October 1875 - Birth of Queen Marie of Rumania

In his monumental history of the first century of the Baha'i Era, God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi has referred at some length to the conversion of Marie, Queen of Rumania, and her services to the Baha'i Faith. In other works, too, he has strongly emphasized the great importance of these thrilling events.

Marie was born at Eastwell in Kent, England, on 29^th October 1875. Her father Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, was the second son of Queen Victoria. Her mother, the former Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, was the only daughter of Czar Alexander II. On 10th January 1893, Marie married Prince Ferdinand, nephew of King Carol and Queen Carmen Silva of Rumania. 

- O.Z. Whitehead  (‘Some Early Baha’is of the West’)

October 1936 - First issue of a newsletter 'Baha’i Quarterly' was published by NSA of Australia

During October 1936, the National Assembly [of Australia] published the first issue of a newsletter entitled Baha’i Quarterly. As affirmed by his secretary, the Guardian “read it all through with the deepest pleasure and satisfaction.” A message from Father and Mother Dunn addressed to their spiritual children, which appeared in this quarterly, contained these remarks:

Our appeal to the Baha'i world would be to follow the call and desire of our beloved Guardian to read and study the 'Divine Plan' ... It might quicken some . . . to realize that it was the reading of the 'Divine Plan' that caused Mother and this servant to give up everything in America and travel to Australia for the purpose of promoting the Baha'i message on this great continent ... Pioneers must be strong and ready to face all the hardships that may appear on their path. These are as naught compared with the delights of loving response and the confirmation that follow. 
- O.Z. Whitehead  (‘Some Baha’is to Remember’)

October 1852 - Baha'u'llah "received this first intimation"

The 'Year Nine' is an abbreviation of 1269 A.H. The beginning of the Year Nine occurred about two months after His (Bahá'u'lláh's) imprisonment in that dungeon. [August-December] We do not know the exact time He received this first intimation... We therefore regard the entire Year Nine as a Holy Year, and the emphasis should be placed ... on the entire year, which started in October, 1852...  (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian)

October 1957 - Shoghi Effendi caught Asiatic influenza

On Sunday afternoon[while in London], October 27th, Shoghi Effendi told Ruhiyyih Khanum that he had a pain across his knuckles in both hands; she asked him if he had any other pains, and he said no, that just his fingers pained him and were stir. He added: "I feel so tired, so tired." She begged him to rest, saying that if he did not wish to go to bed, at least he should rest quietly because the probability was that he was getting the influenza which was sweeping through Europe and indeed all over the world. (She herself had been in bed with fever since Thursday night.) That night he had a fever and by the following day his temperature had risen to thirty-nine degrees. Ruhiyyih Khanum succeeded in finding an excellent doctor who had taken over the practice of a well-known Harley Street physician who had retired. This doctor was contacted and immediately prescribed medicine for the beloved Guardian and came to see him early in the evening when he was able to get away from his hospital. He examined his patient very carefully; heart, chest, temperature, pulse, etc., and said that he considered that both the Guardian and Ruhiyyih Khanum had cases of Asiatic influenza, the beloved Guardian's case being the more severe. 
- Ruhiyyih Khanum  ('The Passing of Shoghi Effendi')

October 1933 - Passing of Keith Ransom-Kehler in Iran

Keith Ransom-Kehler died on 23^rd October 1933. (Baha’i News, November 1933) Born in 1876, Keith became a Baha’i in 1921, and after the death of her second husband in 1923 became increasingly active as a Baha’i speaker and teacher. In 1929 she travelled to the Caribbean, and in 1930 began an extensive world tour to promote the Faith. Shoghi invited her to Haifa in 1932, and gave her a special mission to go to Iran on behalf of the American National Spiritual Assembly to petition the shah to ease or lift the restrictions on the Baha'is. She stayed in Iran for over a year, but her efforts were unavailing. Exhausted and in poor health she eventually succumbed to smallpox, and was buried in Isfahan, Iran, near to the graves of the King and Beloved martyrs. Shoghi Effendi named her posthumously as a Hand of the Cause, and as the first American to have the spiritual station of a martyr. (Adapted from A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baha’i faith) (Please visit Baha’i Heroes and Heroines for a brief description of her life)

October 1953 - New Delhi Intercontinental Conference

One of the first four Intercontinental Conferences was held in New Delhi in October of 1953. (Baha’i News Nov. 1953) The other three were in Kampala in February, Chicago in April-May, and in Stockholm during July.

