US #4465-66 pictures a game scene and the league’s founder, Rube Foster.
On May 2, 1920, the first game of the Negro National Baseball League was played in Indianapolis, Indiana.
In the late 1800s, baseball was divided by a color line. A rule known as the “Gentleman’s Agreement” banned black players from white leagues. From behind this color line, a new American pastime was born – Negro Leagues Baseball.
US #2616 was issued for the 1992 World Columbian Stamp Expo. Click image to order.
On May 1, 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition opened in Chicago, Illinois.
Though the 1876 world’s fair in Philadelphia had been a financial failure, American businessmen wanted to try again. Particularly, they wanted to hold a fair marking the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ landing in America. While several cities made a bid to host the expo, Chicago was ultimately selected when banker Lyman Gage raised several million dollars in a 24-hour period, putting him ahead of the competition.
US #854 was issued on the 150th anniversary of Washington’s inauguration.
On April 30, 1789, George Washington was inaugurated as America’s first president.
Earlier in the year, on February 4, 69 members of Congress unanimously voted to elect Washington the first president of the United States. While Washington was initially reluctant to take the position, he eventually agreed to out of a sense of duty.
US #5280 pictures a close-up of a Peace rose. Click image to order.
On April 29, 1945, the Peace rose was made available for sale in the US.
French horticulturist Francis Meilland began developing the Peace rose in 1935, near Lyon, France. He picked the 50 most promising seedlings from his seedbeds and spent the next four years watching how the plants developed.
US #736 pictures the Ark and the Dove on their way to Maryland. Click image to order.
On April 28, 1788, Maryland was the seventh state to ratify the US Constitution, an act that admitted it as America’s seventh state.
Spanish explorers became the first Europeans to reach the Maryland region when they explored the Chesapeake Bay in the 1500s. These explorers found Algonquian tribes, including the Choptank, Nanticoke, Patuxent, Portobago, and Wicomico, as well as some Susquehannock Indians living in the area.
Birth of Samuel Morse
US #890 from the Famous American Inventors set. Click image to order.
Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born on April 27, 1791, in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
Morse attended Yale College where he studied religious philosophy, mathematics, and the science of horses. Morse frequently attended lectures on electricity and supported himself by painting.
