April 1948: First Annual Convention of the Baha'is of Canada

(The Baha'i World 1946-1950)

July 26, 1868: Sultan ‘Abdu’l-Aziz issues a Farman (Order) banishing Baha’u’llah to ‘Akka

Explicit orders had been issued by the Sultan [‘Abdu’l-Aziz] and his ministers to subject the exiles, who were accused of having grievously erred and led others far astray, to the strictest confinement. Hopes were confidently expressed that the sentence of life-long imprisonment pronounced against them would lead to their eventual extermination. The farman of Sultan Abdu'l-'Aziz, dated the fifth of Rabi'u'th-Thani 1285 A.H. (July 26, 1868), not only condemned them to perpetual banishment, but stipulated their strict incarceration, and forbade them to associate either with each other or with the local inhabitants. The text of the farman itself was read publicly, soon after the arrival of the exiles, in the principal mosque of the city as a warning to the population. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

November 1965: Final step in the purification of the Most Holy Shrine of Baha’u’llah

11 November 1965

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

ANNOUNCE BAHÁ'Í WORLD REMOVAL FROM IMMEDIATE PRECINCTS HOLY SHRINE BAHÁ'U'LLÁH REMAINS MIRZA DIYA'U'LLAH YOUNGER BROTHER MIRZA MUHAMMAD-'ALI HIS ACCOMPLICE IN EFFORTS SUBVERT FOUNDATIONS COVENANT GOD SOON AFTER ASCENSION BAHÁ'U'LLÁH. THIS FINAL STEP IN PROCESS PURIFICATION SACRED INTERNATIONAL ENDOWMENTS FAITH IN BAHJI FROM PAST CONTAMINATION WAS PROVIDENTIALLY UNDERTAKEN UPON REQUEST FAMILY OLD COVENANT-BREAKERS A PROCESS WHOSE INITIAL STAGE WAS FULFILLED BY 'ABDU'L- BAHA WHICH GATHERED MOMENTUM EARLY YEARS BELOVED GUARDIAN'S MINISTRY THROUGH EVACUATION MANSION ATTAINED CLIMAX THROUGH PURIFICATION HARAM- I-AQDAS AND NOW CONSUMMATED THROUGH CLEANSING INNER SANCTUARY MOST HALLOWED SHRINE QIBLIH BAHÁ'Í WORLD PRESAGING EVENTUAL CONSTRUCTION BEFITTING MAUSOLEUM AS ANTICIPATED BELOVED SIGN GOD ON EARTH.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

('Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963 to 1986')

July 1965: The Passing of Hand of the Cause Leroy Ioas

22 July 1965

To the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States

GRIEVE ANNOUNCE PASSING OUTSTANDING HAND CAUSE LEROY IOAS. HIS LONG SERVICE BAHÁ'Í COMMUNITY UNITED STATES CROWNED ELEVATION RANK HAND FAITH PAVING WAY HISTORIC DISTINGUISHED SERVICES HOLY LAND. APPOINTMENT FIRST SECRETARY GENERAL INTERNATIONAL BAHÁ'Í COUNCIL PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE GUARDIAN FAITH TWO INTERCONTINENTAL CONFERENCES ASSOCIATION HIS NAME BY BELOVED GUARDIAN OCTAGON DOOR BÁB'S SHRINE TRIBUTE SUPERVISORY WORK DRUM DOME THAT HOLY SEPULCHRE NOTABLE PART ERECTION INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES BUILDING ALL ENSURE HIS NAME IMMORTAL ANNALS FAITH. LAID TO REST BAHÁ'Í CEMETERY CLOSE FELLOW HANDS ADVISE HOLD BEFITTING MEMORIAL SERVICES. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (Cable from the Universal House of Justice, ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’)

March 1909: The opening of the first Bahá'í Convention in Chicago “for the purpose of creating a permanent national organization for the construction of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar”

