- 1868-05-00 —
Bahá'u'lláh sent Nabíl-i-A`zam Zarandi to Cairo to enquire after Hájí Mírzá Haydar-`Alí. He was instructed by Bahá'u'lláh to appeal to the officials for the release of several Bahá'ís who had been imprisoned in Cairo at the instigation of their enemies. He was thrown into prison in Cairo for two months and then in the Alexandria jail for a few more months. While there he befriended a Christian cellmate, Fáris Effendi, who soon becomes a Bahá'í. [BKG248, 265–8; EB268; GPB178; "Nabil-e aʿzam Zarandi, Mollā Mohammad," by Vahid Rafati, Encyclopædia Iranica]
- See BKG265–8 for an account of Nabíl's arrest and imprisonment.
- Fáris Effendi was probably the first Christian to become a Bahá'í. [RB3:10]
- Lawh-i-Aqdas ("Most Holy Tablet," otherwise known as "The Tablet to the Christians" late 1870s?) is thought to have been addressed to Dr Fáris Effendi but this cannot be substantiated.
- 1886-00-02 — Birth of Narayanrao Rangnath Vakil, the first Hindu to become a Bahá'í in Surat, Gujarat, India.
- 1890-00-04 —
Ibrahim George Kheiralla (Khayru'lláh) became a Bahá'í in Cairo under the tutelage of `Abdu'l-Karím-i-Tihrání. [BFA1:19]
- It was probable that he was the first Bahá'í from Syrian Christian background. [BFA19]
- See BFA1:175 for pictures.
- 1898-12-10 —
The first Western pilgrims arrived in `Akká. [AB68; BBD13; BBRXXX; DH214; GPB257; SCU13; Bahá'í Teachings]
- See MBBA146-152 for a description of how arrangements were made to accommodate the Western visitors in a relatively new city with no hotels and few houses. The city was built to accommodate the construction of the Suez Canal which had been completed in 1869. Other sources indicate that the pilgrims were accommodated in Cairo.
- 'Abdu'l-Bahá expressed His appreciation to Mírzá Áqá Nuri'd-Din for his service in accommodating the Western pilgrims. His Tablet seems to indicate that he was kept in place for that purpose. [MBBA152]
- They divided themselves into three parties, using Cairo as a staging post. [AB68; BFA1:143; SBBH1:93]
- See AB68–72; BFA2:9; DH61; GPB257, 259 for those included in the pilgrimage group.
- Included were Mrs Hearst's nieces, a few American friends and, joining in London, Mrs Mary Thornburgh-Cropper and her mother. [SCU13. CH234-236; LDNW15]
- In Paris the group was joined by two nieces of Mrs Hearst, Mrs Thornburgh, her daughter Miriam Thornburgh-Cropper and May Bolles. [AB68]
- LDNW15 says that Ella Goodall and Nell Hillyer and May Bolles joined the party in Paris.
- There were further additions in Egypt. [AB68]
- See BFA1:143–4 for those included in the first group.
- Among the group was Robert Turner, the first member of the Black race to become a Bahá'í. For 35 years, Turner faithfully served as butler to Phoebe Apperson Hearst and Senator George Hearst, parents of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. [AB72; BBD227; BFA1:139; GPB259]
- `Abdu'l-Bahá received the pilgrims in the House of `Abdu'lláh Páshá. [BBD13, 108; DH61]
- See AB68–71; BW16:104–5; CH235–6 and GPB257–9 for the pilgrims' responses to the pilgrimage.
- Edward Getsinger made a recording of `Abdu'l-Bahá chanting a prayer. [BFA1:160]
- Getsinger also took photographs that he later tinted and published as an album. [LDNW16]
- On the 18th of January, 1899, Lua received her first Tablet from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in fact, it was the first Tablet addressed to a North American believer. [LGHC23]
- See TF31-52 for details of Lua Getsinger's pilgrim experience and TF44-46 for 'Abdu'l-Bahá's parting remarks to the pilgrims.
