Mukhtar al-Thaqafi (c. 622 – 687) was an early Islamic revolutionary based in Kufa who led a rebellion against the Umayyads during the Second Islamic Civil War and ruled over most of Iraq for eighteen months. Mukhtar had allied with the Mecca-based rival caliph Abd Allah ibn al- Zubayr following Husayn ibn Ali's death at the Battle of Karbala, but returned to Kufa after caliph Yazid's death. He declared Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, a son of Ali, to be the Mahdi, and took power in his name in 685. Hostile relations with Ibn al-Zubayr ultimately led to Mukhtar's death at the hands of the Zubayrid governor of Basra, Mus'ab ibn al- Zubayr, following a four-month siege. Mukhtar's followers formed a radical Shia sect; later called Kaysanites, they developed novel doctrines and played a significant role in the Abbasid Revolution. Mukhtar is a controversial figure among Muslims, revered by Shia but condemned by many others as a false prophet.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_al-Thaqafi

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1786:

Ten days after it was created during an earthquake, a landslide dam on the Dadu River in China was destroyed by an aftershock, causing a flood that killed an estimated 100,000 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1786_Kangding-Luding_earthquake

1886:

Mount Tarawera, a volcano on the North Island of New Zealand, erupted (depicted), killing around 120 people and creating the Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1886_eruption_of_Mount_Tarawera

1925:

The United Church of Canada, the country's largest Protestant church, held its inaugural service in Toronto's Mutual Street Arena. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Church_of_Canada

1991:

Eleven-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped in South Lake Tahoe, California; she remained a captive until 2009. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Jaycee_Dugard

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

disimprovement: Reduction from a better to a worse state. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disimprovement

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

In the greatest confusion there is still an open channel to the soul. It may be difficult to find because by midlife it is overgrown, and some of the wildest thickets that surround it grow out of what we describe as our education. But the channel is always there, and it is our business to keep it open, to have access to the deepest part of ourselves.   --Saul Bellow https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Saul_Bellow