October

October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, coming between September and November. It has 31 days. October generally occurs during the months of Mashíyyat and ‘Ilm in the Badi calendar.

Events

Recurring

• The feast of ‘Ilm takes place in the month of October.
• Prior to 2015, the anniversary of the Birth of the Báb was observed on October 20 in countries that use the Gregorian calendar.

Historical

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

October 1

October 2

October 3

• 1844: (or Oct. 2) The Báb departs on a sailing-boat for His pilgrimage to Mecca, instructing His followers to wait for Him in Karbilá.
• 1987: The Bahá’í Faith becomes the sixth world religion to join the Network On Conservation and Religion of the World Wide Fund for Nature.

October 4

October 5

• 1958: The first Bahá'í wedding in the Federation of Malaya and Singapore is held, and attended by Hand of the Cause Abu'l-Qásim Faizi.

October 6

October 7

October 8

• 1912: `Abdu'l-Bahá speaks at Stanford Junior University in Palo Alto, to an audience of two thousand.
• 1952: Shoghi Effendi announces his decision to launch ‘the fate-laden, soul-stirring, decade-long world-embracing Spiritual Crusade’ in the coming year.
• 1964: The National Spiritual Assembly of Vietnam is incorporated.
• 1967: The foundation stone of the Mother Temple of Latin America, Panama City is laid by Hand of the Cause Ruhiyyih Khanum.

October 9

1968: A Moroccan Bahá'í, a widowed mother of seven children, is sentenced to six months’ imprisonment in Morocco for refusing to deny her faith.

October 10

• 1848: Mullá Husayn and his company arrive near Bárfurúsh, where they are attacked by a mob of townspeople at the instigation of local clergy.
• 1902: The Bahai Publishing Society, a non-profit company, becomes the first Bahá'í institution to be legally incorporated.

October 11

• 1951: Ted Cardell arrives in Kenya, the first Bahá’í pioneer to arrive in the country as part of the African Campaign.
• 1953: Fawzí Zaynu’l-‘Ábidín and his wife, Bahíyyih ‘Alí Sa‘di’d-Dín, arrive in Tetuán and are named Knights of Bahá’u’lláh for Spanish Morocco.

October 12

• 1848: Mullá Ḥusayn and not less than 72 fellow Bábís arrive at Fort Tabarsi (pictured), eventually to be besieged by thousands of soldiers.
• 1902: Birth of `Abdu'l-Hamíd Ishráq-Khávarí, Bahá'í scholar, author and translator, in Mashhad.
• 1977: The world's first Bahá’í cultural and educational radio station in Ecuador makes its first broadcast.

October 13

• 1953: Knights of Bahá'u'lláh: Frederick and Elizabeth Laws arrive in Basutoland (now called Lesotho); Esther Evans and Lillian Middlemast arrive in St. Lucia, in the Windward Islands; and Una Townshend arrives in Malta.
• 1971: Following the banning of Bahá’í activities in Egypt in 1960, Egyptian Bahá’ís submit a petition to the Supreme Constitutional Court asking for redress and for justice to be upheld.
• 1977: The Asian Bahá’í Women’s Conference (pictured) is held in New Delhi, attended by more than a thousand women from across Asia.

October 14

• 1912: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visits Phoebe Hearst at her estate, at her invitation.
• 1913: Daniel Jenkyn, from England, makes a two-week trip through the Netherlands, the first time a Bahá'í journeys to the country to teach the Faith.
• 1953: Knights of Bahá’u’lláh: Gertrude Eisenberg arrives in Las Palmas, Canary Islands; Robert and Elinor Wolff arrive in Dutch Guiana (Suriname); Edith M. Danielsen arrives on Aitutaki Island in the Cook Islands, later to settle in Avarua, Rarotonga. On the same day, Shoghi Effendi announces the settling of 13 further Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, with 178 territories now open to the Faith.

October 15

• 1848: The siege of the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí begins.
• 1855: Robert Turner (pictured), the first black American Bahá'í, is born.
• 1953: Knights of Bahá’u’lláh: Eberhard Friedland arrives in French Guiana; Enoch Olinga arrives in Victoria (Limbé), in the British Cameroons.
• 1961: The fifth Conclave of the Hands of the Cause of God is convened at Bahjí.

