August

August is the eighth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, coming between July and September. It has 30 days. August generally occurs during the months of Kamál and Asmá’ in the Badi calendar.

Events

Recurring

• The feasts of Kamál and Asmá’ take place in the month of August.

Historical

The following are examples of historical events which happened on each day of the month of August.

August 1

• 1855: Birth of John Bosch, founder of Bosch Bahá’í School

August 2

• 1951: The Bahá’í community of Uganda is established following the arrival of pioneers from Great Britain and Iran

August 3

• 1918: Birth of Universal House of Justice member Amoz Gibson (pictured).
• 1947: The Bahá’í community of the Netherlands officially registers its first new believer.
• 1986: Sir Thomas Davis, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, makes a historic visit to the World Centre for a consultation with the Universal House of Justice on world peace.

August 4

• 1971: The first Bahá’í College Club of Latin America is formed at the University of the Americas, Puebla, Mexico.

August 5

• 1912: 'Abdu'l-Bahá speaks at the Dublin Inn in Dublin, New Hampshire.
• 1969: Hand of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum and her companion, Violette Nakhjavání, arrive in Kampala, Uganda, at the start of the ‘Great Safari’.

August 6

• 1912: 'Abdu'l-Bahá speaks at the home of Agnes Parsons in Dublin, New Hampshire.
• 1982: An International Conference to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf (pictured) is held in Quito, Ecuador, attended by some 1,450 Bahá’ís from 43 countries.
• 1986: The Indo-Chinese Refugee Committee of Thailand estimates that five to six thousand people are Bahá’ís in the refugee camps on the Thai border.
• 1990: The first local spiritual assembly in the Ukraine is formed in Kyiv.

August 7

• 1954: Marcia Steward de Matamoros Atwater arrives in the Marshall Islands and is named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh.

August 8

• 1910: Rúhíyyih Khánum (pictured as a young woman), wife to Shoghi Effendi, is born in New York City to parents May and William Sutherland Maxwell.
• 2010: Reports are received that the Baha'i 7 have each received jail sentences of 20 years, the highest sentences ever given to prisoners of conscience in Iran.

August 9

• 1912: A few weeks before his death, Thornton Chase (pictured) writes a poem about 'Abdu’l-Bahá that is eventually published in Star of the West.
• 2010: After two years of being detained without charge, the Baha'i 7 are moved from Iran's notorious Evin Prison to Raja'i Shahr Prison, 20 km west of Tehran.

August 10

• 1910: Though in very poor health due to his long imprisonment, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá journeys to Egypt to spread the Faith accompanied by Shoghi Effendi.
• 1968: Death of Luṭfu’lláh Ḥakím, Universal House of Justice member and International Bahá’í Council member.
• 2016: Soldiers raid an educational gathering on the theme of moral empowerment and service co-organized by the Bahá’ís of Yemen. More than sixty participants are arrested, among them youth and children.

August 11

• 1844: The Báb sends Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Basṭámí to Najaf and Karbilá to proclaim His Cause to the Shaykhís, sparking violent debate. Mullá ‘Alí is later taken to Baghdád to be imprisoned, and then to Constantinople, becoming the first Bábí martyr.
• 1911: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sails for Marseille, later journeying to London and Paris.

August 12

• 1868: Bahá'u'lláh departs from Adrianople to Gallipoli, the first leg of a long journey which will finally bring him to 'Akká.

August 13

• 1863: Bahá’u’lláh departs by steamer from the port of Sámsun to Constantinople.

August 14

• 1912: 'Abdu'l-Bahá speaks a second time at the home of Agnes Parsons in Dublin, New Hampshire.
• 1945: The German Bahá’ís, 80 per cent of whom live in the American sector of occupied Germany, obtain permission to re-organize.
• 1970: The first of eight Oceanic and Continental Conferences are held: One in La Paz, Bolivia, and one in Rose Hill, Mauritius.

