Robert Fulton 19.8.1965

This issue commemorates the 200th anniversary of the birth of the inventor of the first successful commercial steamship, the Clermont. And very aptly this 5¢ Robert Fulton stamp; Clermont stamp was released at Clermont, NY on August 19, 1965.

Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat. In 1800, he was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte to design the Nautilus, which was the first practical submarine in history. He is also credited with inventing some of the world's earliest naval torpedoes for use by the British Navy.

Fulton became interested in steamboats in 1777 when he visited William Henry of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who had earlier learned about James Watt's steam engine on a visit to England.

Thank you Merja.

Easter 3.3.2014

On March 3, Itella Posti Oy released the traditional Finnish Easter stamp, depicting a cheerful girl dressed like a bunny surrounded by Easter eggs and spring flowers. The Easter stamps have been designed by Päivi Unenge, an artist who lives in Sweden.

Thank you Ella.

Medicinal Plants of Transkei

The indigenous people of Transkei, Eastern Cape, South Africa depend on the natural plant resources from their environment for medicine, food, pastoral, cultural and religious needs. This area, mainly inhabited by the Xhosa people, has remained ethnobotanically unexplored until recently. The present investigation among the herbalist, traditional doctors, herb traders, tribal priests and other knowledgeable local people recorded medicinal and other uses of 35 plant species. This firsthand information points out the importance of local flora to tribal groups and modern people of Transkei. In spite of western influence, the Xhosa people of Transkei still believe in the efficacy of herbal medicine, and prefer to use these traditional remedies currently.

These four lovely stamps were issued in Lusikisiki, Transkei on 15.4.1981 to popularise the medicinal plants in the province. The cover and the postmark are very pretty too. Thank you Maria.

Beautification of America 16.1.1969

Originally issued attached, as a se-tenant, these stamps issued on January 16, 1969 publicized First Lady Ladybird Johnson’s personal program for the Beautification of America.  Its goal was to encourage Americans to take pride in their country and plant flowers and trees.  

Each stamp represents a different area improved under this program.

Thank you Merja.

Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) 13.5.1965

U.S. 5¢ Churchill Memorial stamp honours the memory of Winston Churchill, who was Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II. He was made an honorary citizen of the U.S. when John Kennedy signed a special Congressional bill. The stamp features the famous“Angry Lion” photograph by Yousuf Karsh of Canada. It was first issued on May 13, 1965  in Fulton, Missouri, where Churchill delivered his famous “iron curtain” speech in 1946.

Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965). During his long and productive life, Churchill was a noted soldier, war reporter, author, painter, speaker, and statesman. He’s best known for his stubborn – yet courageous – leadership during World War II. As a war-time Prime Minister, he helped pull England back from the brink of defeat by forming strong alliances with world leaders. Churchill’s efforts led to the coordinated military strategy that defeated Adolf Hitler.

One of Churchill’s most famous speeches was given in the United States, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946. Titled “Sinews of Peace,” the speech contained the famous line, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent....”

The Winston Churchill Memorial and Library in the United States is located at Westminster College, in the “reconstructed” Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury. This building dates back to the 12th century. Christopher Wren redesigned it in 1677, after it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London.

During World War II, an incendiary bomb left the beautiful and historic church in ruins. However, stone by stone, this building was moved to Fulton, Missouri, where the building was pieced back together. This process, which the London Times called “perhaps the biggest jigsaw puzzle in the history of architecture,” began in the spring of 1964. Five years later, on May 7, 1969, the building’s dedication ceremonies were held.

Churchill was very pleased with the idea that an English church, restored in America, would serve as a museum in his honor. He wrote, “It may symbolize in the eyes of English-speaking peoples the ideas of Anglo-American association in which rest, now as before, so many of our hopes for peace and the future of mankind.”

Thank you Merja.

Fruits in the Garden 3.3.2014

This set of Fruit in the Garden stamps were issued in Finland on 3.3.2014. They illustrate three fresh fruits grown in Finland: the pear, apple and cherry. Illustrator Ossi Hiekkala has also added inflorescence to the stamps. The layout of the stamps is designed by Heikki Sallinen. The fruit stamps complement Ossi Hiekkala's Products of the Garden series, which was started by the roll stamp released this March and represented garden berries.

Thank you Ella.

Easter stamps from Bophuthatswana

Bophuthatswana issued these four stamps during Easter in 1981. Each of the stamps has the writing of some psalm from the Bible.

Thank you Maria.

Centenary of the 1st Boer war

The two stamps on this pretty cover commemorate the Centenary of the 1^st Boer war near Volksrust in South Africa. The stamps were aptly released from Volksrust on 27.2.1981.

The Battle of Majuba Hill (near Volksrust, South Africa) on 27 February 1881 was the main and decisive battle of the First Boer War. It was a resounding victory for the Boers.

Although small in scope, the battle is historically significant for three reasons:

• It led to the signing of a peace treaty and later the Pretoria Convention, between the British and the reinstated South African Republic, ending the first Boer War  .
• Thefire and movement   ("vuur en beweeg" in Afrikaans) tactics employed by the Boers, especially Sommandant Smit in his final assault on the hill, were years ahead of their time.
• Coupled with the defeats at Laing’s Nek and Schuinshoogte, this third crushing defeat at the hands of the Boers ratified the strength of the Boers in the minds of the British, arguably to have consequences in the Second Anglo-Boer War. "Remember Majuba"became a rallying cry.

Some notable British historians, although not all agree, claim that this defeat marked the beginning of the decline of the British Empire. Since the American Revolution, Great Britain had never signed a treaty on unfavorable terms with anyone and had never lost the final engagements of the war. In every preceding conflict, even if the British suffered a defeat initially, they would retaliate with a decisive victory.The Boers showed that the British were not the invincible foe the world feared.

Thank you Maria.

Norway Celebrates the Centenary of the ITU

These two stamps on the first day cover with the special postmark were issued by Norway at Oslo on 1.4.1965 to commemorate the Centenary of the ITU.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), originally the International Telegraph Union (Union Internationale des Télécommunications), is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is responsible for issues that concern information and communication technologies. The ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world, and assists in the development and coordination of worldwide technical standards.

ITU was founded in Paris in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union. It took its present name in 1932, and in 1947 became a specialized agency of the United Nations. Although its first area of expertise was the telegraph, the work of ITU now covers the whole ICT sector, from digital broadcasting to the Internet, and from mobile technologies to 3D TV. An organization of public-private partnership since its inception, ITU currently has a membership of 193 countries and some 700 private-sector entities. ITU is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has twelve regional and area offices around the world.

These two stamps on the first day cover with the special postmark were issued by Norway at Oslo on 1.4.1965 to commemorate theCentenary of the ITU.

EUROPA 1983 - Cyprus - The Great Achievements of the Human Genius 3.5.1983

Ever since 1961 Cyprus has been releasing Europa stamp series. The common subject decided by CEPT for this year refers to "The Great Achievements of the Human Genius". One of the two stamps released by Cyprus is dedicated to the Cypriot syllabary and the other to the mining, smelting, marketing and use of cooper and bronze.

Copper and Bronze. The 200 mils stamp depicts a piece of copper ore, a copper ingot of the Mycenean period (1450-1250 B.C.) found at Engomi and a bronze jug of the Roman period (2nd century A.D.).

Copper and bronze, well known to the Cypriots since the Chalcolithic Age (4000-2500 B.C.), became a main product of mining and smelting during the Early and Middle Bronze Ages (2500-1650 B.C.). In the Late Bronze Age (1560-1050 B.C.) bronze was massively exported in the form of ingot. The copper mines and smelting workshops found everywhere in Cyprus show the high exploitation of copper and bronze, while the various tools, weapons, utensils, coins, jewellery, statues etc found in almost every archaeological excavation indicate their use in every day life.

Cyprus Syllabary. The 50 mils stamp depicts a lime tombstone of the 6th century B.C., found at Yialia, Paphos. It bears an inscription in the Cypriot syllabary with the name of Timokypra, daughter of Onasikypros, read from right to left.

The Cypriot syllabary, according to recent archaeological research, was in use in the 10th century B.C., although its extensive use was during the 5th and 4th century B.C. It was abolished in 312 B.C. when Ptolemy A' introduced the Greek alphabet. It consists of about 55 symbols, each one representing either a vowel or a syllable, and has been deciphered through the comparative study of the Greek and the Cypriot syllabary texts of the bilingual inscriptions.

Thank you Merja.

Fishing Flies

These 15 stamps, 5 each on these three first day covers, issued from 1981 to 1983 must surely be a delight to the angling fraternity. The stamps are beautiful, and the flies depicted on them cater to the taste of most fish I am sure!

Short history of the official Transkei Fishing Fly Postage Stamp series... 