In March 1909, a convention representative of various Bahá'í centers was called, in pursuance of instructions received from 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The thirty-nine delegates, representing thirty-six cities, who had assembled in Chicago, on the very day the remains of the Báb were laid to rest by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the specially erected mausoleum on Mt. Carmel, established a permanent national organization, known as the Bahá'í Temple Unity, which was incorporated as a religious corporation, functioning under the laws of the State of Illinois, and invested with full authority to hold title to the property of the Temple and to provide ways and means for its construction. At this same convention a constitution was framed, the Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity was elected, and was authorized by the delegates to complete the purchase of the land recommended by the previous Convention. Contributions for this historic enterprise, from India, Persia, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Russia, Egypt, Germany, France, England, Canada, Mexico, the Hawaiian Islands, and even Mauritius, and from no less than sixty American cities, amounted by 1910, two years previous to 'Abdu'l-Bahá's arrival in America, to no less than twenty thousand dollars, a remarkable testimony alike to the solidarity of the followers of Bahá'u'lláh in both the East and the West, and to the self-sacrificing efforts exerted by the American believers who, as the work progressed, assumed a preponderating share in providing the sum of over a million dollars required for the erection of the structure of the Temple and its external ornamentation. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

March 1909: The interment by 'Abdu'l-Baha of the sacred remains of the Báb in their permanent resting place on God's holy mountain

On the 28th of the month of Safar 1327 A.H., the day of the first Naw-Ruz (1909), which He celebrated after His release from His confinement, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had the marble sarcophagus transported with great labor to the vault prepared for it, and in the evening, by the light of a single lamp, He laid within it, with His own hands -- in the presence of believers from the East and from the West and in circumstances at once solemn and moving -- the wooden casket containing the sacred remains of the Bab and His companion.

When all was finished, and the earthly remains of the Martyr-Prophet of Shiraz were, at long last, safely deposited for their everlasting rest in the bosom of God's holy mountain, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Who had cast aside His turban, removed His shoes and thrown off His cloak, bent low over the still open sarcophagus, His silver hair waving about His head and His face transfigured and luminous, rested His forehead on the border of the wooden casket, and, sobbing aloud, wept with such a weeping that all those who were present wept with Him. That night He could not sleep, so overwhelmed was He with emotion.

November 1981: Inauguration of Radio Baha’i in Peru

WARMEST CONGRATULATIONS AUSPICIOUS INAUGURATION RADIO BAHÁ'Í DEL LAGO TITICACA DAY COVENANT AND SIMULTANEOUS OPENING MUHAJIR TEACHING INSTITUTE FIRST MUSIC FESTIVAL PRAYING HOLY THRESHOLD INCREASING CONFIRMATIONS YOUR ASSEMBLY CO-OPERATING ASSEMBLIES ECUADOR BOLIVIA RADIO COMMISSION ALL STAFF LOVING GREETINGS THIS IMPORTANT STEP GROWTH FAITH ALTIPLANO. KINDLY ASSURE MICHAEL STOKES OUR PRAYERS HIS BEHALF. 
- The Universal House of Justice  (cablegram to the National Spiritual Assembly of Peru; Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963 to 1986’)

October 1953: Macau is opened to the Faith

Macau was opened [to the Faith] in October 1953 … 
(The Baha’i World 1954-1963)

September 1846: The Báb is arrested again in Shiraz

In September 1846 the Báb was arrested again, but, in the chaotic conditions in Shiraz that followed an outbreak of cholera, He left Shiraz, and moved to Isfahan. There He remained until March 1847, as a guest of its governor, Manuchihr Khan, whose sympathetic support seemed to promise a possible meeting with Muhamm Shah of Persia so that the Báb could proclaim His claims directly to the king. 
(Adapted from A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baha’i Faith’, by Peter Smith)

August 1971: An obelisk was erected on Mount Carmel

A monumental pillar, commissioned by Shoghi Effendi, designed and fashioned in Italy, and erected by the Universal House of Justice in August 1971 on the site of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar which one day will stand on Mount Carmel. 
(‘A Basic Baha’i Dictionary’ by Wendi Momen)

