant, British socialist, theosophist, women’s rights activist, writer, orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self-rule, died in Adyar, Madras Presidency at the age of 86.
72 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, Dr. Husain Salah od-Din, the Maldivian writer and an influential poet and scholar of English, Arabic, Persian, Urdu and the local Dhivehi language of the Maldives archipelago, passed away at the age of 67.
29 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, South Ossetia declared independence from the Republic of Georgia.
14 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took his verbal battle with the US to the floor of the UN General Assembly, calling President George W. Bush "the devil”. "The devil came here yesterday,” Chavez said. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world.”
13 solar years ago, on this day in 2007 AD, Iranian air force pilots made successful test flights in two of Iran’s new domestically manufactured fighter jet. The "Saeqeh” jet is a new generation of the "Azarakhsh” class of fighter planes. Azarakhsh and Saeqeh mean lightening in Persian and Arabic respectively.
9 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, former president of Afghanistan, Burhan od-Din Rabbani, was assassinated on his 71st birthday by a Taliban terrorist, who visited him on the pretext of holding talks.