USPS Voice of America

USPS in 1967 issued a first day cover stamp of the Voice of America (VOA). Shown on the envelope is a cachet of a VOA control studio, along with a block set of VOA stamps, postmarked Washington D.C.

In 1939, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission established a new policy stating that “A licensee of an international broadcast station shall render only an international broadcast service which will reflect the culture of this country and which will promote international goodwill, understanding, and cooperation.”  This was intended as part of the State Department’s Good Neighbor policy.

Before the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Office of the Coordinator of Information was already giving war news to commercial shortwave radio stations.  This information was provided by playwright and speechwriter Robert E. Sherwood through the Foreign Information Service (FIS).  Then a week after the US entered the war in December 1941, the FIS began delivering its own broadcasts.

Subsequently, the FIS recognised a need to establish a permanent organisation and founded the Voice of America on 1 February 1942. On that day they delivered their first broadcast to Germany.  The initial broadcast opened with “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and was followed by a pledge: “Today, and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about the war… The news may be good or bad for us – We will always tell you the truth.”  President Franklin Roosevelt personally approved the broadcast.

Later in 1942, the Office of War Information took over the Voice of America’s operations.  They also came to an agreement with the British Broadcasting Corporation to share transmitters in Britain.  And as the Allies succeeded in North Africa, Italy, and the Philippines, they established transmitters there as well.  By the time the war ended, they had 39 transmitters offering service in 40 languages.  They offered over 1,000 programmes, broadcast from their offices in New York and San Francisco.  These programmes included news, music, and commentary.

About half of VOA’s services were discontinued in 1945 before they were transferred to the Department of State. Two years later, they began broadcasting to the Soviet Union to counter their propaganda.  In the coming years, VOA installed a relay facility on a U.S. Coast Guard cutter.  It was supposed to be the first in a fleet of mobile broadcasting ships, but some accused them of being pirate radio ships and the project was abandoned.

In the 1960s and 1970s, VOA carried some of the most important news of the day overseas, including Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have a Dream Speech” and the moon landing.  In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded VOA their charter with the mission “to broadcast accurate, balanced, and comprehensive news and information to an international audience.”

The Voice of America is still in operation today as part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media.  They provides digital, TV, and radio content in more than 40 languages transmitted around the globe.

USPS 100th Birth Anniversary of Jim Thorpe

 

USPS in 1984 issued a first day cover stamp to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Jim Thorpe. The 20 cent FDC stamp was released with a postmark from Shawnee, Oklahoma. He was again honoured in a 32 cent stamp in 1998. Shown here is the 1984 issue in a block set.

James Francis Thorpe (Wa-Tho-Huk) was declared by the Associated Press in 1950, “the greatest athlete of the first half of the (20th) century.” Thorpe who was born in 1888 (possibly 1887), grew up in Oklahoma. Born to an Irish father and Sac and Fox Indian mother, Thorpe was raised as a Native American. His name was Wa-Tho-Huk, which means “path lit by great flash of lightning” or “Bright Path.” He was named for light that brightened the path to the cabin where he was born.

Later, at the Haskell Institute and Carlisle Indian School, he excelled in football and track, becoming a football superstar, professional baseball player, and one of the greatest track and field stars of all time. At the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, Thorpe became the first athlete to win both the pentathlon and the decathlon. Today, in the wake of his leadership, the North American Indigenous Games (“the Indian Olympics”) bi-annually convenes outstanding Native athletes from states and provinces of the U.S. and Canada.

Thorpe’s fame helped to establish football as a popular sport. In 1920 he became the National Football League’s first commissioner. When his athletic career came to an end, Thorpe struggled to support his family. He held a variety of jobs in his later years, including movie extra, construction worker, bouncer, security guard, ditch digger, and merchant marine. 

In 1950 he was admitted to hospital for lip cancer.  He passed away three years later on 28 March 1953.

