February 1958: Introduction of Baha’i News “Supplement”

A Message from US National Spiritual Assembly:

Beginning with this issue, BAHA'I NEWS will henceforth carry as an insert a United States Supplement, which will be devoted to subjects of particular interest and concern to the believers of this country. This action brings BAHA'I NEWS more in conformity with the wishes of the beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, who expressed the hope years ago that BAHA'I NEWS would become "the foremost Baha'i journal of the world."

Up to this time, BAHA'I NEWS has been designed to meet that purpose so far as possible, depending upon the material received from all parts of the world, but in addition it has been the medium of communication between the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and its committees and the individual members of the American Baha'i community.

This new plan means that from now on any information, suggestions, recommendations, and requests that concern the believers in the United States only will be concentrated largely in the Supplement, but the main body of BAHA'I NEWS will continue to carry news and reports of Baha'i activities in the United States which are of interest to the friends throughout the world and which reflect progress in the World Crusade.

1967: Baha'i Week proclaimed in Indianapolis - marking the 150th anniversary of the Birth of Baha’u’llah

The Indianapolis Spiritual Assembly decided in March, 1967 to proclaim the Baha'i Faith through holding a "Baha'i Week" in November, 1967, marking the 150th anniversary of the Birth of Baha’u’llah and held just one year after the first proclamation week in Indiana (Fort Wayne, November, 1966). Work began immediately and preparations proceeded through the following months. A prelude to the Week was the annual State Fair Baha'i exhibit in August which publicized the coming event to at least 250,000 people. The launching of the Proclamation was in October when the Mayor of Indianapolis, John J. Barton, and a State Senator, Nelson Grills, were present at a tea commemorating the centenary of the messages of Baha’u’llah to the kings and rulers. 

(US National Baha’i Review, February 1968) 

June 1968: The Institution of the Continental Boards of Counselors is brought into being by the Universal House of Justice

In June 1968 the Institution of the Continental Boards of Counselors was brought into being, fulfilling the goal of extending the aforementioned functions of the Hands into the future, and this momentous decision was accompanied by the next step in the development of the Institution of the Hands of the Cause: the continental Hands were to serve henceforth on a worldwide basis and operate individually in direct relationship to the Universal House of Justice; the Hands ceased to be responsible for the direction of the Auxiliary Boards, which became an auxiliary institution of the Continental Boards of Counselors; the Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land were given the task of acting as liaison between the Universal House of Justice and the Boards of Counselors; and the working interrelationships between the Hands and the Boards of Counselors were established. Reference was also made to the future establishment by the Universal House of Justice, with the assistance of the Hands residing in the Holy Land, of an international teaching center in the Holy Land. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 24 April 1972; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1968-1973’)

1968: One Hundredth Anniversary of Baha'u'llah's Arrival in the Holy Land

In August 1968 nearly two thousand Baha'is from many countries assembled at Bahji to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the arrival of Baha'u'llah in the Holy Land. They then ascended the long stairway from Carmel Avenue to the Shrine of the Báb, around which they walked in respect for the Forerunner and Herald of their Faith. ('The Baha'is and the Holy Land', an audio-visual program prepare by the NSA of the United States, 1971)

April 1968: A Baha'i delegation met with Israel's President

At the First International Baha'i Convention held  in the Holy Land in 1968 this delegation was sent to Jerusalem to make a formal call on Israel's President Zalman Shazar, to deliver the greetings of the convention. ('The Baha'is and the Holy Land', an audio-visual program prepare by the NSA of the United States, 1971)

Significant Events in the Life of Bahá'u'láh

Please see a chronological list at Baha’u’llah – The Glory of God