June 1870: The Great Sacrifice: the great tragedy of the death of the Purest Branch -- Mirza Mihdi, a son of Baha'u'llah

Mirza Mihdi, designated Ghusnu'llahu'l-Athar (The Purest Branch) by his Father, was the second surviving son of Baha'u'llah. He was the full brother of 'Abdu'l-Baha (Ghusnu'llahu'l-A'zam: The Most Great Branch) having the same mother, Navvabih Khanum. In 1870, he was twenty-two years old. It was his wont to go in the evening to the roof-top of the citadel to pray and meditate. There one gets a wonderful view of the pellucid blue of the Mediterranean, with the silhouette of Mount Carmel beyond the seascape; and to the other side lies stretched the plain of 'Akka with the majestic peak of Mount Hermon in the background. One evening, Mirza Mihdi, pacing up and down that roof-top engrossed with his thoughts and meditations, did not notice an open skylight and plunged through it to the floor below, falling upon a crate which pierced his chest. The injury proved fatal.

June 1931: The Guardian explains that “Temple and teaching work should be continued to be regarded as the twin outstanding activities of the Believers in America.”

Shoghi Effendi believes that the Temple and teaching work should be continued to be regarded as the twin outstanding activities of the Believers in America. Everything else should be subordinated to this urgent need. The work of applying the exterior ornamentation to the completed structure should proceed steadily and as speedily as possible. Shoghi Effendi feels that the full effect and influence of the Temple can be revealed only when the work in its entirety it accomplished. All the beauty and glory of the Temple depends upon the exterior garment of stone with which it is to be adorned, while the consummation of the task will in itself act as a magnet that will draw the promised blessings of the Master. Nothing short of continued self-sacrifice can achieve this end. In fact, the greater the obstacles in our way, the greater will be the reward we are destined to reap. The present financial depression should be regarded both as a challenge and an opportunity to prove the reality and potency of our faith. Shoghi Effendi will continue to pray for the American Believers who are destined to render still more glorious services to the Cause in the future. (Message dated June 20, 1931 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi; Baha’i News, August 1931)

June 1926: The Spiritual Assembly of Montclair, NJ is elected for the first time

The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Montclair, NJ, came into existence in June of 1926 – about 14 years after the historic visit of the Master. (Adapted from Baha’i News, September 1926)

June 1845: The Message of the Báb is proclaimed publically for the first time

After his return to Shiraz from Mecca (his pilgrimage with the Báb), Quddus met a believer by the name of Ismu'llahu'l-Asdaq, Mulla Sadiq-i-Khurasani. Quddus entrusted him with a copy of one of the Báb’s Tablet, the Khasa'il-i-Sab'ih, and stressed the necessity of putting into effect immediately all its provisions. Among its precepts was the emphatic injunction of the Báb to every loyal believer to add the following words to the traditional formula of the adhan:[Muslim call to prayer] "I bear witness that He whose name is Ali-Qabl-i-Muhammad [‘Ali preceding Muhamad, meaning the Báb] is the servant of the Baqiyyatu'llah."[The Remenant of God, one the Titles of Baha’u’llah] Mulla Sadiq, who in those days had been extolling from the pulpit-top to large audiences the virtues of the imams of the Faith, was so enraptured by the theme and language of that treatise that he unhesitatingly resolved to carry out all the observances it ordained. Driven by the impelling force inherent in that Tablet, he, one day as he was leading his congregation in prayer in the Masjid-i-Naw, suddenly proclaimed, as he was sounding the adhan, the additional words prescribed by the Báb. The multitude that heard him was astounded by his cry. Dismay and consternation seized the entire congregation. (Adapted from the Dawn-Breakers, by Nabil; and The Báb, by Balyuzi]

June 1912: While in New York, ‘Abdu’l-Baha declares His own station as the ‘Center of the Covenant’ – New York becomes the City of the Covenant

The next day, June 19th, was an historic day for the Bahá'ís of New York, for on that day 'Abdu'l-Bahá named their city the City of the Covenant. He spoke in their gathering of the Tablet of the Branch, revealed by Bahá'u'lláh in Adrianople, and declared His own station: the Centre of the Covenant. In New York He had made this emphatic, authoritative statement in public, and therefore New York was invested with that distinction. On the same day He received the manuscript of The Brilliant Proof which He greatly admired, and arranged for its translation and publication in the United States. (Balyuzi, 'Abdu'l-Baha - The Centre of the Covenant, p. 219)