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

_______________________________ 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

_____________________________ 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

___________________________ 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