April 21st in Baha'i History

First day of the Festival of Riḍván.

21 April 1912 - Abdul-Baha - Talk at Studio Hall 1219 Connecticut Avenue, Washington, D.C.

21 April 1912 - Abdul-Baha - Talk at Universalist Church Thirteenth and L Streets, Washington, D.C.

21 Apr 1937 First Seven-Year Plan launched. Goals: to establish at least one local spiritual assembly in every state of the United States and every province of Canada;•

21 Apr 1946 Second Seven-Year Plan launched. This plan focused on Europe, which only had national spiritual assemblies in Great Britain and Germany. It also called for the formation of local spiritual assemblies in Latin America and a vast increase in assemblies in North America.

1963: The first World Congress takes place in London.

1963: The first Universal House of Justice is elected by representatives of 56 National Spiritual Assemblies gathered in Haifa, in synchronization with the end of the Ten Year Crusade.

21 Apr 1964 The Universal House of Justice launches a Nine Year Plan which was to be completed in 1973, the centenary of Bahá'u'lláh's revelation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdás.

21 Apr 1973 The Universal House of Justice launches a FiveYear Plan.

21 Apr 1979 The Universal House of Justice launches a Seven Year Plan.

21 Apr 1986 The Universal House of Justice launches a SixYear Plan.

21 April 1987 By now, more than 1 million copies of "The Promise of World Peace" had been distributed.

1990: Two Knights of Bahá’u’lláh settle on the island of Sakhalin, the last remaining territory named by Shoghi Effendi in his Ten Year Crusade

21 April 1992 The Holy Year begins, in commemoration of the centenary of the passing of Bahá'u'lláh.

21 Apr 1993 The Universal House of Justice launches a ThreeYear Plan.

21 Apr 1996 The Universal House of Justice launches a FourYear Plan.

21 Apr 1997 National Spiritual Assembly of Rwanda is reformed

21 April 1999 National Spiritual Assemblies formed in Latvia, Lithuania and Macedonia, bringing the total number to 182.

April 21, 2001: Within the Ridván Message for BE 158 (2001), the Universal House of Justice announces the launch of the Five Year Plan that includes an ever progressive expansion of the Faith throughout the world, and expansion of facilities at the Baha'i World Center, including the organization of the Center for the Study of the Sacred Text, and improvements to accommodate greater numbers of pilgrims. Then it calls for the "raising up of National Houses of Worship" and the erection of the Mother Temple of South America in Santiago, Chile.