Al-Hafiz (c. 1075 – 1149) was the eleventh caliph of the Fatimids from 1132 until his death. He rose to power as regent after his cousin al-Amir was killed in 1130 leaving an infant son. The army seized power, imprisoning al-Hafiz, but he was freed a year later. In 1132, he proclaimed himself caliph and imam. Many Isma'ili followers abroad refused to recognize him as imam, breaking away as the Tayyibi sect. There were repeated uprisings even in Egypt, although his reign saw little foreign aggression. He tried to restrain his overmighty viziers, with mixed success. He was repeatedly forced to give way to the demands of various military factions, and although for the last decade of his reign he ruled without a vizier, he was ultimately unable to halt the evolution of the vizierate into a de facto sultanate, independent of the caliph. His successors would be reduced to puppets at the hands of powerful viziers, until the end of the Fatimid Caliphate in 1171.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Hafiz
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1943:
The Neoclassical Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., was formally dedicated on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Memorial
1946:
Nakam, a Jewish organization seeking revenge for the Holocaust, attempted to poison thousands of SS prisoners at Langwasser internment camp, but did not kill anyone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakam
1953:
Ian Fleming's novel Casino Royale was published as the first work to feature his British spy character James Bond. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond_%28literary_character%29
2017:
War in Afghanistan: In an airstrike in Nangarhar Province, the U.S. military dropped the most powerful conventional bomb ever used in combat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GBU-43/B_MOAB
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
amaze: 1. (transitive) 2. To fill (someone) with surprise and wonder; to astonish, to astound, to surprise. 3. (obsolete) To stun or stupefy (someone). 4. (obsolete, also reflexive) To bewilder or perplex (someone or oneself). 5. (obsolete, poetic) To fill (someone) with panic; to panic, to terrify. 6. (intransitive, archaic) To experience amazement; to be astounded. 7. (archaic) 8. (except poetic, uncountable) Amazement, astonishment; (countable) an instance of this. 9. (uncountable) Fear, terror. 10. (obsolete, uncountable) Stupefaction of the mind; bewilderment; (countable) an instance of this. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/amaze
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. --Thomas Jefferson https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson