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 edit

First century edit

Fifteenth century edit

Sixteenth century edit

Seventeenth century edit

Eighteenth century edit

1820s edit

  • 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 edit

1840s edit

1850s edit

1860s edit

1870s edit

1880s edit

1890s edit

1900s edit

1910s edit

  • 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  • 1912 - last stamps of Anjouan, superseded by Madagascar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 edit

1930s edit

1940s edit

  • 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 edit

1960s edit

1970s edit

1980s edit

  • 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 edit

  • 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 edit

  • 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 edit

  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 edit

  • 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.