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Gold dinar minted with al-Musta'li's name

Al-Mustaʿlī biʾllāh (15/16 September 1074 – 1101) was the ninth Fatimid caliph and the nineteenth imam of Musta'li Ismailism. He became caliph through the machinations of his brother-in-law al-Afdal Shahanshah. In response, his oldest brother, Nizar, revolted in Alexandria; his defeat and execution split the Isma'ili movement. Al-Musta'li remained subordinate to al-Afdal, who was the de facto ruler of the Fatimid Caliphate. The Caliphate's territory in Egypt experienced good government and prosperity, but the Fatimids suffered setbacks in Syria, where they faced the advance of the Seljuk Turks. Al-Afdal recovered the port city of Tyre and recaptured Jerusalem in the turmoil caused by the arrival of the First Crusade. Despite Fatimid attempts to make common cause with the Crusaders against the Seljuks, the Crusaders advanced south and captured Jerusalem in July 1099 and defeated the Fatimid army at the Battle of Ascalon. Al-Musta'li died in 1101 and was succeeded by his son al-Amir. (Full article...)

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Morgan Library & Museum

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In the news

Alberto Fujimori in 1991

Former president of Peru Alberto Fujimori (pictured) dies at the age of 86.
Flooding following a dam collapse in Borno State, Nigeria, leaves at least 30 people dead.
Typhoon Yagi leaves more than 780 people dead across six Asian countries.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune is declared the winner of the Algerian presidential election amid a dispute over the election's turnout.
Michel Barnier is appointed prime minister of France by President Emmanuel Macron, leading to nationwide anti-government protests.

On this day

September 15: Battle of Britain Day in the United Kingdom (1940)

Marilyn Monroe posing during filming for The Seven Year Itch

1462 – The Ottoman conquest of Lesbos ended upon the surrender of commander Niccolò Gattilusio; the conquering Mehmed II executed 300 Italian soldiers by chopping them in half, claiming he was fulfilling a promise to "spare their heads".
1830 – The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&M), the first locomotive-hauled railway to connect two major cities, opened with the Duke of Wellington in attendance.
1954 – The scene in The Seven Year Itch of Marilyn Monroe standing in a white dress over a subway grate (pictured) was filmed by Billy Wilder.
2013 – The Belarusian serial killer Ivan Kulesh murdered two saleswomen in Lida.

Stanisław Poniatowski (b. 1676)
Ayscoghe Boucherett (d. 1815)
Algernon Lee (b. 1873)
Linnie Marsh Wolfe (d. 1945)

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Today's featured picture

William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States, serving from 1909 to 1913, and the tenth chief justice of the United States, serving from 1921 to 1930, the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected president in 1908, the chosen successor of Theodore Roosevelt, but was defeated for reelection in 1912 by Woodrow Wilson after Roosevelt split the Republican vote by running as a third-party candidate. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft to be chief justice, a position he held until a month before his death. This photograph was taken in 1908 by the Pach Brothers studio.

Photograph credit: Pach Brothers; restored by Adam Cuerden

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