Portal:Buddhism/Selected anniversaries

4 January 2007 - Hank Johnson (pictured) takes office as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he is one of the first two Buddhists in American history to serve in the United States Congress
9 January 1957 - Kalmykia becomes an autonomous oblast again; Kalmykia is the only state in Europe where the dominant religion is Buddhism
29 January 1921 - Birth of Myokyo-ni, born Irmgard Schloegl, she was a Rinzai Zen Buddhist nun and head of the Zen Centre in London

5 February 1956 - Expatriate Vietnamese Buddhist nun Chan Khong (pictured) ordained as one of the first six members of the Order of Interbeing
11 February 1900 - Birth of Josei Toda, second president of Sōka Gakkai, from 1951 to 1958
16 February 1222 - Birth of Nichiren, a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) in Japan
28 February 2003 - Thai Buddhist nun Dhammananda Bhikkhuni received full bhikkhuni (nun) ordination in Sri Lanka

5 March 1938 - Japanese Buddhist lay movement Risshō Kōsei Kai established by Nikkyo Niwano and Myoko Naganuma
21 March 2001 - Buddhas of Bamyan destroyed by the Taliban on orders of Mullah Mohammed Omar
24 March 1951 - Italian Buddhist missionary Lokanatha hoists Buddhist flag (pictured) for the first time in Burma
26 March 1979 - Founder of Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero is ordained at age 17

1 April 1927 - Predecessor to Youngsan Won Buddhist University founded as Youngsan Hagwon
11 April 1954 - Lee Choon Seng officiates opening of Poh Ern Shih Temple
20 April 1959 - Dalai Lama (pictured) on the cover of Time
28 April 1253 - Nichiren expounded Nam(u) Myōhō Renge Kyō for the first time

2 May 1958 - Xa Loi Pagoda opened by Thich Khanh Anh
8 May 1963 - Buddhist crisis precipitated by the shootings of nine unarmed civilians in the central city of Hue who were protesting a ban of the Buddhist flag
Burmese Buddhist monk and meditation master Mahasi Sayadaw (pictured) serves as a questioner and final editor at the Sixth Buddhist Council
27 May 2007 - Tens of thousands of Dalit Buddhists from Maharashtra gathered at the Mahalakshmi racecourse in Mumbai to mark the 50th anniversary of the conversion of Ambedkar

2 June 1987 - Aranthalawa Massacre, massacre of 31 Buddhist monks and four civilians by cadres of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
10 June 2003 - Death of master of Tibetan Buddhism, Lopon Tsechu
13 June 1994 - Death of Anne Hopkins Aitken (pictured), influential in Zen Buddhism
16 June 1963 - Agreement reached between South Vietnamese government of Ngô Đình Diệm and the Buddhist leadership of the country, resulting in Joint Communiqué

5 July 2008 - Death of Vietnamese Buddhist monk, dissident and activist Huyền Quang
17 July 1948 - Birth of James Ishmael Ford (pictured), American Zen Buddhist priest and Unitarian Universalist minister
18-20 July 2007 - Conference of Buddhist scholars, International Congress on Buddhist Women's Role in the Sangha
21 July 2004 - World Buddhist Scout Brotherhood declared active with the election of its chairman

8 August 1988 - Beginning of national revolution in Burma (Myanmar) demanding democracy (anniversary observance pictured), referred to as 8888 Uprising
28 August 2001 - Death of John David Provoo, sergeant in the United States Army later ordained as a Buddhist priest
21 August 1963 - Xá Lợi Pagoda raids, series of synchronised attacks on the Buddhist pagodas in South Vietnam
31 August 2006 - Death of Sri Lankan-born Buddhist monk and scholar K. Sri Dhammananda

3 September 2005 - Institute for Siddha Research was inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in honor of Iyothee Thass
18 September 2007 - Thousands of Buddhist monks lead anti-government protests (pictured) in Burma
21 September 1860 - Death of Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher who engaged in thought about Four Noble Truths of Buddhism
22 September 1985 - Chinese Buddhist monk Hsing Yun announces abdication from position as the abbot of Fo Guang Shan

8 October 1282 – Nikkō becomes one of six senior priests designated by Nichiren to carry on his faith after his passing
11 October 1992 – Soen Sa Nim in the Kwan Um School of Zen and the designated heir of Seung Sahn's lineage, Su Bong (pictured at left), received Dharma transmission
14 October 1956 – Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was converted to Buddhism along with thousands of his followers at Deekshabhoomi
22 October 1935 – Oblast of Kalmykia elevated to republic status, Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic

3 November 1947 - Birth of Mazie Hirono, along with Hank Johnson she is the first Buddhist to serve in the United States Congress
4 November 1920 - Resolution was passed by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee regarding Kalmykia, proclaiming the formation of the Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast
15 November 1887 - Korea Sŏn master, and the 75th Patriarch of Korean Sŏn Kyong Ho attained enlightenment
26 November 1988 - Completion of Hsi Lai Temple (pictured) in Hacienda Heights, California, USA

8 December 1970 - Shohaku Okumura, Japanese Soto Zen priest and the founder and guiding teacher of the Sanshin Zen Community (Sanshinji) located in Bloomington, Indiana, ordained as a monk at Antaiji by his teacher Kosho Uchiyama
19 December 1922 - Birth of Nikken Abe, 67th high priest of Nichiren Shoshu, a major school of Nichiren Buddhism, and chief priest of its head temple Taisekiji in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka, Japan
20 December 1962 - Stone pagodas, Dabotap and Seokgatap at Bulguksa (pictured), designated national treasures of Korea
29 December 2007 - Death of Kyudo Nakagawa, a Japanese-born Rinzai roshi who for many years led Soho Zen Buddhist Association in Manhattan's Lower East Side

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