October 1910: ‘Abdu’l-Baha attended a meeting in Egypt commemorating the Martyrdom of Imam Husayn which took place on October 10, 680 AD

'Abdu'l-Bahá's sojourn in Alexandria, Egypt, coincided with the Muslim lunar month of Muharram. This is the month that witnessed the martyrdom of Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the third apostolic Imam of His Faith, together with many others of the House of the Prophet. That tragedy occurred on the tenth day of Muharram, 61 A.H., which corresponded to October 10th A.D. 680. The Shí'ah world has mourned his martyrdom ever since. Throughout the month of Muharram and the succeeding month of Safar, wherever Shí'ahs are, their grief is given some form of expression. They arrange gatherings at which the sufferings and the heroism of the Family of Muhammad, the treachery and the brutality of the foe are recited. Persians of Alexandria invited 'Abdu'l-Bahá to their meeting. He went and was received with every mark of respect. He gave a robe to the reciter of the heart-rending story of Karbila, rewarding him richly for his talent and devotion. He also left money with the hosts to hold a commemorative meeting on His behalf and to feed the poor. (H.M. Balyuzi, Abdu'l-Baha - The Centre of the Covenant)

October 1912: 'Abdu'l-Bahá arrives in San Francisco

'Abdu'l-Bahá arrives in San Francisco on 1 October 1912. (Juiete Thompson, ‘Diary of Juliete Thompson’)

October 1911: An article in praise of ‘Abdu’l-Baha is published by the editor of Egyptian Arabic newspaper “al-Mu'ayyad”

After a month's stay in Port Said, 'Abdu'l-Bahá once again took ship, without previous intimation. He intended to go to Europe, but it became evident that the state of His health did not permit the strenuous work involved. He landed in Alexandria. It was in that ancient city that a sudden change occurred. Journalists in Egypt, who had hitherto shown open hostility, asked to meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá and perceptibly changed their tone. Even more, they wrote in terms of high praise. Shaykh 'Ali Yusuf, the editor of the Arabic paper, al-Mu'ayyad, had previously made harsh attacks on Bahá'ís and the Bahá'í Faith, urging severe counter-measures against them. He visited 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and in the October 16th issue of his paper he published an article under the heading: 'Al-Mirza 'Abbas Effendi'. These are the opening lines of that remarkable article: 'His Eminence Mirza 'Abbas Effendi, the learned and erudite Head of the Bahá'ís in 'Akká and the Centre of authority for Bahá'ís throughout the world, has reached the shores of Alexandria.' At first, related the writer, 'Abdu'l-Bahá stayed in the Victoria Hotel, but after a few days moved to a rented house. Then he went on to say:

He is a venerable person, dignified, possessed of profound knowledge, deeply versed in theology, master of the history of Islam, and of its denominations and developments . . . whosoever has consorted with Him has seen in Him a man exceedingly well-informed, Whose speech is captivating, Who attracts minds and souls, dedicated to belief in the oneness of mankind . . .   His teaching and guidance revolve round the axis of relinquishing prejudices: religious, racial, patriotic. (H.M. Balyuzi, ‘Abdu'l-Baha - The Centre of the Covenant’)

October 1952: Holy Year is observed from October 1952 to October 1953

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. 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. This means our Centenary Year of Celebration will be from October, 1952 to October, 1953." (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, ‘Directives from the Guardian’)

October 1852: The Báb’s predicted year nine commences

The Báb repeatedly gave the year nine as the date of the appearance of 'Him Whom God shall make manifest'. The declaration of the Báb took place in the year 1260 AH (AD 1844). The year nine is 1269 AH, which began about the middle of October 1852 when Bahá'u'lláh had already been imprisoned for about two months in the Siyah-Chal of Tihran, the scene of the birth of His Revelation. The following are a few passages concerning the year nine:

“In the year nine ye will attain unto all good.' On another occasion He saith: 'In the year nine ye will attain unto the Presence of God.” (The Báb, quoted by Bahá'u'lláh in ‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’, p. 141)

“Ere nine will have elapsed from the inception of this Cause, the realities of the created things will not be made manifest. All that thou hast as yet seen is but the stage from the moist germ until We clothed it with flesh. Be patient, until thou beholdest a new creation. Say: 'Blessed, therefore, be God, the most excellent of Makers!” (The Báb, quoted by Bahá'u'lláh in ‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’, p. 152) (Adib Taherzadeh, The Child of the Covenant, p. 102)

October 1923: NSA of Britain has its first meeting

The first meeting of the elected "National Spiritual Assembly" [of Britain] took place in London on 13 October 1923. (The Unfolding Destiny of the British Baha'i Community, p. 13, footnote)