Deutsches Reich Post Card and Stamps of the IX Olympiad

DEUTSCHES REICH in 1936 issued postal card and stamps marking the XI Olympics. Eight stamps were issued in the Third Reich on 9 May 1936 to publicise  the Summer Olympic Games, which were held in Berlin from 1 though 16 August. Four of those stamps (javelin throwing, torch runner, sculling, soccer), shown here are postmarked Berlin, 7 August 1936. 

Interestingly, both Summer and Winter Olympics were held in Germany that year. Commemorative stamps for the Winter events were also issued.

 

On a side note, American sprinter Jesse Owens won four gold medals in this Olympiad. Over the years a story -- a mistaken one -- evolved that Chancellor Adolf  Hitler deliberately avoided acknowledging his victories and refused to shake his hand. However, Jesse Owens reportedly recounted: "When I passed the Chancellor, he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back at him ..." He also reportedly stated: "Hitler didn't snub me — it was FDR who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram." Some speculate because it was an election year, FDR didn't want to give the impression he was 'soft' on race relations.

On the whole Hitler was criticised for his reluctance to congratulate non-German winners, and the Olympic committee officials insisted that he greet each and every medalist, or none at all. Consequently Hitler did not attend any of the medal presentations which followed, including those after Jesse Owens won his four medals.

Almost forgotten is fellow American sprinter Ralph Metcalfe who jointly held the world record in the 100-meter dash and placed second in that event in two Olympics, first to Eddie Tolan in 1932 at Los Angeles and then to Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Metcalfe won four Olympic medals and was regarded as the world's fastest human in 1934 and 1935. He later went into politics in the city of Chicago and served in the United States Congress for four terms in the 1970s as a Democrat from Illinois.

One German athlete who Hitler and the Nazis did in fact "snub" was Gretel Bergmann who was the German national record holder in the high jump. She was excluded from the German team because she was Jewish.

American sprinters Sam Stoller and Marty Glickman, the only two Jews on the U.S. Olympic team, were pulled from the 4 × 100 relay team on the day of the competition. It was speculated at the time that the U.S. Olympic Committee chairman (Avery Brundage) did not want to add to the embarrassment of Hitler, by having two Jews win gold medals. Ironically, as it turns out, Owens and Metcalfe replaced them for the 4 x 100 relay.

 

 

The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Three stamps were issued for this Olympiad.

 

 

 

Österreichische Post International Richard Wagner Congress

ÖSTERREICHISCHE POST in 1986 issued a first day cover stamp to commemorate the International Richard Wagner Congress held in Vienna that year. The stamp depicts Richard Wagner and a scene from one of his opera's, "Lohengrin".

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813-83) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor primarily known for his operas. His compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their complex textures, rich harmonies and orchestration, and the elaborate use of leitmotifs—musical phrases associated with individual characters, places, ideas or plot elements. His advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music; his "Tristan und Isolde" is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music.

Until his final years, Wagner's life was characterised by political exile, turbulent love affairs, poverty and repeated flight from his creditors. His controversial writings on music, drama and politics (including the Nazi Party's adoration of him) have attracted extensive comment, in particular his antisemitic sentiments.

As controversial as Wagner was and remains,  one cannot discount the effect his ideas have had in the arts throughout the 20th century; his influence spread beyond composition into conducting, philosophy, literature, the visual arts and theatre.

 

Source:Wikipedia

USPS 100th Birth Anniversary of Will Rogers

USPS in 1979 issued a first day cover stamp marking the 100th birth anniversary of Will Rogers. It was postmarked in Claremore, Oklahoma -- near his birthplace Oologah.

He was previously honoured on a three-cent stamp in 1948. The stamp memorialised one of his famous lines that sums up his approach to life: “I never met a man I didn’t like.”

William Penn Adair Rogers (1879 – 1935) was an American stage and film actor, vaudeville performer, cowboy, humorist, newspaper columnist, and social commentator from Oklahoma. He was a Cherokee citizen born in the Cherokee Nation, Oologah, Indian Territory. 

 

Raised on the family ranch in Oklahoma, Rogers was skillful at contest roping, popular in Wild West shows and vaudeville as a trick roper. Later in his life, the multi-talented Rogers wrote books and newspaper columns and appeared in movies and on the radio. As an entertainer and humorist, he traveled around the world three times, made 71 films (50 silent films and 21 "talkies"), and wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns.

