Yazid I (c. 646 – 683) was the second caliph of the Umayyad
Caliphate, ruling from April 680 until his death. His appointment, the
first hereditary succession to the caliphate in Islamic history, was
opposed by several Muslim grandees from Medina, including Muhammad's
grandson Husayn ibn Ali. Husayn refused to recognize Yazid following his
accession and left for Kufa in Iraq to lead a revolt, but was killed in
the Battle of Karbala. To suppress the subsequent rebellion in Arabia,
Yazid sent an army that captured and sacked Medina. Next, Mecca was
besieged for several weeks until the army withdrew as a result of
Yazid's death. The caliphate fell into a decade-long civil war known as
the Second Fitna, ending with the establishment of the Marwanid dynasty.
Yazid is considered an illegitimate ruler and a tyrant by many Muslims.
Modern historians consider him a capable ruler, albeit less successful
than his father Mu'awiya I, whose style of governance he continued.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazid_I>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1637:
Pequot War: Allied Puritan and Mohegan forces attacked a
fortified Pequot village in the Connecticut Colony, killing between 400
and 700 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic_massacre>
1822:
The deadliest fire in Norwegian history (depicted) occurred at
a church in Grue, killing at least 113 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grue_Church_fire>
1967:
The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, widely
considered to be the most influential rock-and-roll album ever recorded,
was released.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Pepper%27s_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band>
1991:
Shortly after leaving Bangkok, an engine thrust reverser on
Lauda Air Flight 004 deployed without being commanded, causing the
aircraft to break apart and killing all 223 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
facticity:
1. (uncountable) The quality or state of being a fact.
2. (uncountable, specifically, philosophy) In existentialism, the state
of being in the world without any knowable reason for such existence, or
of being in a particular state of affairs which one has no control over.
3. (countable) A fact that is not changeable or that is assumed to be
true without further evaluation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/facticity>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
All I have to do is make you see this. This one particular thing
here. That's all. And sometimes it's impossible. Sometimes, I know the
best odds I can hope for are a thousand to one. You'll see what you see,
what your life has conditioned you to see upon encountering that
combination of words, not what I want or need you to see. Fiction
writing is like making films for the blind.
--Caitlín R. Kiernan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Caitl%C3%ADn_R._Kiernan>