In 1976 Barry Kent and partners, in co-operation with the Republic of Transkei Development Corporation, Southern Africa, established a fishing fly manufacturing plant at Butterworth, Transkei, Southern Africa. The company was named HIGH FLIES (PTY) LIMITED.  The pricing, quality and marketing of the flies produced there proved very successful.  By 1979 High Flies was employing 360 local people, producing in excess of 1000 dozen flies per day and exporting to all parts of the Globe. 

    It was at this time that the Transkei postal authorities and the Philatelic Services of Southern Africa became interested in the idea of depicting fishing flies on postage stamps. The outcome was a five year series of 25 fishing fly stamps.  Five new designs were issued each year from 1980 to 1984. 

     Art direction for this series was by Barry Kent and the artwork was executed by a prominent South African stamp artist, Mr A. H. (Barry) Barrett. 

THESE POSTAGE STAMPS ARE THE FIRST EVER, IN THE HISTORY OF PHILATELY, WORLDWIDE, TO DEPICT FlSHING FLIES! 

    Since the day of each issue, these stamps have greatly increased in value. The 1980 first day cover envelope is catalogued at over 80 times the day of issue price and the value continues to increase.  All 5 years of the fishing fly stamps were produced in sheets of 25 se-tenant. 

    In 1980 only the top four rows of stamps were used on first day envelope issues.  A major error was discovered when the 1981 (second issue) first day envelope was issued on 15 January, 1981. The bottom (control strip) set of stamps was accidentally used on +-6% of the first day envelopes issued. This envelope is now called “The Wickham’s Fancy First Day Envelope”.  The day of issue price of the Wickham’s Fancy envelope was 74c. They are now catalogued at over $100 each. 

Thank you Maria.

Apollo 8 - 5.5.1969

This stamp honours Apollo 8, which was launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida on December 21, 1968.  The goal of the mission was to put astronauts in orbit around the moon, and advance toward the eventual goal of landing on the moon.

Apollo 8 and Johnson Space Center. The Apollo program was created to land humans on the Moon and return them safely to Earth.  Apollo 8 achieved many important steps vital to achieving this goal.  These included orbiting the Moon and taking photos of its surface. In 1962, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, began construction of the Manned Space Center.  The center was renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in February 1973, after the death of the former President.  Johnson Space Center is the headquarters for all U.S. manned spacecraft projects conducted by NASA.  It covers about 1,600 acres in Houston.

After the Apollo 8 mission was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the Mission Control center at Johnson Space Center monitored the various systems that kept the astronauts safe and the spacecraft functioning properly.

Thank you Merja.

President John F. Kennedy15.2.1965

The Department of Posts of Cyprus pays homage to the memory of the late President John F. Kennedy of the United States with the release of three stamps and a miniature sheet on February 15, 1965. Denominations are 10, 40 and 100 mills. This is the first issue where the Cyprus Post issued Official First Day Covers.

The stamps printed in Cyprus shows president John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), citation from his speech in US Senate 13 march 1956 "... self determination for Cyprus".

Thank you Merja.

Educational Institutions in Ciskei

This impressive FDC has four stamps depicting the educational Institutions in Ciskei. The details about them are given in succeeding paragraphs.

(10c) Lovedale was a mission station and educational institute in the Victoria East division of the Cape Province, South Africa (now in Eastern Cape Province). It lies 1720 feet above sea level on the banks of the Tyhume River, a tributary of the Keiskamma River, some 2 miles north of Alice. The station was founded in 1824 by the Glasgow Missionary Society and was named after Dr John Love, one of the leading members of, and at the time secretary to, the society.  

(20c) The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution in higher education for black Africans from 1916 to 1959. It offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub-Saharan Africa, creating a black African elite. Fort Hare alumni were part of many subsequent independence movements and governments of newly independent African countries.

(25c) The name Healdtown is most strongly associated with a Methodist mission station 11 km north-east of Fort Beaufort, 13 km north-west of Alice and slightly north of the main road linking the two towns. The University of Fort Hare lies to the east of Alice. Healdtown, Alice and the university all fell into Ciskei during the years of its so-called independence.

In 1855 Sir George Grey established a school of industries there (providing £3 000 in imperial funds for the purpose), and in 1867 a training institution for teachers and theological students was founded with the help of James Heald of Manchester, treasurer of the Wesleyan Missionary Society. The station was named for Heald following generous financial contributions from him.

(40c) This is another training institute in Ciskei named Lennox Sebe Training school.

Thank you Maria.

Sun City luxury casino and resort

Sun City is a luxury casino and resort, situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It is located between the Elands River and the Pilanesberg, about two hours' drive from Johannesburg, near the city of Rustenburg. The complex borders the Pilanesberg Game Reserve.