In 1935, Will Rogers and aviation pioneer Wiley Post died when Post's aircraft crashed on takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow in the Territory of Alaska.

Taiwan Post Ancient Chinese Painting "Peacocks"

TAIWAN POST (Chunghwa Post) in 1991 issued a stamp book containing the ancient Chinese painting "Peacocks" by Lang Shin-ning (Giuseppe Castiglione 1688-1766). The book contains one first day cover envelope and stamp, two mint stamps and souvenir sheet. The book includes four additional paintings by  Castiglione and explanation of each work.

The painting is in the National Palace Museum collection (Taiwan). It is rendered in ink and color on silk hanging scroll, 282 cm. wide and 328 cm. long. This painting depicts two peacocks in a garden. One is standing under a flower and spreading its tail feathers while the other is walking and looking back. The rocks in the garden are pretty and magnolia, peony, rose and cherry-apple are all in bloom.

Giuseppe Castiglione, born in Milan, Italy, entered the Jesuit order at the age of 19, studied under Br. Andrea Pozzo, SJ, came to China in 1715, and was appointed court painter at the Imperial Palace in Beijing. He served in this position under three emperors, painting under the Chinese name Lang Shih-ning.

He became a key figure in the artistic revival of the time, introducing Chinese painters to perspective, three-dimensionality and other western techniques. Combining typical Chinese material with western technique, he was particularly known for portraits and animals, especially horses. 

Castiglione's paintings have over the years been featured on almost 40 stamps, and one stamp is dedicated to the Old Summer Palace at Beijing which he also designed.

Luxembourg Post Tokyo Olympics 2020

 LUXEMBOURG POST in 2021 issued a first day cover stamp marking the 2020 Summer Olympics. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the event was postponed in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will not allow international spectators. Despite being rescheduled for 2021, the event retains the 2020 name for marketing and branding purposes. This is the first time that the Olympic Games have been postponed and rescheduled, rather than cancelled.

Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 7 September 2013. The 2020 Games will mark the second time that Tokyo has hosted the Summer Olympic Games, the first being in 1964, making this the first city in Asia to host the Summer Games twice. Overall, these will be the fourth Olympic Games to be held in Japan, which also hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972 (Sapporo) and 1998 (Nagano). The 2020 Games will also be the second of three consecutive Olympics to be held in East Asia, the first being in Pyeongchang County, South Korea in 2018, and the next in Beijing, China in 2022.

The 2020 Games will see the introduction of new competitions, including 3×3 basketball, freestyle BMX, and madison cycling, as well as further mixed events. Under new IOC policies, which allow the host organizing committee to add new sports to the Olympic program to augment the permanent core events, these Games will see karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding make their Olympic debuts, as well as the return of baseball and softball for the first time since 2008.

Since the nation’s official debut in 1900, Luxembourg athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the sparsely attended 1904 and 1908 Summer Olympics, and the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles at the period of the worldwide Great Depression.

USPS "Patriotic Star"

USPS in 2013 issued a first day cover stamp called the "Patriotic Star". This 46-cent stamp was first issued in San Francisco, California. 10,000 stamps were printed. Here it is affixed to a maxi card using the same design.

With the "Patriotic Star" stamp issuance, the USPS featured one of the nation’s quintessential symbols. The red, white, and blue star, designed to look like it is crafted from striped ribbon, is actually two stars — a smaller one inside a larger one — on a white background. Both stars have five points, like the stars on the American flag. Nancy Stahl designed the stamp and Greg Breeding was the art director.

Swiss Post St. Gotthard

SWISS POST in 1980 issued a first day cover stamp depicting road signs and traffic lights at St. Gotthard, This maxi card features an FDC stamp  and postmark affixed to an Alpine panorama.

 

USPS "Legends of the West" - Chief Joseph

USPS in 1994 issued a series of first day cover stamps called "Legends of the West".  Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce was among those featured on these 29 cent stamps. Shown here is the postal maxi card. It was the second time the USPS Chief Joseph had honoured on its stamps, the first time being in 1968 as a six cent stamp.