August 15

• 1852: Angry Bábís, acting on their own volition, make a failed attempt to kill Nasser al-Din Shah.
• 1864: Díyá'u'lláh is born to Fátimih and Bahá’u’lláh.
• 1912: Agnes Parsons hosts a farewell meeting for 'Abdu'l-Bahá at her home in Dublin, New Hampshire.

August 16

• 1863: Arrival of Bahá’u’lláh in Constantinople on Sunday at noon.
• 1912: 'Abdu'l-Bahá travels to Green Acre in Eliot, Maine, giving a talk minutes after His arrival. Thereafter, He visits Sarah Farmer in a sanitarium in Portsmouth, returning to Green Acre afterwards to give one of the longest talks of His entire tour.

August 17

• 1912: 'Abdu'l-Bahá gives four talks at Green Acre.
• 1937: Martha Root departs Shanghai by steamship, four days after hostilities began between China and Japan.

August 18

• 1974: Laura Dreyfus-Barney, compiler of Some Answered Questions, dies in Paris.

August 19

• 1872: Birth of prominent Bahá’í and "foremost travel teacher in the first Bahá’í Century", Martha Root.

August 20

• 1901: Sultan 'Abdu'l-Hamid re-imposes confinement of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá et al. within the walls of ‘Akká.
• 1909: Birth of Paul Haney, Custodian and Hand of the Cause.
• 1921: Agnes Alexander (pictured) became the first Bahá’í to visit Korea.
• 1937: Martha Root arrives by steamship in Manila, five minutes before the occurrence of the worst earthquake in that city in a century.

August 21

• 1868: Bahá’u’lláh departs from Gallipoli by steamer for Haifa, and then by sail to 'Akká.
• 1980: The members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran are arrested; they disappear without trace and are presumed dead.

August 22

• 2003: Ruth Pringle passes away in Costa Rica at the age of 83 after 5 decades of service to the Faith, including 2 decades on the Continental Boards of Counsellors.

August 23

• 1912: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá departs Green Acre for Malden, Massachusetts, stopping in Portsmouth along the way to call on Sarah Farmer. Arriving in Malden, He stays at the home of Maria Wilson.

August 24

• 1957: The Bahá'ís of Japan hold their first summer school in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture.
• 1958: The Hands of the Cause announce that pilgrimages to the Baha'i World Centre would again be permitted, following the death of Shoghi Effendi.

August 25

• 1912: 'Abdu'l-Baha addresses the New Thought Forum in the Metaphysical Club, Boston.
• 1963: The Universal House of Justice announces the demolition by the Soviet authorities of the House of Worship in ‘Ishqábád (pictured) owing to earthquake damage.
• 1979: An Administrative Committee for Uganda is appointed by the Universal House of Justice to prepare the Bahá’í community for the re-establishment of the National Spiritual Assembly.

August 26

• 1912: 'Abdu'l-Baha speaks at Franklin Square House in Boston.
• 1953: Ella Bailey dies in Tripoli, Libya, at the age of 88. She is elevated to the rank of the martyrs.

August 27

• 1992: The 44th session of the Sub-Commission of Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the UN passes a resolution drawing attention to the renewed persecution of religious minorities and summary killings of Bahá’ís.

August 28

• 1851: Bahá’u’lláh arrives in Karbilá, Iraq for the start of a 10 month pilgrimage, during which he spread the Báb's Teachings to the people.

August 29

• 1910: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá leaves the Holy Land for the first time in forty-two years, journeying to Egypt.
• 1983: Iran's Prosecutor-General announces the formal banning of all Bahá’í religious institutions in the country, and declares membership in them and service to them to be criminal offences.

August 30

• 1912: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrives in Montreal, staying at the home of May and William Sutherland Maxwell. It is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's first and only visit to Canada.

August 31

• 1868: Bahá’u’lláh arrives in ‘Akká.
• 1876: 'Abdu'l-Hamid II becomes Sultan, upon which the banishment decree of Sultan 'Abdu'l-Aziz is relaxed.