October 16

• 1875: Hand of the Cause of God Tarázu'lláh Samandarí (pictured) is born in Qazvín.
• 1953: Benjamin Weeden and his wife Gladys arrive in Antigua and are named Knights of Bahá’u’lláh for the Leeward Islands.
• 1993: Marzieh Gail, Bahá'í translator and author, passes away.
• 2004: The first annual Australian Baha’i Film Festival takes place at the Sydney Baha’i Centre.

October 17

• 1953: Knight of Bahá'u'lláh Bertha Dobbins arrives in Vanuatu.
• 1977: Hand of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum lays the foundation stone of the Mother Temple of the Indian Subcontinent (pictured).
• 1980: Leonora Armstrong, the ‘spiritual mother of South America’ and the first Latin American pioneer, dies in Bahia, Brazil.

October 18

• 1912: `Abdu'l-Bahá leaves San Francisco for Los Angeles, arriving the same day.
• 1953: George and Marguerite (Peggy) True arrive on Tenerife and are named Knights of Bahá’u’lláh for the Canary Islands.
• 1960: The fourth Conclave of the Hands of the Cause of God is convened at Bahjí.
• 1985: The remains of Mírzá Muhammad-Qulí and 11 members of his family are re-interred in a new Bahá’í cemetery near the original grave site.
• 2017: Release of the film Light to the World, a documentary about Bahá'u'lláh.

October 19

• 1863: Bahá’u’lláh reveals the Tablet of the Bell.
• 1912: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visits the grave of Thornton Chase in Inglewood, California (pictured).
• 1926: Birth of author and theologist Udo Schaefer
• 1966: Death of Malcolm King, Knight of Bahá’u’lláh named for pioneering to British Guiana.
• 2018: The Bahá’í International Community participates in the 6th Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana, Kazakhstan.

October 20

• 1819: The Báb is born in Shiráz, Iran.
• 1848: Quddús arrives at Fort Tabarsí (pictured).
• 2008: The Universal House of Justice announces a series of 41 regional conferences to be held throughout the world from November 2008 to March 2009.

October 21

• 1912: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá leaves Los Angeles for San Francisco.
• 1983: Panama issues a postage stamp bearing the picture of the House of Worship in Panama City (pictured).
• 1984: Chaim Herzog, President of Israel, pays an official visit to the Bahá’í World Centre, becoming the first head of state to visit the Seat of the House of Justice.
• 1989: The Southern African Bahá’í Association for the Advancement of Women is formed in Johannesburg.

October 22

• 1872: Martha Root, Hand of the Cause and itinerant Bahá'í teacher (pictured), is born in Richmond, Ohio.
• 1951: Ethel Stephens arrives in Accra, becoming the first Bahá’í pioneer to Ghana, and the first black American pioneer to Africa.
• 1961: The First Bahá’í wedding in Malaysia is conducted.
• 2017: Yemeni security forces raid a Baha’i gathering in Sana’a, opening fire on the small group of people assembled to commemorate the Bicentenary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh.

October 23

• 1888: The martyrdom of Mírzá Ashraf of Ábádih in Isfahán. He is hanged, his body burnt and left hanging in the market. Later his body is buried beneath a wall.
• 1933: Keith Ransom-Kehler (pictured) dies of smallpox in Isfahán; she is buried near the grave of the King of Martyrs. After her death, Shoghi Effendi names her America’s ‘first and distinguished martyr’ and elevates her to the rank of Hand of the Cause.
• 1934: Dr. Susan Moody dies in Iran. She is buried near the graves of Lillian Kappes and Sarah Clock in the Tihrán Bahá’í cemetery.
• 1950: Nur Ali, a well-known and respected public servant in Suva, becomes a Bahá’í, the first to accept the Faith in Fiji.
• 1959: The third Conclave of the Hands of the Cause of God is convened at Bahjí, during which Charles Mason Remey unsuccessfully attempts to convince his fellow Hands that the Guardianship should continue.

