Stamp of the Day

Topic: Historical Figures & Events

Delving into the people and events that shaped history

Though I've had them for years, it's only in the last year that I started to look at my late father's stamp collection which goes from the late 1800s until around 1960. Here's two first-day covers issued on April 18: a Paul Revere stamp from 1958 and a water conservation stamp issued in 1960. I …

Stamps of the day are a series of stamps commemorating the Louisiana Purchase that were issued starting on April 21, 1904, 100 years after the purchase. First four have pix of Robert Livingstone (namesake of the town near where I grew up in NJ), Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and William McKinley. Monroe and Livingstone negotiated …

There aren't any first day covers for today in my dad's collection (Earth Day, which is today and has been honored in stamps, came after he stopped serious collecting). So I have to be creative for #stampoftheday. Today is the 131st anniversary of the land rush into what is now Oklahoma, which had been set aside …

April 23 is another day without a first day cover so another day of being creative. Today is the 404th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, who finally got a stamp of his own in 1964. I love the fact that in the "official" partially filled Scott stamp album that also was part of …

Today's #stampoftheday is the 5-cent "Toward United Nations" stamp issued on the day that representatives from 46 war-weary nations that had their first meeting (in San Francisco) to discuss what became the United Nations. The stamp's simple design, including its wording were suggested by President Franklin Roosevelt, an avid stamp collector who died about two …

The #stampoftheday for Sunday, April 26, is the 10-cent 1940 stamp honoring Jane Addams was a social reformer who was the co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. She is best known for being the founder of Hull House, which offered social, educational, and cultural opportunities to the large immigrant population of Chicago and …

The #stampoftheday for April 27, is the 1949 3-cent stamp issued to commemorate the 1948 election of Luis Muñoz Marin as the first elected governor of Puerto Rico. Previously, either the King of Spain or the President of the United States appointed the island's governor. (And it wasn't until 1946 that the first Puerto Rican became …

The #stampoftheday for April 28 is 1958's 3-cent stamp marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of James Monroe, fifth President of the United States, who served from 1817-1825. (Happy birthday Jimmy!). Fun fact: when he ran for reelection in 1820, Monroe was unopposed. He received every electoral vote except one, which was cast for …

And now for something completely different! The #stampoftheday for April 29 is 1950's 3-cent stamp commemorating the role of railroad engineers in building America. The stamp pictures folk hero John Luther "Casey" Jones, who was killed in a train wreck near Vaughn, Mississippi. The stamp was issued in Jackson, Mississippi, on the 50th anniversary of …