Outstanding Facts in Saudi Arabia
1973: October 17OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) reaches an agreement to reduce oil extraction by 5% until Israel withdraws from the occupied territories during the Yom Kippur War. Failing to achieve a result, Saudi Arabia and other nations will cut oil production drastically and impose a full oil embargo against the United States and the Netherlands in response to their military support for Israel. The embargo will cause the biggest energy crisis in the United States and Europe and will initiate an unprecedented speculative escalation in the price of a barrel of oil. (48 years ago)
1963: June 2With a decree of the Regent Prince Faisal, slavery is abolished in Saudi Arabia, the last country that until yesterday officially recognized it. (58 years ago)
1945: March 22
They meet in Cairo (Egypt), to found the Arab League (organization of Arab states of the Middle East), representatives of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan, Iraq and Yemen. The League was created with the purpose of promoting economic development in the area, resolving possible disputes between member states by peaceful means, and coordinating political objectives. In 1950, two years after the creation of the State of Israel, the members of the Arab League signed a Treaty of Mutual Defense. Over time, 15 more countries will join the organization, which will also establish the creation of a common market in 1965. (76 years ago)
634: August 23
In Medina (Arabia) the new caliph Omar I was elected, a former enemy of Muhammad but who, upon converting to Islam, became a close collaborator and even married his daughter to the prophet. Omar I will extend the domination of Islam with his conquests of Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia. (1387 years ago)
627: March 31
In the surroundings of Medina (Saudi Arabia), the so-called "Battle of the Ditch or Trench" begins between the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, who had been exiled to Medina, and a coalition that had forced his exile in 622 from La Mecca. The battle is named after the Muslims dug a deep trench around their camp to avoid the charges of the enemy cavalry. Two weeks later and after the coalition was disbanded, Muhammad will achieve victory and about 900 losers will be beheaded and thrown into a pit. (1394 years ago)
622: September 24
Muhammad completes the "Hegira" to Medina from Mecca (Arabia). Mecca is the birthplace of Muhammad, the prophet and founder of Islam, and the holy center of Islam. In 610, north of Mecca, in a cave on Mount Hira, Muhammad, a rich and respected merchant, had a vision in which God commanded him to become the prophet of "true religion." From there, he will manage to gather a large group of supporters in Mecca, arousing the suspicion of the quraysi clan, lords of the city who will want his death. Muhammad will be forced to escape in what will be the beginning of the "Hijra", but in 630 he will return to Mecca as a conqueror. Upon his death in 632, Muhammad will leave an organized community, governed by the principles of the Qur'an. In 639, Caliph Umar I will mark the year of the Hegira as the first of the Muslim era, thus, 622 AD. C. will become 1 ah (anno hegirae) in the Muslim calendar. (1399 years ago)
622: September 20
Muhammad arrives in Medina (Saudi Arabia) fleeing from Mecca. Medina will become the capital of the flourishing Muslim state, until the year 661, when it will be replaced by Damascus, the capital of the Umayyad caliphs. In 683, the caliphs will attack Medina in the battle of al-Harra. After its subsequent sacking, the city will go into decline. (1399 years ago)
622: July 16
Faced with the danger of living in Mecca, Muhammad decides to move to Medina, a great agricultural oasis where he has his followers. Thus begins the "Age of Hegira". The Islamic calendar will count the dates from this moment on. In September he will arrive in Medina where he will take care of organizing the worship. (1399 years ago)
Outstanding births in Saudi Arabia
570: April 26
Tradition sets on this date the birth of the prophet Muhammad in Mecca, present-day Saudi Arabia, considered according to the Muslim religion, the "seal of the prophets" as he is the last of a long chain of messengers, sent by God to update his message. , which according to Islam, is essentially the same as that transmitted by its predecessors, including Ibrahim (Abraham), Isa (Jesus) and Musa (Moses). At the age of forty, Muhammad will retire to the desert where he will spend whole days in a cave on Mount Hira, and will receive the revelation of God (Allah), speaking to him through the archangel Gabriel who will communicate the secret of true faith. He will begin to preach in his hometown, where he will present himself as a continuation of the previous great monotheistic prophets. (1451 years ago)
Reported deaths in Saudi Arabia
2003: August 16
Refugee since 1979 in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, the tyrannical Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada dies, plunging Uganda into confusion in 8 years. Its repressive apparatus caused the death of nearly 300,000 countrymen and left their country bankrupt. (18 years ago)
1975: March 25
In Riyah, Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal shoots and kills his uncle, King Faisal, for reasons that are still unknown today. During his reign King Faisal, son of King Ibn Saud, tried to modernize his country. His son, Crown Prince Khalid, succeeds him on the throne. (46 years ago)
644: November 3
In pursuit of revenge, a Persian Christian assassinates Caliph Oman I in Medina (Arabia), who at first was an enemy and later a faithful collaborator of Muhammad. (1377 years ago)
632: June 8
During a pilgrimage, Muhammad, founder of Islam, died in Medina (Arabia) at the age of 62. Thanks to his religious and political activity, he achieved the unity of the Arab peoples, allowing the founding of a kingdom that, based on Islam, achieved a position of strength against other great powers of the time. (1389 years ago)