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce was born around 1840, the son of a chief.  Joseph’s father was a Christian, and Joseph attended a mission school.  In 1871, when his father died he in turn became chief.

Chief Joseph led his people on a 15-week, more than 1,000-mile fighting retreat that ended only 40 miles from the safety of the Canadian border, where he had hoped to join Sioux Indians who had fled the United States.

Outnumbered 10-to-1, the Nez Perce repeatedly outmaneuvered the U.S. Army and actually gained the upper hand in several clashes.  By the time Chief Joseph had surrendered on October 5, 1877, he was famous throughout America as “the Red Napoleon.”  General William Sherman, who was very unsympathetic to the Nez Perce, praised their tactics, stating they “fought with almost scientific skill, using advance and rear guards, skirmish lines, and field fortifications.”

Chief Joseph, whose Indian name means “Thunder-traveling-to-loftier-heights,” ended the Nez Perce War by saying, "It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death.  My heart is sick and sad.  From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.”

The fighting began in 1877, when the U.S. government ordered the Nez Perce to move to an undesirable reservation far from their traditional home in Oregon’s Wallowa Valley. After the surrender, the Nez Perce were promised they could again return to their tribal land. And although some eventually did, Chief Joseph never again saw the land of his birth.

Before his death in 1904, Chief Joseph personally spoke to President William McKinley on behalf of his people.

 

La Poste France 300th Death Anniversary of Cardinal de Richelieu

LA POSTE FRANCE in 1974 issued a first day cover stamp marking the 300th death anniversary of Cardinal de Richelieu (1602-1674). The stamp was designed by Philippe de Champaigne and printed with a vignette "ARPHILA 1975" which was not part of the stamp but which was included with the imperforate stamp.

Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu, own as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as l'Éminence rouge, or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the title "Eminence" applied to cardinals, and the red robes they customarily wore.

Richelieu sought to consolidate royal power and by restraining the power of the nobility, he transformed France into a strong, centralised state. In foreign policy, his primary objective was to check the power of the Hapsburg dynasty in Spain and Austria, and ensure French dominance in the Thirty Years' War that engulfed Europe. Despite suppressing French Protestants, he did not hesitate to make alliances with Protestant states like the Kingdom of England and the Dutch Republic to achieve his goals. Though he was a powerful political figure, events such as the Day of the Dupes, or Journée des Dupes, show this power was still dependent on the king's confidence.

An alumnus of the University of Paris and headmaster of the College of Sorbonne, he renovated and extended the institution. He was famous for his patronage of the arts, and founded the Académie Française, the learned society responsible for matters pertaining to the French language. As an advocate for Samuel de Champlain and New France, he founded the Compagnie des Cent-Associés; he also negotiated the 1632 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, under which Quebec City returned to French rule after its loss in 1629.

Source: Wikipedia
 

Isle of Man Post Celebrates 100 Years of General Relativity

ISLE OF MAN in 2016 issued six first day cover stamps marking the 100 anniversary of Professor Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and the work of theoretical physicist Professor Stephen Hawking.

Each stamp features a rare iridescent foil printing technique on the words 'Isle' and 'Man' and Her Majesty the Queen's portrait along with warm earthy colours to create a scientific and atmospheric look and feel to the collection. The insightful issue text explains the scientifically accurate diagrams featured on each of the stamps and was prepared by Cambridge university experts and Professor Hawking.

 Stephen Hawking endorsed the stamps, saying: "I am honoured to have both my face and life's work featured alongside Albert Einstein and the commemoration of 100 years since the publication of his theory of general relativity."

The first stamp features Professor Albert Einstein, whose equation E=Mc2 has become perhaps the best known equation in physics. It expresses the equivalence between mass and energy that is predicted by the special theory of relativity.

The second stamp features Professor Stephen Hawking and his equation S=A,/4. This equation expresses the entropy of a black hole in terms of the surface area of its event horizon. The meaning of the entropy of a black hole is that it expresses the number of ways in which a black hole could be formed given that all we can see from the outside is its event horizon.