October 24

• 1953: Knights of Bahá’u’lláh: Elsie Austin and Muhammad-‘Alí Jalálí arrive in Tangier, Morocco; Luella McKay, John and Erleta Fleming, and Alyce Janssen arrive in Spanish Morocco.
• 1985: The Universal House of Justice addresses a statement to the peoples of the world, The Promise of World Peace, on the theme of universal peace.
• 1992: The first Bahá'í Autumn School of Central Asia is held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, attended by more than 200 Bahá'ís and many others.
• 1993: The India Hindi Bahá'í Academy, a national institute for higher learning of the Bahá'í Faith, is established in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
• 1997: The International Environment Forum was launched at the first International Bahá'í Environment Conference in de Poort, Netherlands.

October 25

• 1912: `Abdu'l-Bahá leaves San Francisco for Sacramento, arriving at noon the same day.
• 1939: John Eichenauer, the first pioneer to El Salvador, arrives in San Salvador. At 17 years old, he is the youngest pioneer to arise during the First Seven Year Plan.
• 1992: Prince Alfred von Lichtenstein tours ten cities in Japan, delivering memorial lectures celebrating the centenary of the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh.
• 1967: Catherine Huxtable, Knight of Bahá’u’lláh named for pioneering to the Gulf Islands, passes away.

October 26

• 1912: `Abdu'l-Bahá leaves Sacramento for Denver.
• 1928: The case of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád is taken before the League of Nations, where the right of the Bahá’ís to the House is upheld. Despite this decision, the House is not returned to the Bahá’ís.
• 1942: Marion Lord Maxwell (‘Miss Mac’) becomes a Bahá’í, the first Jamaican to accept the Faith.

October 27

• 1941: Dr. Farzam Arbab, member of the Universal House of Justice, is born.

October 28

• 1904: Ali Kuli Khan marries Florence Breed, the first marriage between a Persian and a Western Bahá'í.
• 1912: `Abdu'l-Bahá arrives in Denver at midnight.
• 2014: Shamel Bina, a Bahá'í from Ahvaz, Iran, passes away. His body is held in the morgue for two months due to local officials' refusal to allow his burial.

October 29

• 1953: Knights of Bahá’u’lláh: Gladys Irene Parke and Gretta Stevens Lamprill arrive in Papeete in the Society Islands, French Polynesia; Opal Jensen arrives on Réunion Island.
• 1993: The founding conference of the Association for Bahá'í Studies in Russia is held in St. Petersburg.
• 2005: A letter is sent from the Iranian military headquarters to various Revolutionary Guard and police forces, instructing them to identify and monitor Bahá'ís in Iran.
• 2010: After three years, restoration work on the Riḍván Garden, some two kilometers southeast of the old city of Acre, is completed.

October 30

• 1868: Christoph Hoffman, founder of the Templers, and Georg David Hardegg, his principal lieutenant, land in Haifa to establish a colony there. Bahá'u'lláh would later stay in the houses of the colony on several occasions.
• 1898: Díyá'u'lláh passes away.
• 1912: `Abdu'l-Bahá leaves Denver for Chicago.

October 31

• 1853: Some 600 female and 80 to 180 male Bábís are taken prisoner at Nayríz and marched to Shíráz, along with the heads of some 180 martyrs, fulfilling an Islamic prophecy concerning the appearance of the Qá'im.
• 1868: Nabíl-i-A‘ẓam (pictured) enters `Akká in disguise, but is recognized; after three days, he is thrown out of the city. He spends the next four months wandering about Haifa, Mount Carmel and the Galilee waiting for another opportunity to enter `Akká.
• 1925: Ahmad Sháh is deposed and the Qájár dynasty terminated.
• 1962: Fourteen imprisoned Bahá’ís in Morocco are arraigned before a regional court, being accused of rebellion and disorder, attacks on public security, constituting an association of criminals and attacks on religious faith.
• 1975: The government of Uganda affirms that the practice of the Bahá’í Faith is not prohibited in the country.