On this day 21 May, 1927, American aviator Charles A. Lindbergh made history when he successfully completed the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The transatlantic flight left from New York and landed in Paris and was made in the monoplane Spirit of Saint Louis and took about 33.5 hours to complete the journey.
At the time of his record breaking flight, Lindbergh was an unknown 25-year old U.S. Air Mail pilot and became a national hero literally overnight. Lindbergh was also a U.S. Army reserve officer and as a result was also awarded the nation's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his historic flight. From that time on Lindbergh was rarely out of the news. Sometimes, he was a tragic figure - the kidnap and subsequent murder of his infant son in 1932 is still remembered today as the "Lindbergh Baby Case" and at the time was dubbed the "Crime of the Century" - whilst what was seen as his overly enthusiastic initial support of Fascism in Europe in the late 1930s saw him suspected of being a racist and Nazi sympathizer. From the 1960s onwards, however, ever the multi-faceted personality, Lindbergh championed far nobler causes campaigning to protect endangered species like humpback and blue whales and stressing the need to regain the balance between the world and the natural environment. After campaigning so fervently in his youth to encourage commercial flight, as an old man he spoke against the introduction of supersonic airliners.
This 1 cent stamp was issued by Grenada on 15 March 1978 and was part of a seven stamp set celebrating both the 75th Anniversary of the first Zeppelin flight and the 50th anniversary of Lindbergh's transatlantic flight. Quite why these stamps were issued in 1978 I'm really not sure - Lindbergh's flight occurred in 1927 and the first Zeppelin flight on on 2 July 1900! Read the rest of this entry »
Darwin Day is a global celebration of science and reason held on or around February 12, the birthday anniversary of evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin.
2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth.
In his On The Origin of Species, published in 1859, Darwin outlined how life evolved through natural selection over millions of years and these British Post Office commemorative stamps - issued on 10 Februrary 1982 in the centenary year of Darwin's death - each celebrate a different area of Darwin's study.
15 1/2 pence: The giant tortoises of the Galapagos islands;
19 1/2 pence: The Dark Marine Iguana and the Land Iguana of the Galapagos islands;
26 pence: The Cactus Ground Finch and Large Ground Finch from the Galapagos islands now known as Darwin's Finches;
29 pence: Prehistoric skulls.
The stamps were designed by David Gentleman and printed in photogravure by Harrison and Sons. The Stanley Gibbons stamp references are 1175 to 1178 inclusive.
Whilst the rest of the world took decades to begin to acknowledge the importance of the pioneering work of Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (November 30, 1858 – November 23, 1937) a commemorative Indian postage stamp had been issued to celebrate the centenary of his birth in 1958 with a portrait of the Bengali polymath. He worked as a physicist, biologist, botanist, archaeologist, and was even known as a writer of science fiction!
Although he did patent one of his inventions after heavy peer pressure to do so, throughout his life he strongly objected to the concept of patenting on moral grounds. His lasting place in history has now been assured, however, and he is recognised as the inventor of the first wireless detection device and for his discovery of millimetre length electromagnetic waves.
This 15 np stamp reflects the recent decimalisation of the Indian currency - the year before in 1957, the rupee had been divided into 100 naye paise.
The stamp was printed on watermarked paper with the multiple Lion Capital of Ashoka design (see below).
These four stamps were issued as joined pairs as part of a six stamp set - sadly I don't have the 4 Zt value stamps - on 30 September, 1975 to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Polish Mountain Guides.
The stamps feature scenes of mountains paired with flowers and were designed by well-known Polish graphic artist Alojzy Balcerzak.
Here's an interesting example of a vintage postcard design issued on the occasion of the XX National Philatelic Convention in Rome in 1965 (Convegno Nazionale Filatelico) which includes a 1961 Italian postage stamp within the design - in the carriage window there is a 30 lire stamp featuring the Sibilla Eritrea which was issued as part of a set of nineteen Michelangelo-themed stamps on 6 March that year.
The 15 lire stamp actually used on the postcard meanwhile was originally issued on 6 December 1964 to celebrate the 6th Stamp Day (6ª giornata del francobollo) and depicts six Italian sports stamps within its own design. Here it has been postmarked on the first day of the stamp fair - 20 February, 1965.
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