- The Getsingers returned from the pilgrimage with an Arabic copy of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas which was later translated by Anton Haddad. They departed on the 23rd of March, 1899. [BFA2:11; LGHC30]
- See Star of the West, vol. VII, No. 4 or "Lua Getsinger - Herald of the Covenant" By Amine DeMille for a description of how 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave Lua the power to speak eloquently. [LDNW15] iiiii
- 1907-00-00 — Pritam Singh, an Assistant Master of Economics at Chiefs College in Lahore, accepted the Faith, the first Sikh to do so. [BFA2:269]
- 1936-12-31 —
Khusraw Bimán (Thábit) passed away in Bombay at the age of 103 or 104. [Imm:56]
- He is the first Zoroastrian to accept the Faith in India. [Imm:44–6]
- For the story of his life see Imm:39–60.
- 1940-12-00 —
Eduardo Gonzales, a university student, accepted the Faith and became the first native Bahá'í of Ecuador. He was accepted as a Bahá'í on the occasion of his 21st birthday on the 15th of October 1943. Eduardo (Les) Gonzalez performed outstanding service for the Cause both as an itinerant teacher abroad and pioneer to Spain and Venezuela. Sadly, in later years he became a Covenant-breaker and had to be ex-communicated.
- He was not formally registered until his twenty–first birthday on 15 October 1941. [Heroes of God: History of the Bahá'í Faith in Ecuador, 1940-1979 p4; 8; 24]
- 1951-00-08 — By this year the first Canadian Inuit had become a Bahá'í.
- 1954-04-06 — The first native Fijian, the first Pygmy, the first Berber and the first Greenlander to accept the Bahá'í Faith enrolled. [MBWp62]
- 1955-01-02 — The first Tswana Bahá'í, Stanlake Kukama, enrolled in Mafikeng.
- 1955-03-04 — The first Tongan to become a Bahá'í in Tonga, Tevita Ngalo'afe, enrolled.
- 1957-00-00 — The first indigenous person to become a Bahá'í in the Dutch West Indies, Rhoma Matthew enrolled.
- 1957-00-00 — The first member of the Newari ethnic group of Nepal to become a Bahá'í, Rishi Prasad Joshi, enrolled.
- 1957-00-00 — The Berbers in Algeria were first contacted by the Bahá'ís and a number of Berber families enrolled.
- 1957-04-00 — The first Tuareg to become a Bahá'í enrolled in Rabat, Morocco.
- 1959-00-02 — The first Inuit in Alaska to become a Bahá'í, William Wiloya, enrolled in Nome.
- 1960-12-01 — Philip Suning, the first member of the Iban tribe to become a Bahá'í, enrolled.
- 1965-00-00 — Nils and Sigrid Rutfjäll, the first Samer (Lapps) to become Bahá'ís, enrolled in northern Norway. [BW5:483]
- 1966-02-01 — The first members of the Yao tribe become Bahá'ís in Laos enrolled. [BW14:150]
- 1967-00-00 — The first Mataco Indians to become Bahá'ís enrolled in Argentina. [BW14:150]
- 1970-00-00 — The first Gypsy in Spain to become a Bahá'í, Maria Camacho Martinez, enrolled in Sabadell.
- 1970-00-00 — The first native of Mauritania to become a Bahá'í enrolled.
- 1971-00-00 — The first Gypsies, six adults and six youth, the first to become Bahá'ís in France, enrolled at a campsite near Le Bourget airport.
- 1971-00-00 — The first Pingelapese to become a Bahá'í enrolled in the East Caroline Islands.
- 1974-06-00 — The first Alacalufe Indians to become Bahá'ís enrolled in Puerto Eden, Chile. [BW16:215]
- 1975-07-01 — The first Katio Indians to become Bahá'ís enrolled in northern Colombia. [BW16:217]
- 1986-00-00 — Hundreds of members of the Aeta tribe in Tarlac and Pampanga, Philippines, became Bahá'ís. [BINS158:13]
- 1988-11-00 — The first members of the Jhana tribe to become Bahá'ís enrolled in India. [BINS189:5]
- 1988-11-01 — Pietro Pandolfini, the first from the Albanian minority in Sicily to become a Bahá'í, enrolled. [BINS189:5]
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