The Second Fitna was a civil war in the Islamic community that began
with the death of Mu'awiya I in 680. The first Umayyad caliph, he had
become the sole ruler of the caliphate at the end of the First Fitna in
661, when Ali was assassinated and Ali's successor abdicated. After
Mu'awiya's death one of Ali's sons, Husayn ibn Ali, was invited to
overthrow the Umayyads but was killed with his small company at the
Battle of Karbala. His supporters continued the fight but were crushed
by the Umayyads at the Battle of Ayn al-Warda in 685. A second challenge
by Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr was initially successful, as most provinces
recognized him as caliph. Under the leadership of Abd al-Malik ibn
Marwan (depiction shown), the Umayyads reasserted control over the
caliphate after defeating Ibn al-Zubayr's forces at the Battle of Maskin
and killing him in the Siege of Mecca in 692. The events of the Second
Fitna intensified sectarian tendencies in Islam, leading to what would
become the Sunni and Shi'a sects.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Fitna>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1885:
Construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the first
transcontinental railroad across Canada, concluded with the driving of
the "last spike" in Craigellachie, British Columbia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Spike_%28Canadian_Pacific_Railway%29>
1916:
In the congressional elections, Jeannette Rankin became the
first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannette_Rankin>
1949:
Oil was discovered in the Caspian Sea off the coast of
Azerbaijan, leading to the construction of Neft Daşları, the world's
first offshore oil platform.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neft_Da%C5%9Flar%C4%B1>
1987:
Singapore's first Mass Rapid Transit line was opened (train
pictured), beginning with train services between Yio Chu Kang and Toa
Payoh stations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Rapid_Transit_%28Singapore%29>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
where there is a will there is a way:
If someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found
to make it happen.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/where_there_is_a_will_there_is_a_way>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
This heart within me I can feel, and I judge that it exists. This
world I can touch, and I likewise judge that it exists. There ends all
my knowledge, and the rest is construction. For if I try to seize this
self of which I feel sure, if I try to define and to summarize it, it is
nothing but water slipping through my fingers. I can sketch one by one
all the aspects it is able to assume, all those likewise that have been
attributed to it, this upbringing, this origin, this ardor or these
silences, this nobility or this vileness. But aspects cannot be added
up. This very heart which is mine will forever remain indefinable to me.
Between the certainty I have of my existence and the content I try to
give to that assurance, the gap will never be filled. Forever I shall be
a stranger to myself.
--Albert Camus
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Camus>