October 1963 - The Cause of God entered the third epoch

In October 1963 the Universal House of Justice announced that the Cause of God entered “a new epoch, the third of the Formative Age.”

“Beloved friends, the Cause of God, guarded and nurtured since its inception by God's Messengers, by the Centre of His Covenant and by His Sign on earth, now enters a new epoch, the third of the Formative Age. It must now grow rapidly in size, increase its spiritual cohesion and executive ability, develop its institutions and extend its influence into all strata of society. We, its members, must, by constant study of the life- giving Word, and by dedicated service, deepen in spiritual understanding and show to the world a mature, responsible, fundamentally assured and happy way of life, far removed from the passions, prejudices and distractions of present day society. Relying upon God alone, we can promote His Cause and establish His Kingdom on earth. Only thus can we prove our love for Those Who brought this new day into being. Only thus can we prove the truth of Their Divine Mission and demonstrate how valid was Their Sacrifice.”
- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated October 1963; ‘The Universal House of Justice, Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986”)

October 1963 - The Cause of God entered the third epoch

In October 1963 the Universal House of Justice announced that the Cause of God entered “a new epoch, the third of the Formative Age.”

“Beloved friends, the Cause of God, guarded and nurtured since its inception by God's Messengers, by the Centre of His Covenant and by His Sign on earth, now enters a new epoch, the third of the Formative Age. It must now grow rapidly in size, increase its spiritual cohesion and executive ability, develop its institutions and extend its influence into all strata of society. We, its members, must, by constant study of the life- giving Word, and by dedicated service, deepen in spiritual understanding and show to the world a mature, responsible, fundamentally assured and happy way of life, far removed from the passions, prejudices and distractions of present day society. Relying upon God alone, we can promote His Cause and establish His Kingdom on earth. Only thus can we prove our love for Those Who brought this new day into being. Only thus can we prove the truth of Their Divine Mission and demonstrate how valid was Their Sacrifice.”
- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated October 1963; ‘The Universal House of Justice, Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986”)

October 1957 - Hands of the Cause were authorized to appointment Auxiliary Board Members

In October 1957 Shoghi Effendi implemented this duty to safeguard the Faith, shortly before his passing, by creating an additional Auxiliary Board, whose function was to be, under the direct guidance of the Hands of the Cause, "watching over the security of the Faith". He had already stated, only five months before he passed away, in a general communication addressed to both the Hands and the National Spiritual Assemblies, that the divinely appointed Institution of the Hands of the Faith was entering a new phase in the unfoldment of "its sacred mission", and that to their other functions was now added the "primary obligation" to watch over and ensure the protection of the Bahá'í World Community "in close collaboration" with the National Assemblies. 
('The Ministry of the Custodians, 1957-1963')

October 1957 - The Guardian arrived in London, England

On October 20th, 1957, the beloved Guardian arrived in London, accompanied by Ruhiyyih Khanum, for the purpose of ordering some furniture and objects for the interior of the International Archives Building and the Gardens above it. He chose London because it is an international centre where objects from every country can be found at much cheaper prices than probably in any other one city of the world. He planned to remain a few days and then proceed to Haifa. As was the invariable custom of the beloved Guardian during his absence from Haifa, no contact was made with any Bahá'í. Ruhiyyih Khanum attended to his mail and carried out his orders as she always did. 
- Ruhiyyih Khanum  ('The Passing of Shoghi Effendi')

October 1855 or 1856 - Birth of Robert Turner, one of 19 Disciples of ‘Abdu’l-Baha

