This Day in History

This Day in History… January 28, 2013

Posted on January 28, 2019 by MysticStamp

Global Forever Series 

US #4740 – The first Global Forever stamp.  Click image to order. 

On January 28, 2013, the USPS issued the first stamp in its Global Forever Series.  These stamps are used on international mail.

Up until the mid-to-late 1800s, mail sent to other countries was regulated by a number of different agreements that were binding only to signing members.  Then in 1874, representatives from 22 nations met in Bern, Switzerland to discuss a better system, and to found the General Postal Union (later called the Universal Postal Union).

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This Day in History… January 27, 1945

Posted on January 27, 2019 by MysticStamp

Liberation of Auschwitz

U.S. #2981e from the “1945: Victory at Last” World War II sheet.  Click image to order. 

On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp, marking the beginning of the end of the Holocaust.

The  Nazis targeted European Jews and other ethnic groups, such as Gypsies, Poles, and Slavs, during World War II. Adolf Hitler considered these groups to be genetically inferior to his “Aryan” master race. Removing the Jews was one of the steps in Hitler’s plan for world domination.

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This Day in History… January 26, 1949

Posted on January 26, 2019 by MysticStamp

First Light of the Hale Telescope 

US #966 was issued at the observatory in 1948.  Click image to order. 

On January 26, 1949, the Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory first saw light.

The Hale Telescope and Palomar Observatory were the brainchildren of US astronomer George Ellery Hale.  He had previously overseen the building of 60-inch and 100-inch telescopes at the Mount Wilson Observatory in the early 1900s.  These telescopes helped to vastly increase our understanding of the universe, and also demonstrated Hale’s argument that we needed even larger telescopes.

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This Day in History… January 25, 1819

Posted on January 25, 2019 by MysticStamp

Jefferson’s University of Virginia 

US #1779 pictures the Rotunda, designed by Jefferson to represent the “authority of nature and power of reason.”  Click image to order. 

On January 25, 1819, Thomas Jefferson succeeded in securing a charter for his beloved University of Virginia (UVA).

Jefferson had long wanted to establish a school in Virginia.  He had attended The College of William and Mary but grew unhappy with its religious stances and lack of science courses.

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This Day in History… January 24, 1908

Posted on January 24, 2019 by MysticStamp

History of the Boy Scouts

US #995 was issued on the opening day of the 1950 Boy Scout Jamboree in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.  Click image to order. 

On January 24, 1908, Robert Baden-Powell published the first installment of Scouting for Boys, a pivotal event in the creation of the worldwide Boy Scouts organization.

In the 1880s and 1890s, Lieutenant General of the British Army Robert Baden-Powell was stationed in India and Africa. Much of what he taught his soldiers was based on his fondness of woodcraft and military scouting, which was intended to help them survive in the wilderness. Realizing that the troops needed to be more independent, and not just blindly follow their officer’s orders, Powell wrote, Aids to Scouting.

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This Day in History… January 23, 1986

Posted on January 23, 2019 by MysticStamp

First U.S. Commemorative Booklet

US #2198-2201 – America’s first commemorative booklet.  Click image to order. 

On January 23, 1986, the USPS issued its first commemorative booklet, which honored Stamp Collecting.

The booklet was born out of a friendly relationship between the US and Sweden’s postal departments.  In 1938 and 1948 the US had issued stamps with Swedish themes – the tercentenary of the Swedish-Finnish settlement of Wilmington and the 100th anniversary of Swedish pioneers in the American West.  Then in 1983, the US and Sweden worked together on a joint issue honoring the 200th anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce.

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