October 1844: The Báb left Bushihr on pilgrimage to Mecca

He [the Báb] embarked from Bushihr on the 19th of Ramadan (October, 1844) on a sailing vessel, accompanied by Quddus whom He was assiduously preparing for the assumption of his future office. Landing at Jaddih after a stormy voyage of over a month's duration, He donned the pilgrim's garb, mounted a camel, and set out for Mecca, arriving on the first of Dhi'l-Hajjih (December 12). Quddus, holding the bridle in his hands, accompanied his Master on foot to that holy Shrine. (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 9) 

October 1835: Baha'u'llah's marriage with Asiyih Khanum

When Bahá'u'lláh was nearly fifteen years old, His elder sister Sarih Khanum and Mirza Mahmud, the son of Mirza Isma'il-i-Vazir of Yalrud, were married. This Mirza Mahmud, who never espoused the new Faith, had a younger sister, Asiyih Khanum: winsome, vivacious and exceedingly beautiful. As soon as she came of age, and Bahá'u'lláh was nearly eighteen, Sarih Khanum requested her father, Mirza Buzurg, to ask the hand of this sister-in-law for her Brother, Mirza Husayn-'Ali. Their marriage took place in Jamadiyu'l-Ukhra (Jamadiyu'th-Thani) AH 1251 (about October 1835). Asiyih Khanum was the mother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. (H.M. Balyuzi, Baha'u'llah - The King of Glory)

September 1933: Keith Ransom-Kehler left Tihran

The night preceding her departure from Tihran a large meeting was held in the Haziratu’l-Quds; the friends, deeply moved by her words of farewell, voiced their thanks and appreciation and love through a member of the Spiritual Assembly. On Friday, September 22 a large escort of friends accompanied her to the Baha'i village of Hasan-Abad, a few miles out of town on the road to Qum; refreshments were served, many pictures taken, and after a last farewell Keith and her party continued on to Qum, escorted by a number of Tihran friends and a delegate from the Tihran Spiritual Assembly. That night was spent in Qum, and a meeting was held of the Qum Baha'is and the delegation of welcome that had come on ahead from Kashan; Keith further met several Qum officials and discussed the teachings with them. (The Baha’i World 1932-1934)

September 1916: Five of the Fourteen Tablets of the Divine Plan were first published in the Star of the West magazine

Fourteen Tablets revealed by 'Abdu'l-Baha during the First World War, addressed to the Baha'is in North America and received by them in 1919, which Shoghi Effendi has called the 'mandate' and 'the supreme charter for teaching'. They are addressed either to the Baha'is of the United States and Canada as one body or to one of five regional areas of North America.

The 'mandate' was to carry the 'fame of the Cause of God' to the East and to the West and to spread the Glad Tidings of the coming of Baha'u'llah throughout the five continents of the world. In all, 'Abdu'l-Baha mentioned some 120 territories and islands to which the message of Baha'u'llah was to be carried.

The first eight Tablets were revealed between 26 March and 22 April 1916, and the final six between 2 February and 8 March 1917. Of the first group, five Tablets reached America and were published in the 8 September 1916 issue of Star of the West. After that, communication with the Holy Land was cut off and the rest of the Tablets remained in the vault under the Shrine of the Báb until the end of the war. They were dispatched to America and unveiled in a ceremony during the 'Convention of the Covenant' held at the Hotel McAlpin in New York in April 1919.

An immediate response to the Tablets was made by Martha Root who began her world travels, and by Mr. and Mrs. Hyde Dunn, who arose to move to Australia. However, it was not until 1837 when Shoghi Effendi gave the American believers the First Seven Year Plan that the Divine Plan began to be generally implemented. (Wendi Momen, A Basic Baha’i Dictionary)

September 1939: The Passing of Hand of the Cause Martha Root

Martha Root, Hand of the Cause, whom, in 1942, Shoghi Effendi called ‘that archetype of Baha'i itinerant teachers and the foremost Hand raised by Baha'u'llah since 'Abdu'l-Baha's passing' and to whom he awarded the title of 'Leading Ambassadress of His Faith and Pride of Baha'i teachers, whether men or women, in both the East and the West.’

Martha Root was the first to arise in response to the call of 'Abdu'l-Baha in The Tablets of the Divine Plan. She travelled around the world four times over a period of twenty years, travelling four times to China and Japan, three times to India, and visiting every major city in South America. She spoke of the Baha'i Faith to 'kings, queens, princes and princesses, presidents of republics, ministers and statesmen, publicists, professors, clergymen and poets, as well as a vast number of people in various walks of life, and contacted, both officially and informally, religious congresses, peace societies, Esperanto associations, socialist congresses, Theosophical societies, women's clubs and other kindred organizations . . . '. Her eight successive audiences with Queen Marie of Rumania resulted in the Queen becoming a Baha'i. Her death in Honolulu in September 1939 'brought to a close a life which may well be regarded as the fairest fruit as yet yielded by the Formative Age of the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah .' (Wendi Momen, A Basic Baha’i Dictionary)

September 1848: Muhammad Shah issues an edict for the arrest of Baha’u’llah. News of the death of the Shah cancelled the decree.

