The Bahá'í calendar, also called the Badí‘ calendar (badí‘ means wondrous or unique ), used by Bábism and the Bahá'í Faith, is a solar calendar with regular years of 365 days, and leap years of 366 days. Years are composed of 19 months of 19 days each, (361 days) plus an extra period of "Intercalary Days" (4 in regular and 5 in leap years). Years in the calendar begin at the vernal equinox, and are counted with the date notation of BE (Bahá'í Era), with 21 March 1844 CE being the first day of the first year. The period from 21 March 2012 to 20 March 2013 is the year 169 BE. At present, the Bahá'í calendar is synchronized to the Gregorian calendar, meaning that the extra day of a leap year occurs simultaneously in both calendars. Note: The Badi calendar was implemented during the Bábí faith and then adapted in the Bahá'í Faith.

The early version of the calendar begun to be implemented during the ministry of the Báb and his appointed successor Subh-i-Azal depended on the Báb's Persian Bayan and other works. It used a scheme of 19 months of 19 days (19x19) for a 361 day calendar and intercalary days assigned differently than the Baha'i implementation later. There is also a cycle of 19 years. William Miller's polemical work against the Bahá'í Faith claims that the date the calendar was to begin was 1850 CE though most sources agree the date was with the Declaration of the Bab to Mullá Husayn, May 23, 1844 CE. The beginning of the calendar year was with Nowruz. The calendar contains symbolic connections to prophecies of the Báb about the next Manifestation of God termed He whom God shall make manifest.

The Bahá'í Faith ( /bəˈhaɪ/) is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories.

In the Bahá'í Faith, religious history is seen to have unfolded through a series of divine messengers, each of whom established a religion that was suited to the needs of the time and the capacity of the people. These messengers have included Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad - as well as figures from extra-Abrahamic traditions such as Zoroaster, Krishna, and the Buddha. For Baha'is, the most recent messengers are the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. In Bahá'í belief, each consecutive messenger prophesied of messengers to follow, and Bahá'u'lláh's life and teachings fulfilled the end-time promises of previous scriptures. Humanity is understood to be in a process of collective evolution, and the need of the present time is for the gradual establishment of peace, justice and unity on a global scale.

Empress Liu E (劉娥) (died 314), courtesy name Lihua (麗華), formally Empress Wuxuan (武宣皇后, literally "the martial and responsible empress") was an empress of the Chinese/Xiongnu state Han Zhao. She was Liu Cong (Emperor Zhaowu)'s third wife.

Liu E was the daughter of one of Liu Cong's honored officials, Liu Yin (劉殷), who was described as someone who was willing to point out Liu Cong's faults, but only doing so in private, thus earning the temperamental and impulsive emperor's respect. She was initially taken as a concubine by him in 312, along with her sister Liu Ying (劉英) and four of her nieces. This move was opposed by Liu Cong's brother and crown prince Liu Ai (劉乂), who argued it would be a violation of the prohibition against endogamy. Liu Cong, however, rationalized the move in that Liu Yin was ethnically Han, while he himself was ethnically Xiongnu, and therefore were not of the same ancestor.

Liu E and her sister Liu Ying were both favored by Liu Cong. Initially, in 312, Liu Cong wanted to create Liu Ying empress to replace Empress Huyan, who died earlier that year, but at his mother Empress Dowager Zhang's insistence, he created another concubine, Zhang Huiguang empress instead. Liu Ying died soon thereafter.

Liu E (simplified Chinese: 刘鹗; traditional Chinese: 劉鶚; pinyin: Liú È, 18 October 1857 — 23 August 1909), courtesy name/"zì": "Tieyun" (T'ieh-yün) (鐵雲), was a Chinese scholar, entrepreneur, and writer of the late Qing era.

Liu was a native of Dantu (modern day Zhenjiang). In the government he worked with flood control, famine relief, and railroads. He became disillusioned with official ideas of reform and became a proponent of private economic development modeled after western systems. During the Boxer Uprising he speculated in government rice, distributing it to the poor. He was cashiered for these efforts, but shrewd investments had left him wealthy enough to follow his pioneering archaeological studies and to write fiction.

He collected five thousand oracle bone fragments, published the first volume of examples and rubbings in 1903, and correctly identified thirty-four oracle bone script characters.

One of Liu's best known works is The Travels of Lao Can.

Liu was framed for malfeasance related to his work during the Boxer Rebellion and was exiled in 1908, dying within the next year in Ürümqi, Xinjiang.