July 1850: The Báb is executed in Tabriz, Persia

In 1850 Mirza Taqi Khan, Grand Vizier of the new Nasiri'd-Din Shah of Persia, ordered the Báb to be executed. On 9 July 1850 the Báb was brought before a firing squad in the barracks square of Tabriz, along with a young follower. When the smoke cleared, the crowd was amazed that the Báb was nowhere to be seen. He was located in the room He had occupied, finishing a conversation with His amanuensis. The commander of the Armenian regiment, Sam Khan, refused to fire a second time and another regiment had to be found. This time their bullets killed the Báb and His companion. 
(‘A Basic Baha’i Dictionary’, by Wendi Momen)

June 1920: Shoghi Effendi applied for admission to Oxford University

Consonant with his total dedication to the service of his grandfather, Shoghi Effendi's great aspiration had been to become a perfect English translator of the Baha'i writings. His letter of 11 June 1920, applying for admission to Oxford University, made this intention clear: "My sole aim," he wrote, "is to perfect my English, to acquire the literary ability to write it well, speak it well and translate correctly and eloquently from Persian and Arabic into English." 
(The Baha’i World 1996-1997)

June 1996: Four NSAs in America meet for the first time

On 29 and 30 June 1996 four National Spiritual Assemblies in the Americas-- Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname met together for the first time, in Paramaribo, Suriname, to discuss cooperative efforts and other subjects of mutual concern. 
(The Baha’i World 1996-1997)

May 1863: Baha’u’llah, accompanied by members of His family and twenty-six of His disciples, left the first stopping-place in the course of their journey to Constantinople.

The same tokens of devotion shown Bahá'u'lláh at the time of His departure from His House, and later from the Garden of Ridvan, were repeated when, on the 20th of Dhi'l-Qa'dih (May 9, 1863), accompanied by members of His family and twenty-six of His disciples, He left Firayjat, His first stopping-place in the course of that journey. A caravan, consisting of fifty mules, a mounted guard of ten soldiers with their officer, and seven pairs of howdahs, each pair surmounted by four parasols, was formed, and wended its way, by easy stages, and in the space of no less than a hundred and ten days, across the uplands, and through the defiles, the woods, valleys and pastures, comprising the picturesque scenery of eastern Anatolia, to the port of Samsun, on the Black Sea. At times on horseback, at times resting in the howdah reserved for His use, and which was oftentimes surrounded by His companions, most of whom were on foot, He, by virtue of the written order of Namiq Pasha, was accorded, as He traveled northward, in the path of spring, an enthusiastic reception by the valis, the mutisarrifs, the qa'im-maqams, the mudirs, the shaykhs, the muftis and qadis, the government officials and notables belonging to the districts through which He passed. In Karkuk, in Irbil, in Mosul, where He tarried three days, in Nisibin, in Mardin, in Diyar-Bakr, where a halt of a couple of days was made, in Kharput, in Sivas, as well as in other villages and hamlets, He would be met by a delegation immediately before His arrival, and would be accompanied, for some distance, by a similar delegation upon His departure. The festivities which, at some stations, were held in His honor, the food the villagers prepared and brought for His acceptance, the eagerness which time and again they exhibited in providing the means for His comfort, recalled the reverence which the people of Baghdad had shown Him on so many occasions. 
- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')

May 1863: Mounted on a red roan stallion of the finest breed Baha’u’llah leaves the Garden of Ridvan in Baghdad

The departure of Bahá'u'lláh from the Garden of Ridvan, at noon, on the 14th of Dhi'l-Qa'dih 1279 A.H. (May 3, 1863), witnessed scenes of tumultuous enthusiasm no less spectacular, and even more touching, than those which greeted Him when leaving His Most Great House in Baghdad. "The great tumult," wrote an eyewitness, "associated in our minds with the Day of Gathering, the Day of Judgment, we beheld on that occasion. Believers and unbelievers alike sobbed and lamented. The chiefs and notables who had congregated were struck with wonder. Emotions were stirred to such depths as no tongue can describe, nor could any observer escape their contagion."

