April 12- Yuri Gagarin goes into space

Kaab-e Zartosht

Shapur I was the son of Ardashir I and Lady Myr�d. He participated in his father's campaign against the Arsacids. Ardashir I "judged him the gentlest, wisest, bravest and ablest of all his children" and nominated him as his successor in an assembly of the magnates. He appears in Ardashir I's Sasanian Investiture reliefs at Naq�-e Rajab (q.v) and Firuz�b�d as the heir apparent (Hinz, 1969, pp 56ff and passim). He later shared rulership with his father. Bal'ami states that "Ardashir I placed with his own hand his own crown upon Shapur I's head." Mas'udi confirms this, adding that Ardashir I then retired to serve God and lived for a year or longer. The testimony of the Cologne Mani Codex that in Mani's twenty-fourth year, i.e. in 240, Ardashir I "subjugated the city of Hatra and King Shapur I, his son, placed on his head the great (royal) diadem." This codex also indicates a period of synarchy. In late 242, the Emperor Gordian III (238�244) sent a letter from Antioch in Syria to the senate claiming that he had removed the threat "of Persian Kings" (reges persarum) from the city. This means that in 242 Persia had two kings. Indeed, Ardashir I's later coins continues his usual reverse type of an elaborate fire altar and the legend: "Fire of Ardax�tar," but it portrays him facing a youthful prince. This symbolically represents Shapur I, and includes a new legend, "Divine Shapur King of Iran whose seed is from gods." Shapur I's own coins show him wearing his famous mural crown and a fire altar flanked by two attendants. Clearly, Ardashir I issued that series when he appointed Shapur co-regent. A rock-relief at Salm�s in Atropatekan (today known as Azarbaijan) province depicting two horsemen both wearing Ardashir I's lower-type crown also dates from this period of synarchy. Another relief at D�r�bgerd represents a victory of Shapur I over the Romans, but the King wears Ardashir I's crown, thereby symbolizing the shared victory of both father and son.

War against the Roman Empire

Ardashir I had, towards the end of his reign, renewed the war against the Roman Empire. Shapur I conquered the Mesopotamian fortresses Nisibis and Carrhae and advanced into Syria. Timesitheus, father-in-law of the young emperor, Gordian III, drove him back and defeated him at Resaena in 243. Timesitheus died shortly afterward, and Philip the Arab (244�249) murdered Gordian III. Philip then concluded an ignominious peace with the Persians in 244. When the invasion of the Goths and the continuous elevation of new emperors after the death of Trajan Decius (251) brought the Roman Empire to dissolution, Shapur I resumed his attacks.

Shapur I conquered Armenia, invaded Syria, and plundered Antioch. Eventually, Emperor Valerian (253�260) marched against him, but was taken prisoner in the Roman-controlled province of Edessa when he attempted to meet for negotiations in 260. Shapur I advanced into Asia Minor, but Ballista beat him back. Septimius Odenathus, prince of Palmyra, rose in his rear, defeated the Persian army, reconquered Carrhae and Nisibis, captured the royal harem, and twice invested Ctesiphon (263�265) in Khvarvaran province (in present-day Iraq).

Shapur I receives the homage of Valerian, the Roman Emperor he defeated and took prisoner.

Capture of Valerian

One of the great achievements of Shapur I's reign was the capture of the Roman Emperor Valerian. In the valley of Istakhr (near Persepolis), under the tombs of the Achaemenids at Naksh-i Rustam, Shapur I is represented on horseback wearing royal armour and crown. Before him kneels Valerian, in Roman dress, asking for grace. The same scene is represented on the rocks near the ruins of the towns Darabjird and Shapur in Persia. Shapur I is said to have publicly shamed Valerian by using the Roman Emperor as a footstool when mounting his horse. After Valerian's execution, his skin was removed, filled with dung, and displayed publicly as a symbol of Shapur I's triumph.

Friend to the Jews

Shmuel, one of the most famous of the Amoraim of "Bavel" (Babylonia), was occasionally referred to as Shvor Malka, which is the Aramaic form of the name of the Persian King, by Shapur I, with whom Shmuel was quite friendly. Because of this friendship, many advantages were gained for the Jewish community.

First man in space, the Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, orbited our planet on 12 April 1961: