Timeline of postal history


This is a partial timeline of significant events in postal history, including dates and events relating to postage stamps.

559–530 BC

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First century

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Fifteenth century

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Sixteenth century

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Seventeenth century

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Eighteenth century

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1820s

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  • 1821 - Carlo Meratti, an Italian, living in Alexandria, establishes a post office to send and receive mail to and from foreign countries.[11]
  • 1825 - The US establishes a dead letter office.[12]
  • 1828 - Hellenic postal service established.

1830s

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1840s

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1850s

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1860s

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1870s

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1880s

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1890s

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1900s

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1910s

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  • 1911 - January 1 - first stamps of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.
  • 1911 - United States creates a postal savings system.
  • 1912 - last stamps of Anjouan, superseded by Madagascar
  • 1913 - first stamps of Australia, superseding those of the various former colonies
  • 1913 5 May - first stamps of Albania
  • 1913 - United States initiates parcel post service, using special stamps.
  • 1915 - 15 August - British forces overprint Iranian stamps in Bushire, use until 16 October.
  • 1915 - British and French occupation forces overprint stamps for Cameroon.
  • 1916 - United States postal inspectors solve the last known stagecoach robbery in the US.
  • 1917- British armed forces in Palestine issue the famous EEF stamps. December 1917
  • 1918 - United States issues its first airmail stamps; a sheet of the Inverted Jenny is discovered among them.
  • 1918 - first stamps of the Italian occupation of Trieste and Trentino
  • 1919 - first stamps of Armenia and Azerbaijan
  • 1919 - first stamps of Batum

1920s

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1930s

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1940s

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  • 1940 - Pitcairn Islands issue their first stamps.
  • 1941 - United States creates highway post offices.
  • 1942 - United States uses V-mail to handle armed forces' mail.
  • 1945 May - provisional stamps issued for Austria
  • 1946 - first stamps of independent Jordan[13]
  • 1947 - India gains independence from Britain
  • 1948 - Israel issues its first stamps-The Doar Ivri set. 16 May 1948 [The new country still has no name]
  • 1948 - Israel issues its first Israel stamps with the word ISRAEL on the stamps. 26 September 1948
  • 1948 - British postal administration takes over in Bahrain
  • 1948 - Pakistan issues its first stamps.
  • 1949 - Newfoundland joins Canada and issues its last stamps.
  • 1949 18 July - Ryukyu Islands issues its first stamps.

1950s

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1960s

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1970s

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1980s

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  • 1982 - United States introduces E-COM, an electronic message service.
  • 1983 - United States introduces ZIP + 4.
  • 1984 21 November - first stamps of Burkina Faso
  • 1985 - Jackie Strange, first female Deputy US Postmaster General
  • 1985 - United States terminates E-COM service.
  • 1986 1 January - first stamps of Aruba

1990s

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  • 1992 20 March - Belarus issues its first stamps.
  • 1992 26 March - Azerbaijan resumes issuing stamps.
  • 1992 - Kazakhstan issues its first stamps.
  • 1994 28 January - Canada issues the world's first 2 part customizable greetings stamps.

2000s

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  • 2000, 28 December - Canada issues the world's first 2 part personalized photo stamps, called "Picture Postage".
  • 2007, 12 April - USPS issues a non-denominated stamp called the forever stamp[14][15]
  • 2011, 13 July - newly independent South Sudan issues its first postage stamps.
  • 2015, 1 February - Megan Brennan appointed first female US Postmaster General[16]

References

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  1. ^ Bekhrad, Joobin. "The surprising origins of the postal service". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  2. ^ "Cursus publicus", Wikipedia, 2022-09-04, retrieved 2022-09-07
  3. ^ a b "Thurn - Taxis, 730 years of Telecom history". phonebookoftheworld.com.
  4. ^ Brewer, J.S.; Brewer, John Sherren; Brodie, Robert Henry; Gairdner, James (1864). Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII. London: Longman, Green, Longman, & Roberts. pp. 1454.
  5. ^ "The CTT in Portugal: a guide to the Portuguese postal service". Expatica.com. 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  6. ^ Rudzinski, Grzegorz (2008). Krakow. Casa Editrice Bonechi. p. 6. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  7. ^ Lewins, William (1865). Her Majesty's Mails: A History of the Post-office, and an Industrial Account of Its Present Condition. London: Sampson Lowe, Son, and Marston. pp. 38–39.
  8. ^ Allan, Marshall (2003). Intelligence and Espionage in the Reign of Charles II, 1660–1685. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 79. ISBN 0-521-43180-8.
  9. ^ a b c "Cremerie de Paris, Telecom landmark since 1671". phonebookoftheworld.com.
  10. ^ "William Dockwra and the Penny Post Service". Canadian Museum of Civilization. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Posta Europea". Sandyfayre. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  12. ^ Miller, Rick. "Dead letter office gave rise to official seals". Linn's Stamp News. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Stamps of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan". stamps.come2jordan.com.
  14. ^ "Forever Stamp Fact Sheet". USPS. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  15. ^ Lee, Christopher (2006-05-04). "Proposed stamp would resist postal rate hikes". The News Journal. The Washington Post. pp. A1, A12.
  16. ^ "The Postmaster General and Executive Leadership Team". about.usps.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.

Further reading

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  • Wood, Kenneth A. Post Dates: A Chronology of Intriguing Events in the Mails and Philately. Albany, OR.: Van Dahl Publications, 1985 ISBN 0-934466-08-4 370p.