The third stamp features an illustration of the generation of gravitational waves produced by two colliding black holes. LIG0, or Laser lnterGrometer Gravitational-Maze Observatory recently made the very first direct detection of gravitational waves.

The fourth stamp features an illustration of Hawking Radiation. This is radiation that is produced by black ho1es. Until Hawking's work, it was thought that black holes absorbed absolutely ever thing and that nothing could escape from them. Hawking showed that black holes emit thermal radiation much as a lump of hot metal will glow when heated.

The fifth  stamp features an illustration of two black holes colliding. The trousers diagram shows the event horizons of each of the two black holes being surrounded by a new event horizon when the black holes collide and merge.

The sixth stamp features an illustration of a black ho1e. Spacetime outside the black hole is bent so as to form a bottomless pit into which the matter can fall and never escape. It is rather like an astronomical version of the pitcher plant: a carnivorous plant that insects can fall into and never escape.

Source: Isle of Man Post

La Poste France "La Communication"

LA POSTE FRANCE in 1988 issued a series of first day cover stamps called "La Communication". Twelve illustrated stamps depicting types of communication in a light-hearted manner were printed. Shown here are two of those FDC stamps affixed to a maxi card of the same design.

 

 

La Poste France 50th Anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's Transatlantic Flight

LA POSTE FRANCE in 1977 issued a first day cover stamp marking the 50th Anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's Transatlantic Flight.

 

On 21 May 1927, Charles Augustus Lindbergh landed his Ryan single-engine monoplane,  "Spirit of St. Louis", on the ground at Aérodrome de Le Bourget in Paris, France, completing the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. He had begun his journey 33 hours, 30 minutes and 29.8 seconds before — lifting his aircraft from the muddy runway of Roosevelt Airfield in Garden City, New York, at 7:52 AM local time on on 20 May. He was greeted by a crowd of more than 150,000 people who stormed the field, dragged Lindbergh out of the cockpit, and carried him around on their shoulders, shouting “Vive!” His life would never be the same.

USPS Classic American Aircraft -- Boeing 314 Clipper

USPS in 2013 issued a series of classic American aircraft stamps, among these being the first day cover stamp of the Boeing 314 Clipper which was  flown by Pan American Airlines. This first day cover cancellation  is postmarked Honolulu

Pan Am got its start in 1927, flying mail between Key West, Florida and Havana, Cuba. By 1936, the company,was ready to develop its transoceanic service. Boeing was recruited to build a comfortable 74-passenger airplane with a range of 3,500 miles – a monumental request. Although Boeing considered declining the offer, instead it took the XB-15 high-wing – predecessor of the Flying Fortress – and added a luxurious double-decker hull. In order to lift the craft, crew, and payload, it installed four of the most powerful engines available – Wright Twin Cyclone 14-cylinder engines.

The six glamorous 314 Clippers that began service in 1939 flew only a few short years, but garnered many firsts. Not only did they fly the first transpacific flight in 1936, but also the first transatlantic flight in 1939, and the first round-the-world flight in 1947.

Österreichische Post 300th Anniversary of the Battle of Vienna

 

ÖSTERREICHISCHE POST in 1983 issued a first day cover stamp to mark the 300th anniversary of the The Battle of Vienna.

The Battle of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 12 September 1683 after the imperial city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. 

The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire led by the Habsburg Monarchy and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, both under the command of King John III Sobieski, against the Ottomans and their vassal and tributary states. The battle marked the first time the Commonwealth and the Holy Roman Empire had cooperated militarily against the Ottomans, and it is often seen as a turning point in history,after which Ottoman imperialism and expansion ceased to be a menace in Europe. 

In the ensuing war that lasted until 1699, the Ottomans lost almost all of Hungary to the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I.

Source: Wikipedia

Poste Tunisie Al-Quds - "The Capital of Palestine"

TUNISIA POST in 2019 issued a commemorative stamp, in Arabic, entitled "Al Quds – The Capital of Palestine".

The issuance of the new postage stamp came to stress "Tunisia's firm stance in supporting the Palestinian cause and international efforts to reach a just and comprehensive peace which would end the Israeli occupation and enable the establishment of an independent Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital.

The decision of the Arab League to adopt Jerusalem as the permanent capital of Arab heritage is one of the forms of intellectual and moral confrontation as well as peaceful resistance against the Israeli occupation.

Shown here is the official Al Quds maxi card with first day cover stamp on the reverse side.

San Marino Post 100 Anniversary Invention of Radio by Guglielmo Marconi

SAN MARINO POST in 1995 issued a first day cover stamp marking the 100 anniversary  of the invention of radio by Guglielmo Marconi. This 850 Lira stamp was jointly released not only in San Marino, but also Germany, Ireland and Italy in the same year.  

One of the reasons why Marconi gets the credit for being 'the first' to invent radio (not Alexander Stepanovich Popov and Jagadish Chandra Bose) is that he much more savvy about intellectual property. One of the best ways to preserve your place in history is to secure patents and publish your research findings in a timely way. Popov did neither. He never pursued a patent for his lightning detector, and there is no official record of his 7 May 1895 demonstration. He eventually abandoned radio to turn his attention to the newly discovered Röntgen waves, also known as X-rays.

 

Additionally, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose like Popov did not file a patent. In fact, Marconi and he met about the time Marconi demonstrated and patented his radio. Professor Bose however is recognised as the inventor of semiconductors and microwave technology.

Marconi, on the other hand, filed for a British patent on 2 June 1896, which became the first application for a patent in radiotelegraphy. He quickly raised capital to commercialise his system, built up a vast industrial enterprise, and went on to be known — outside of Russia — as the inventor of radio.

Correos de Espana Caliphate City Of Medina Azahara

CORREOS DE ESPANA in 2018 issued a first day cover stamp honouring the Caliphate City Of Medina Azahara.  This architectural jewel, which was hidden for an entire millennium, was included in the prestigious World Heritage list, making Cordoba the only city in the world with four World Heritage declarations and Spain the country with the third highest number of distinctions after China and Italy.

The mini sheet dedicated to this magical city features one of its best preserved buildings, which has the famous semicircular arches frequently found in its architecture. The stamp shows the detail of one of the arches, with a background of blue sky, and is perforated with the same arched shape.

Despite the fleeting nature of its existence, disappearing during the Al-Andalus wars just 70 years after its creation, the city of Medina Azahara certainly shone, as its name suggest.

Abderramán III wanted a city that truly reflected the grandeur of the Umayyad dynasty. This is why in 936 he ordered the city to be founded at the foot of the Sierra Morena, opposite Guadalquivir Valley. More than 10,000 people took part in building it.

Medina Azahara became the greatest architectural example of the Umayyad dynasty, and in fact many specialists refer to it as a private Versailles because of its red columns and its finely engraved spires encrusted with gold and precious stones.

Covering an area of more than 112 hectares, the city was built in tiers to take full advantage of the orography of the place. With its own mosque, recreation and relaxation areas, and residential zones, there were also other areas that had a more official function.

Legends and stories about the city still abound a thousand years on, the most well known of which says that the city was constructed because of the love for a woman called Azahara.

Post PNG Traditional Headdresses of Papua New Guinea Tribes

POST PNG (Papua New Guinea) in 1978 issued a series of first day cover stamps that depict the traditional headdresses found amongst the various tribes in Papua New Guinea. Shown here are three FDCs with a total of twelve stamps, postmarked Port Moresby, 1978.

Morocco Post Medieval Scholars of the Maghreb

MOROCCO POST (Royaume du Maroc) in  1963 issued a series of three stamps honouring Medieval Scholars of the Maghreb or Berber world in northwest Africa. The subjects of three twenty centime stamps were geographer Al-Idrissi, explorer Ibn Battuta and historian and sociologist Ibn Khaldoun. Shown here are mint and unmounted block issues of each scholar.

