Al-Mu'tadid (c. 857 – 5 April 902) was the Abbasid Caliph from 15
October 892 until his death. As a prince, he served under his father al-
Muwaffaq during various military campaigns and helped suppress the Zanj
Rebellion. As caliph, he restored to the Abbasid state some of the power
it had lost during the turmoils of the previous decades. In a series of
campaigns he recovered the provinces of Jazira, Thughur and Jibal, and
effected a rapprochement with the Saffarids in the east and the Tulunids
in the west. He brought the capital back to Baghdad, where he engaged in
major building projects. He was a firm supporter of Sunni traditionalist
orthodoxy, and notorious for his fiscal stringency and cruel
punishments, but also interested in the learning and science that had
flourished under his predecessors, promoting men like Thabit ibn Qurra,
a mathematician and translator of Greek texts. His reign marks the last
revival of the Abbasid empire before its terminal decline during the
10th century.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu%27tadid>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1864:
American Civil War: Confederate forces captured Glasgow,
Missouri, although it had little long-term benefit as Price's Missouri
Expedition was defeated a week later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Glasgow,_Missouri>
1982:
Ata'ollah Ashrafi Esfahani was assassinated by the People's
Mujahedin of Iran during Friday prayers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ata%27ollah_Ashrafi_Esfahani>
2003:
Shenzhou 5, China's first crewed space mission, was launched,
carrying astronaut Yang Liwei.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_5>
2011:
Global demonstrations against economic inequality (protests in
Madrid pictured), corporate influence on government, and other issues,
were held in more than 950 cities in 82 countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15_October_2011_global_protests>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
beg to differ:
1. (idiomatic) To offer an opposing opinion humbly.
2. (idiomatic) To differ (strongly) in interpretation or opinion.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beg_to_differ>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Wealth, in even the most improbable cases, manages to convey the
aspect of intelligence.
--John Kenneth Galbraith
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Kenneth_Galbraith>
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