Bahá'u'lláh states in one of His Tablets that after leaving Badasht, He travelled to Nur by easy stages. He visited Shah-rud, the district of Hizarjarib, Jaz (Gaz) - to the south of Bandar-Jaz (Bandar-Gaz) on the Caspian Sea - and Ashraf - 'village by village, town by town' - until He arrived at Nur. It was probably while Bahá'u'lláh was at Bandar-Jaz during the course of this journey that the following incident occurred. 'Abdu'l-Bahá has related that when Bahá'u'lláh arrived at Bandar-Jaz, He was taken ill. In this sea-town lived a Bábí, named Mirza Masih, a man of superior qualities. 'Abdu'l-Bahá describes him as 'spirit personified', one who, 'having read just one verse from the pen of the Primal Point, observed: "Just let this Báb be mine; you may have everyone else"'. At this very time, while Bahá'u'lláh was at Bandar-Jaz, Mirza Masih passed away. Bahá'u'lláh held a memorial meeting for him, and also wrote a prayer of visitation for this, wonderful man.

It was while Bahá'u'lláh was at Bandar-Jaz that the edict came from Muhammad Shah ordering His arrest. Bahá'u'lláh was at this time the  guest of some of the notables of the town, and these, together with the Russian agent at Bandar-Jaz, who was a Persian, came to Bahá'u'lláh offering Him a passage in a Russian ship which was at anchor there. But Bahá'u'lláh did not accept it and did not run away. Next day, Bahá'u'lláh was the guest of a notable of that area. The Russian agent had also been invited to that banquet. Many of the prominent men of that district of Mazindaran were there to meet Bahá'u'lláh. Then a courier arrived, bringing news of Muhammad Shah's demise. The edict of Muhammad Shah for Bahá'u'lláh's arrest had lost its authority. (H.M. Balyuzi, Baha'u'llah – ‘Baha’u’llah, The King of Glory’; The Baha’i World, vol. 18)

September 1846: The Báb is arrested in the dead of night, all His books and documents confiscated and subsequently released on condition of His leaving Shiraz

Husayn Khan [the governor of Shiraz], vindictive, relentless, exasperated by the reports of his sleepless agents that his Captive's power and fame were hourly growing, decided to take immediate action. It is even reported that his accomplice, Haji Mirza Aqasi, had ordered him to kill secretly the would-be disrupter of the state and the wrecker of its established religion. By order of the governor the chief constable, Abdu'l-Hamid Khan, scaled, in the dead of night, the wall and entered the house of Haji Mirza Siyyid Ali, where the Báb was confined, arrested Him, and confiscated all His books and documents. That very night, however, took place an event which, in its dramatic suddenness, was no doubt providentially designed to confound the schemes of the plotters, and enable the Object of their hatred to prolong His ministry and consummate His Revelation. An outbreak of cholera, devastating in its virulence, had, since midnight, already smitten above a hundred people. The dread of the plague had entered every heart, and the inhabitants of the stricken city were, amid shrieks of pain and grief, fleeing in confusion. Three of the governor's domestics had already died. Members of his family were lying dangerously ill. In his despair he, leaving the dead unburied, had fled to a garden in the outskirts of the city. Abdu'l-Hamid Khan, confronted by this unexpected development, decided to conduct the Báb to His own home. He was appalled, upon his arrival, to learn that his son lay in the death-throes of the plague. In his despair he threw himself at the feet of the Báb, begged to be forgiven, adjured Him not to visit upon the son the sins of the father, and pledged his word to resign his post, and never again to accept such a position. Finding that his prayer had been answered, he addressed a plea to the governor begging him to release his Captive, and thereby deflect the fatal course of this dire visitation. Husayn Khan acceded to his request, and released his Prisoner on condition of His quitting the city.