Ibn Battuta (1304-1368/1369) was a Muslim Moroccan scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in Afro-Eurasia, largely in the lands of Dar al-Islam, travelling more than any other explorer in pre-modern history, totalling around 117,000 km (72,000 miles), surpassing Zheng He with about 50,000 km (30,000 miles) and Marco Polo with 24,000 km (15,000 miles). Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of southern Eurasia, including Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, China and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, he dictated an account of his journeys, titled A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling, but commonly known as The Rihla.

Ibn Khaldun or Abū Zayd ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Khaldūn al-Ḥaḍramī (1332-1406) was an Arab sociologist, philosopher and historian who has been described as the precursive founder of the proto-disciplines that would become historiography, sociology, economics, and demography. Niccolò Machiavelli of the Renaissance, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and 19th-century European scholars widely acknowledged the significance of his works and considered Ibn Khaldun to be one of the greatest philosophers of the Middle Ages.

His best-known book, the Muqaddimah or Prolegomena ("Introduction"), which he wrote in six months as he states in his autobiography, influenced 17th-century Ottoman historians like Kâtip Çelebi, Ahmed Cevdet Pasha and Mustafa Naima, who used its theories to analyze the growth and decline of the Ottoman Empire. Ibn Khaldun interacted with Tamerlane, the founder of the Timurid Empire.

Al-Idrisi or Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani as-Sabti  (1100 – 1165), was an Arab Muslim geographer, cartographer and Egyptologist who for some time lived in Palermo, Sicily at the court of King Roger II. Muhammed al-Idrisi was born in Ceuta then belonging to the Almoravids. He created the Tabula Rogeriana, one of the most advanced medieval world maps.

The Tabula Rogeriana, drawn by al-Idrisi for Roger II of Sicily in 1154, was at the time one of the most advanced medieval world maps.

Source: Wikipedia

 

China Post 580th Anniversary of the Maritime Expeditions of Admiral Zheng He

CHINA POST in 1985 issued four commemorative stamps marking the 580th anniversary of the maritime expeditions of Admiral Zheng He (1377 - 1433) who was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral.  

Zheng He was born Ma He to a Muslim family of Kunyang, Kunming, Yunnan, during the Ming dynasty of China. Whether Zheng He was a practicing Muslim in his adult years is suspect. Liujiagang and Changle inscriptions suggest a devotion to Tianfei, the patron goddess of sailors and seafarers, was the dominant faith to which he adhered, reflecting the goddess's central role to the treasure fleet. He also visited the tombs of revered Muslims on Lingshan Hill, above the city of Quanzhou to seek protection.

Being a Mongol, Zheng He was captured by the Ming armies at Yunnan in 1381.  After his capture soldiers castrated him while still a young boy. He was then forced to join the Ming army, where he excelled and earned his name “Zheng.”

After assisting Emperor Yongle, first ruler of the Ming dynasty, to establish his reign, Zheng He was commissioned a massive fleet to start his  voyage. On the first journey in 1405, Admiral He travelled to Mozambique, Persian Gulf, all around the Indian Ocean, and the Spice Islands of Southeast Asia. In 1431 Admiral He made his seventh and last expedition, establishing many diplomatic relations with more than twenty realms within the Indian Ocean.

 Zheng He reportedly died of a contagious disease in 1433 while on his last voyage. One story reports that he was tossed overboard near India for fear of the disease spreading. Another claims he lived until 1435 and died in China where he was buried. After his death, China became isolationist, banned overseas travel and burned all the ships and records of Zheng He. 

Shown first day cover stamps and maxi cards:

* Card / Stamp 1 - Zheng He is seen standing in front of the Indian Ocean, holding a scroll from the Emperor of China in his hand. In the margins are the ships in his fleet.

* Card / Stamp 2 -  Zheng He is seen in his first meeting with the Champa Empire (modern-day Vietnam). Local people sing and dance cheerfully to welcome his visit.

* Card / Stamp 3  - Zheng He's fleet arrives in Arabia, where envoys of the Ming Dynasty offer silk and porcelain in exchange for the local products. 

 * Card / Stamp 4 - Zheng He's fleet reaches Africa. The king welcomes Zheng-He in full dress. Zheng He embraces his fist and expresses thanks to the local people.

