November 2016

First Intercollegiate Football Game

U.S. #1382 was issued for the 100th anniversary of the game.

On November 6, 1869, Rutgers College and the College of New Jersey (later named Princeton) played the first game of intercollegiate football in America.

The two schools were among the first colleges in America, both established in the mid-1700s, and they shared a bond going back decades. Located just 20 miles apart, Rutgers based its curriculum on that of Princeton’s, and the two schools were nearly merged in 1793.

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Birth of Ida Tarbell

U.S. #3666 from the Women in Journalism issue.

Ida Minerva Tarbell was born on November 5, 1857 in Erie County, Pennsylvania.

Tarbell’s family moved to Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1860, after the town had become a large center for oil production. In the coming years, new oil fields were developed in the area, leading many to find work related to oil. Continue reading →

Happy Birthday Will Rogers 

U.S. #975 was issued on Rogers’ 69th birthday.

William Penn Adair Rogers was born on November 4, 1879, in Oologah, Cherokee Nation (present-day Oklahoma).

Rogers’ parents, Clement Vann Rogers and Mary Schrimsher, were both part Cherokee Indian. Rogers loved cowboys and horses and learned to ride and rope at a young age, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for throwing three lassos at one time.

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Happy Birthday Stephen Austin

U.S. #776 pictures Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, and the Alamo.

Stephen Fuller Austin was born on November 3, 1793, in Wythe County (present-day Austinville), Virginia. When he was four years old, Austin’s father, Moses, moved the family west to Potosi, Missouri, to join a lead-mining site.

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North and South Dakota Admitted to the Union

U.S. #2403 was issued for the centennial of North Dakota’ statehood.

On November 2, 1889, North and South Dakota became our 39^th and 40^th states.

Two American Indian tribes lived in North and South Dakota before the arrival of Europeans – the Arikara and the Cheyenne. North Dakota was also home to the Hidatsa and Mandan. In the beginning of the 1700s, the Sioux moved to South Dakota from Minnesota.

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Opening of Mackinac Bridge 

U.S. #1109 was issued on the day of the bridge’s dedication ceremony.

On November 1, 1957, the Mackinac Bridge opened. It was the largest suspension bridge in the world at the time.

In the 17^th century, the Algonquin people lived near the Straits of Mackinac in an area they called Michilimackinac. Scholars believe this translates to “the Great Turtle,” likely a reference to the shape of Mackinac Island. The Algonquin traded with other tribes on the Straits of Mackinac and the area soon became an important intertribal meeting spot.

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