Miraculously preserved by an almighty and watchful Providence, the Báb proceeded to Isfahan (September, 1846), accompanied by Siyyid Kazim-i-Zanjani. (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 12)

August 1868: Baha’u’llah arrives in Haifa

Baha’u’llah first landed in Haifa on 31 August 1868 after His journey of eleven days from Gallipoli by steamer. He and His companions were transferred from the steamer to a sailing vessel which carried them to 'Akka. Baha’u’llah visited Haifa three more times: in August 1883, in April 1890, and in the summer of 1891 for about three months. It was during this last visit that He revealed the Tablet of Carmel and pointed out to 'Abdu’1-Baha “the site which was to serve as the permanent resting-place of the Báb, and on which a befitting mausoleum was later to be erected.” (Wendi Momen, A Basic Baha’i Dictionary)

August 1910: ‘Abdu’l-Baha moves to His House in Haifa

This house which was designed by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, was built under His direction in the German colony at the foot of Mount Carmel in Haifa on a lane later to be called Persian (Haparsim) Street. It was completed in 1908, although from 1907 ‘Abdu’l-Baha began the transfer of the Holy Family to it. In the next few years all the Holy Family moved from 'Akka, including the Greatest Holy Leaf and Shoghi Effendi, and in August 1910 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself moved to the house and it became His official residence. On His return from His travels in the West, this house became the place of reception of pilgrims. The Master ascended to the Abha Kingdom in the room on the right as one enters the house. An apartment was built on the roof in the early 1920s for Shoghi Effendi, and this was expanded in 1937 after his marriage to Ruhiyyih Khanurn. More recently, the reception room directly opposite the entrance door was used by Ruhiyyih Khanum to receive pilgrims and guests.(Adapted from ‘A Basic Baha’i Dictionary, by Wendi Momen)

August 1968: First Oceanic Baha’i Conference was held in Palermo, Sicily

In August, the first Oceanic Bahá'í Conference, held in Palermo, commemorated Bahá'u'lláh's voyage on the Mediterranean Sea on His way to the Most Great Prison. Attendants at this Conference came immediately afterwards to the Qiblih [‘point of adoration’: the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh at Bahji] of their Faith to pay homage at the Shrine of its Founder and to commemorate with deep awareness of its spiritual import the long prophesied arrival of the Lord of Hosts on the shores of the Holy Land. This gathering of more than two thousand believers presented an inexpressibly poignant contrast to the actual arrival of Bahá'u'lláh one hundred years before, rejected by the rulers of this earth and derided by the local populace. Such is the conquering power of His Message, such is the undefeatable might of the King of Kings. (From Ridvan 1969 message of the Universal House of Justice) (To read the entire message please visit Messages to the Baha’i World Community – by the Universal House of Justice)

August 1842: The Báb and Khadijih-Bagum were married in Shiraz, Persia

Siyyid ‘Ali-Muhammad [the Bab], and Khadijih Bagum were neighbors and playmates as children in Shiraz. Before their betrothal Khadijih-Bagum dreamed that Fatimih, daughter of Prophet Muhammad, asked for her hand in marriage to her son, the Imam Husayn. The Báb and Khadijih-Bagum were married in the House of the Báb in Shiraz in August 1842. They had one child, a son Ahmad, who died in infancy.

The Báb revealed to Khadijih-Bagum His station as the Qa'im even before making His Declaration to Mulla Husayn. Nabil writes: “The wife of the Báb, unlike His mother perceived at the earliest dawn of His Revelation the glory and uniqueness of His Mission and felt from the very beginning the intensity of its force. No one except Tahirih, among the women of her generation, surpassed her in the spontaneous character of her devotion nor excelled the fervour of her faith. To her the Báb confided the secret of His future sufferings, and unfolded to her eyes the significance of the events that were to transpire in His Day.” The Bab revealed for her the prayer known as the 'Remover of Difficulties' and directed her to recite it before going to sleep, promising He Himself would appear to her to banish her anxiety.

When Khadijih-Bagum learned Baha'u'llah had declared Himself to be the Promised One of the Bayan, Whose advent the Báb had foretold, she gave Him her allegiance instantly. She died in 1882. (Wendi Momen, ‘A Basic Baha’i Dictionary)

August 1863: Baha’u’llah arrives in Constantinople

Constantinople, currently known as Istanbul, is in Turkey and was the former capital of the Ottoman Empire, to which Baha’u’llah went from Baghdad at the request of the Ottoman government in 1863. He arrived in Constantinople on 16 August and remained there for about four months, after which time He was exiled to Adrianople. (Adapted from ‘A Basic Baha’i Dictionary’, by Wendi Momen)

August 1911: First recorded burial took place at the Baha’i cemetery in Haifa

The Baha'i cemetery in Haifa is situated at the tip of the promontory of Mount Carmel as its northern face plunges to the plain. It is a six-acre plot purchased at the behest of 'Abdu'l-Baha. Its first recorded burial was in August 1911. Several early Baha'is are buried there including Haji Mirza Haydar-'Ali and many Hands of the Cause. (A Basic Baha’i Dictionary, by Wendi momen)