First Day of Ridvan (April 21, 1863): Baha’u’llah reveals the Surih-i-Sabr

Suriy-i-Sabr (Surih of Patience) was “revealed on the first day of Ridvan” in the year 1863. It “extols Vahid and his fellow-sufferers in Nayriz …” (Adapted from ‘God Passes By’, by Shoghi Effendi). This Tablet also known as Lawh-i-Ayyub (Tablet of Job) is equal in length to almost one-quarter of the Kitáb-i-Íqán. It is in Arabic and was revealed in honour of Haji Muhammad-Taqi, a native of Nayriz, upon whom Bahá'u'lláh bestowed the title of Ayyub (Job). 
(Adapted from ‘The Revelation of Baha'u'llah v 1’, by Adib Taherzadeh) A provisional translation of this Tablet is available at Baha’i Tablets –provisional Translations.

March-April 1847: Muhammad Shah sent a letter to the Báb and in courteous terms instructed Him to go to the fortress of Mah-ku

The ruthless and rapacious Gurgin Khan, the deputy governor, [of Isfahan] induced the Shah to issue a second summons ordering that the captive Youth[the Báb] be sent in disguise to Tihran, accompanied by a mounted escort. To this written mandate of the sovereign the vile Gurgin Khan, who had previously discovered and destroyed the will of his uncle, the Mu'tamid, and seized his property, unhesitatingly responded. At the distance of less than thirty miles from the capital, however, in the fortress of Kinar-Gird, a messenger delivered to Muhammad Big, who headed the escort, a written order from Haji Mirza Aqasi instructing him to proceed to Kulayn, and there await further instructions. This was, shortly after, followed by a letter which the Shah had himself addressed to the Báb, dated Rabi'u'th-thani 1263 (March 19-April 17, 1847), and which, though couched in courteous terms, clearly indicated the extent of the baneful influence exercised by the Grand Vizir on his sovereign. The plans so fondly cherished by Manuchihr Khan were now utterly undone. The fortress of Mah-Ku, not far from the village of that same name, whose inhabitants had long enjoyed the patronage of the Grand Vizir, situated in the remotest northwestern corner of Adhirbayjan, was the place of incarceration assigned by Muhammad Shah, on the advice of his perfidious minister, for the Báb. No more than one companion and one attendant from among His followers were allowed to keep Him company in those bleak and inhospitable surroundings. 
- Shoghi Effendi  (God Passes By)

March 1952: Ruhiyyih Khanum is appointed a Hand of the Cause

On 26 March, 1952, following the death of her father, Ruhiyyih Khanum was appointed, in his stead, a Hand of the Cause: "With sorrowful heart announce through national assemblies that Hand of Cause of Baha'u'llah, highly esteemed, dearly beloved Sutherland Maxwell, has been gathered into the glory of the Abha Kingdom. . . . The mantle of Hand of Cause now falls upon the shoulders of his distinguished daughter, 'Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih-Kha num, who has already rendered and is still rendering manifold no less meritorious self-sacrificing services at World Center of Faith of Baha'u'llah." (Shoghi Effendi, message dated 26 March 1952; ‘Citadel of Faith’) 

March 1909: Baha’i Temple Unity is formed in Chicago, Illinois

In March 1909, a convention representative of various Bahá'í centers was called, in pursuance of instructions received from 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The thirty-nine delegates, representing thirty-six cities, who had assembled in Chicago, on the very day the remains of the Báb were laid to rest by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the specially erected mausoleum on Mt. Carmel, established a permanent national organization, known as the Bahá'í Temple Unity, which was incorporated as a religious corporation, functioning under the laws of the State of Illinois, and invested with full authority to hold title to the property of the Temple and to provide ways and means for its construction. At this same convention a constitution was framed, the Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity was elected, and was authorized by the delegates to complete the purchase of the land recommended by the previous Convention. Contributions for this historic enterprise, from India, Persia, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Russia, Egypt, Germany, France, England, Canada, Mexico, the Hawaiian Islands, and even Mauritius, and from no less than sixty American cities, amounted by 1910, two years previous to 'Abdu'l-Bahá's arrival in America, to no less than twenty thousand dollars, a remarkable testimony alike to the solidarity of the followers of Bahá'u'lláh in both the East and the West, and to the self-sacrificing efforts exerted by the American believers who, as the work progressed, assumed a preponderating share in providing the sum of over a million dollars required for the erection of the structure of the Temple and its external ornamentation. (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 261)