 

Qatar Post Islamic Holy Places

QATAR POST in 2007 issued a sheetlet stamp entitled Islamic Holy Places that depicted the three most revered mosques in Islam: the Kaaba inside Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina and Masjid Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem. Individual stamps of each mosque was released at the same time as well.

USPS Take Me Out To The Ball Game

USPS in 2008 issued a commemorative first day stamp entitled "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", which alludes to the lyrics of the famous baseball ditty.

 “Take me out to the ball game. Take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack. I don’t care if I never get back. Let me root, root, root for the home team. If they don’t win it’s a shame. For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out, at the old ball game.”

This first day cover stamp is affixed to a maxi card that depicts Stanley Anthony Coveleski, one the early standouts in baseball lore.

 Stanley Anthony Coveleski (born Stanislaus Kowalewski, July 13, 1889 – March 20, 1984) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for four American League (AL) teams between 1912 and 1928, primarily the Cleveland Indians. The star of the Indians pitching staff, he won over 20 games each year from the epidemic-shortened 1918 season through 1921, leading the AL in shutouts twice and in strikeouts and earned run average (ERA) once each during his nine years with the club. The star of the 1920 World Series, he led the Indians to their first title with three complete-game victories, including a 3–0 shutout in the Game 7 finale. Traded to the Washington Senators after the 1924 season, he helped that club to its second AL pennant in a row with 20 victories against only 5 losses, including a 13-game winning streak, while again leading the league in ERA.

In 1929, after leaving major league baseball, Coveleski relocated to South Bend, Indiana. There, he ran Coveleski Service Station for a time but closed the business during the Great Depression. He became a popular member of the community in South Bend, providing free pitching lessons to local youths in a field behind his garage. In 1969, Coveleski was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans' Committee alongside 1920s pitcher Waite Hoyt. Of his introduction into the Hall, he said, "I figured I'd make it sooner or later, and I just kept hoping each year would be the one." In addition to Coveleski's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, he was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 1976. In 1984, the minor league baseball stadium in South Bend, Indiana, was named in his honor.

His health declined in later years, and he was eventually admitted to a local nursing home, where he died on March 20, 1984, at the age of 94.

USPS Mickey Mantle Baseball Hall of Fame

USPS in 1999 issued a series of Baseball Hall of Fame 'Slugger' stamps, among these being New York Yankees great Mickey Mantle. The maxi card shown here depicts M & M (Roger Maris & Micky Mantle) with former U.S. President Harry S. Truman and the commemorative stamp of Mickey Mantle. The Slugger stamps not only recognised the accomplishments of Mickey Mantle, but power hitters Mel Ott, Roy Campanella and Hank Greenberg.

Known as "The Commerce Comet," Mickey Mantle (1931-1995) was a famous switch-hitter whose powerful home runs were matched by his impressive speed as a runner and as an outfielder.  He signed with the Yankees in 1949 and began playing for the team in 1951. In 1956 Mantle enjoyed one of the greatest seasons in baseball history, hitting 52 homers with 130 RBIs and a .353 batting average to win the Triple Crown. That year he also won the first of three Most Valuable Player awards, winning again in 1957 and 1962. During his career with the Yankees, Mantle led the league in home runs during four seasons and in runs during three seasons. The team won 12 pennants and seven World Series titles and Mantle himself established World Series records for runs (42), home runs (18), and RBIs (40). By the time he retired in 1968, he had a .298 batting average, he had hit 536 home runs, and he had been named to 20 American League All-Star teams. In 1974, the first year of his eligibility, Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. 

My first recollection of  M & M and the '60 - '61 Yankees was a game televised on a Saturday afternoon. I watched it with my paternal grandfather and dad, at my grandparents house in Little Rock (AR). I recall other players too -- Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford -- but oddly not the team they played against nor the final score. And can you imagine  this was all back in the days of B&W TV sets? It's one of those feel-good memories, and so quite naturally when I saw this maxi card with stamp for sale I just had to purchase it. 

In 1999, Roger Maris (shown right) would be featured in the USPS series "Celebrate the Century - 1960s."