Robert Turner, one of 19 Disciples of ‘Abdu’l-Baha was born on October 15, 1855 or 1856. He was the first member of the negro race in the Western Hemisphere to embrace the Faith.[God Passes By, p. 259]. Since it is estimated that Robert was born in Virginia in about 1855-56, it is possible that he was born enslaved.[The American Baha’i, November 23, 2005] He was for some 35 years a butler in the household of Phoebe Hearst, eventually becoming her personal butler -- a position of considerable responsibility. Shortly before 1898, Phoebe Hearst received Lua Getsinger in her San Francisco home. Lua introduced the Faith to her while Robert was in attendance serving tea. Naturally, he overheard the conversation and, like Mrs. Hearst, was touched by what he heard. He was with Phoebe Hearst when, in 1898, she arranged for the first group of Baha’i pilgrims to visit 'Abdu'l-Baha in 'Akka. On 10 December 1898 Robert was warmly received by 'Abdu'l-Baha Who raised him to his feet and embraced him when, on first seeing the Master, he had dropped to his knees calling out, "My Lord! My Lord! I am not worthy to be here. On a later occasion 'Abdu'l-Baha said, "Robert, your Lord loves you.” [Balyuzi, ‘Abdu’l-Baha’, p. 72] Robert later encountered many difficulties, but remained staunch in his new faith; he died in 1909 not many years after his return from the Holy Land. 
(Adapted from ‘The A to Z of the Baha’i Faith, by Hugh Adamson)

October 1819 - Birth of the Bab

Siyyid (or Mirza) 'Ali-Muhammad, known to history as the Báb, was the son of Siyyid (or Mir) Muhammad-Rida, a mercer of Shiraz [Persia]. He was born on October 20th 1819 (Muharram 1st, 1235 A.H.). Through both His father and His mother He was descended from Imam Husayn, the third Imam. Thus He stood in direct line of descent from the Prophet Muhammad. According to Mirza Abu'l-Fadl-i-Gulpaygani [a renown Baha’i scholar], Siyyid Muhammad-Rida, the Bab's father, died when his only child was an infant, unweaned. Then the care of the child devolved upon a maternal uncle, Haji Mirza Siyyid 'Ali. He was the only relative of the Báb to espouse His Cause openly during His lifetime and, as will be seen, to accept martyrdom for His sake. But according to a manuscript history of the Bábí-Bahá'í Faith in Shiraz by Haji Mirza Habibu'llah-i-Afnan,[1] Siyyid Muhammad-Rida [the Bab’s father] passed away when his son was nine years old, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá appears to confirm this account.[2]

[1] Haji Mirza Habibu'llah's father, Aqa Mirza-Aqa, was a nephew of the wife of the Báb, and his paternal grandfather, Aqa Mirza Zaynu'l-'Abidin, was a paternal cousin of the father of the Báb.

[2] Browne (ed.), A Traveller's Narrative, Vol. II, p. 2.]

(H.M. Balyuzi, The Bab - The Herald of the Day of Days, p. 32)

October 1863: Baha'u'llah reveals the Tablet of Subhanika-Ya-Hu, also known as Lawh-i-Naqus (Tablet of the Bell)

Subhanika-Ya-Hu: A beautiful tablet in Arabic and in Bahá'u'lláh's own hand was revealed in Constantinople on the eve of the 5th of Jamadiyu'l-Avval 1280 A.H. (19 October 1863), the anniversary of the Declaration of the Báb.[1] This Tablet, because of its opening verse, is known as Lawh-i-Naqus (Tablet of the Bell) and is also referred to as the Subhanika-Ya-Hu. It was revealed following a request made through 'Abdu'l-Bahá by one of Bahá'u'lláh's companions, Aqa Muhammad-'Ally-i-Tambaku-Furush-i-Isfahani. The revelation of this Tablet on such an auspicious occasion brought immense joy to the hearts of those who were celebrating that historic festival. Bahá'u'lláh opens this Tablet with these words: 

“O Monk of the Incomparable One! Ring out the Bell, inasmuch as the Day of the Lord hath shone forth and the Beauty of the All-Glorious is established upon His holy and resplendent Throne.” 

