diff --git a/.editorconfig b/.editorconfig
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4a8ee11f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.editorconfig
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# EditorConfig: http://EditorConfig.org
+root = true
+
+[*]
+end_of_line = lf
+insert_final_newline = true
+trim_trailing_whitespace = true
+charset = utf-8
+indent_style = space
+indent_size = 2
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index bb763e1f9..b38e3e71f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 raw
 *.sw?
 .DS_Store
+.idea
 node_modules
 bower_components
diff --git a/backbone.js b/backbone.js
index 55ccb22bd..8ee889ce4 100644
--- a/backbone.js
+++ b/backbone.js
@@ -157,6 +157,17 @@
     return events;
   };
 
+  // An overridable callback to allow event objects to know when something starts
+  // listening to it when previously it had no listeners. Useful for knowing this
+  // object needs to start listening to something else.
+  // (which might be expensive to run all the time)
+  Events.onFirstListener = function() {};
+
+  // An overridable callback to allow event objects to know when the last listener
+  // stops listening to it. Useful to know this object can stop listening to it's
+  // sources.
+  Events.onNoListeners = function() {};
+
   // Bind an event to a `callback` function. Passing `"all"` will bind
   // the callback to all events fired.
   Events.on = function(name, callback, context) {
@@ -165,6 +176,10 @@
 
   // Guard the `listening` argument from the public API.
   var internalOn = function(obj, name, callback, context, listening) {
+    if (!obj._events || _.isEmpty(obj._events)) {
+      obj.onFirstListener();
+    }
+
     obj._events = eventsApi(onApi, obj._events || {}, name, callback, {
       context: context,
       ctx: obj,
@@ -222,6 +237,11 @@
       context: context,
       listeners: this._listeners
     });
+
+    if (!this._events || _.isEmpty(this._events)) {
+      this.onNoListeners();
+    }
+
     return this;
   };
 
diff --git a/test/events.js b/test/events.js
index 544b39a19..772397ebf 100644
--- a/test/events.js
+++ b/test/events.js
@@ -703,4 +703,44 @@
     two.trigger('y', 2);
   });
 
+  QUnit.test('onFirstListener & onNoListeners are triggered', function(assert) {
+    assert.expect(6);
+    var first = 1;
+    var none = 1;
+
+    var expectedFirsts = 0;
+    var expectedNones = 0;
+
+    var obj = _.extend({}, Backbone.Events, {
+      onFirstListener: function() { assert.ok(first++ === expectedFirsts); },
+      onNoListeners: function() { assert.ok(none++ === expectedNones); }
+    });
+    var obj2 = _.extend({}, Backbone.Events, {
+      onFirstListener: function() { assert.ok(false, 'Should not have been called'); },
+      onNoListeners: function() { assert.ok(false, 'Should not have been called'); }
+    });
+    var fn = function() {};
+
+    expectedFirsts = 1;
+    obj.on('a', fn); // expects a call to onFirstListener
+    obj.on('b', fn);
+
+    obj.off('a', fn); // no call
+    expectedNones = 1;
+    obj.off('b', fn); // expects a call to onNoListeners
+
+    expectedFirsts = 2;
+    obj2.listenTo(obj, 'a', fn);
+    obj2.listenTo(obj, 'b', fn);
+
+    obj2.stopListening(obj, 'a', fn);
+    expectedNones = 2;
+    obj2.stopListening(obj, 'b', fn);
+
+    expectedFirsts = 3;
+    obj2.listenToOnce(obj, 'a', fn);
+    expectedNones = 3;
+    obj.trigger('a');
+  })
+
 })();