These few lines give us a glimpse of the majesty and sublimity of the Tablet. Like those revealed near the time of Bahá'u'lláh's declaration, this Tablet pulsates with an indescribable power that can emanate only from the Pen of the Supreme Manifestation of God. Here, the matchless utterances of Bahá'u'lláh, original and profound, are possessed of such beauty and rhythm as no pen can describe. Composed in a style that lends itself to collective chanting, this Tablet creates an atmosphere of ecstasy and joy when chanted by the believers.[2] Revealed soon after His departure from Baghdad, it announces in clear and majestic terms the rising of the Orb of His Revelation, asserts that He[3] who was hidden behind the veils of concealment is now made manifest, extols the potency and glory of His Cause, declares that the Day of God has come, summons the inhabitants of the highest Paradise to prepare themselves and acquire the capacity for attaining the presence of God, bids his lovers rejoice and celebrate the coming of the Well-Beloved, and calls upon all created things to proclaim the glad-tidings of this Revelation to mankind. And finally, He prays for His companions: that they may become detached from everything besides Him, that their hearts may burn with the fire of His love and become pure and without desire. He also prays that His companions, devoted to the promotion of His Cause, may become victorious over all who dwell on earth. 

- Adib Taherzadeh  (The Revelation of Baha'u'llah vol. 2) 

A provisional translation of this Tablet is available at: http://bahai-library.com/lambden_naqus

[1] The Declaration of the Báb was on the evening of 5 Jamadiyu'l-Avval, 1260 A.H. (22 May 1844), but at present in the East, the anniversary of this festival is celebrated according to the lunar calendar.]

[2] Not to be confused with congregational prayer, which (with the exception of the Prayer for the Dead) is forbidden by Bahá'u'lláh. Tablets in the original language are chanted by an individual. Occasionally, when there is a refrain in a Tablet, it has been customary for others to join in the refrain if it is suitable to do so.]

[3] Baha’u’llah 

October 1896 - last month 'Abdu'l-Baha and family stayed in House of Abbud

After Baha’u’llah left the barracks (4 November 1870), He lived in a succession of houses in various parts of the city [of Akka] (the houses of Malik, Khawwam and Rabi'a) before moving into a house belonging to ‘Udi Khammir, a Christian merchant (also the owner of the mansion of Bahji) in September 1871. It was here that ‘Abdu’l-Baha was married and the Kitab-i-Aqdas revealed. The larger adjoining house of 'Abbud was later rented and openings made to join the two houses together, the whole complex becoming known as the House of 'Abbud. 'Abdu'l-Baha and His family remained resident until about October 1896. The room of Baha'u'llah became a place of pilgrimage during His lifetime. With the marriages of 'Abdu'l-Baha's daughters (1896 on wards) the House of 'Abbud was no longer adequate for the growing family, and parts of the complex of buildings known as the House of 'Abdu’llah Pasha were rented. This is where Shoghi Effendi was born (March 1897) and the early Western pilgrims met 'Abdu'l-Baha (from December 1898). After ‘Abdu’l-Baha moved to Haifa the house was no longer in Baha’i hands, and eventually fell into disrepair. It was purchased by the Baha'is in 1975, and after extensive restoration was opened to Baha'i pilgrimage in 1983. (Peter Smith, A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baha’i Faith, p. 32)

October 1911: Howard Colby Ives' first encounter with the Baha'i Faith

It was in October of 1911 when there came to me those first stirrings of influences which were to change the course of my life. I picked up a copy of Everybody's Magazine from a casual bookstall and found therein a rather complete article concerning 'Abdu'l-Bahá and His projected visit to America. I shall never forget the thrill this somewhat commonplace story gave me-commonplace, I mean, in comparison with the reality of that story as future months were to unfold it to me. Again I heard the inner voice which since very early youth has come to me again and again: "Come along up." I read and re-read the story. Here was a Man who had indeed found a Truth for which He was not only willing to die but had died, a living death covering almost sixty years of torture, banishment and imprisonment, and who had seen many thousands of His followers willingly and joyfully face a martyr's death. And above all-O happy marvel!-here was a man who placed money where it belonged, beneath His feet. He never took up a collection! I read and re-read that glorious and tragic story and filed it in my voluminous twenty-five volume scrap-book. There may have been a vague purpose in my mind of making that story the background of a sermon some day. To such human uses do we often put the skyey glimpses God vouchsafes us. Which is well; or would be if those celestial visions found utterance in our lives as well as through our lips. 
- Howard Colby Ives  (Portals to Freedom)

October 1848: Mulla Husayn and his companions enter the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi

Mulla Husayn and his companions entered the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi and were attacked that night by a body of horsemen from Qadi-Kula. 
- Moojan Momen  (The Baha’i World, vol. 18)