Sun City was developed by the hotel magnate Sol Kerznet as part of his Sun International group of properties. It was officially opened on 7 December 1979; at the time it was located in the Bantustan of Bophuthatswana. Sun City featured a large auditorium which seated 6,230.

As Bophuthatswana had been declared an independent state by South Africa's apartheid government (although unrecognized as such by any other country), it could provide entertainment such as gambling and topless revue shows which were banned in South Africa. These factors, as well as its relatively close location to the large metropolitan areas of Pretoria and Johannesburg, ensured that Sun City soon became a popular holiday and weekend destination. The UN imposed a cultural boycott on South Africa in condemnation of apartheid. Despite this, many famous performers chose to flout the boycott and perform at the venue, such as Frank Sinatra(1981), Paul Anka, Status Quo, Rod Stewart(July 1983), and Elton John (October 1983). British rock band Queen's series of performances at the venue in October 1984 in transgression of the boycott caused considerable controversy, prompting criticism in the British music press, a fine from the Musicians' Union and their inclusion on the United Nations' blacklisted artists. Following the criticism, Queen strongly defended their decision but donated to a school for the deaf and blind to prove their philanthropic values.

In 1985, E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt made the venue the focus of his music-industry activist group, Artists United Against Apartheid. Forty-nine top recording artists collaborated on a song called "Sun City", in which they pledged they would never perform at the resort because of their opposition to apartheid. Additionally, Simple Minds included the song as part of a live medley on their Live in the City of Light double album in 1987.

Post-apartheid Sun City has continued to flourish since Bophutatswana was re-incorporated in the new South Africa in 1994.

The resort has four hotels, namely, Sun City Hotel, Cascades Hotel, The Cabanas and the Palace of the Lost City. In addition to the four hotels, the complex includes time-share facilities called "The Sun City Vacation Club" which is a popular self-catering facility.

Sun City also has two international-standard 18-hole golf courses, the Gary Player Country Club and the Lost City Golf Course, both designed by Gary Player. The Gary Player Country Club is home to the prestigious Nedbank Golf Challenge (formerly the Nedbank Million Dollar Golf Challenge) that is held annually and sees some of the best golfing talent from all over the world competing for the title. The Lost City Golf Course is noted for the 38 crocodiles in the water feature of the 13th hole.

The Sun City resort has hosted various concerts and events, including the Miss South Africa and Miss South Africa Teen Pageant. It also hosted Miss World pageant for five times, from 1992-1995 and 2001. These pageants take place annually in Sun City’s Super Bowl Arena and the Valley of Waves. Also held in the Valley of Waves is the Spring break summer festival which sees flocks of holiday-making students from all over the country gather for up to 5 days of fun in the sun. The resort was also the site of the Sun City Agreement. In 2001, Sun City was the site of the 2nd IIFA Awards. Held at the Superbowl Arena, it honoured both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in Bollywood, for that year.

The four stamps show the facilities available at the Sun City Resort. The 5c stamp shows the Sun City Hotel and Casino, the 10c stamp shows a golfer at the Gary Player Country Club, the 15c stamp shows the Casino and the 20c stamp shows the City Extravaganza at the night Club.

Thank you Maria for this lovely card. I’d love to visit Su City some day.

150th anniversary of the founding of Memphis and Tennessee 17.5.1969

Issued on  May 17, 1969 at Memphis, TN on the 150th anniversary of the founding of Memphis, Tennessee, this issue salutes famous composer, musician, and the man whom many consider the “inventor of the blues,” W.C. Handy.

W. C. Handy (1873-1958). Composer and Musician. The “Father of the Blues” was born in Florence, Alabama, and later moved to Memphis, Tennessee.  Handy did not invent the blues, but was responsible for popularizing the music.  Among his famous songs are “Memphis Blues,” “Beale Street Blues,” “St. Louis Blues,” and “Joe Turner Blues.”  He wrote an autobiography, “Father of the Blues,” and a book on black musicians, “Unsung Americans Sung.”

William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was a blues composer and musician. He was widely known as the "Father of the Blues". Handy remains among the most influential of American songwriters. Though he was one of many musicians who played the distinctively American form of music known as the blues, he is credited with giving it its contemporary form. While Handy was not the first to publish music in the blues form, he took the blues from a regional music style with a limited audience to one of the dominant national forces in American music.

Handy was an educated musician who used folk material in his compositions. He was scrupulous in documenting the sources of his works, which frequently combined stylistic influences from several performers.

Thank you Merja.

America’s amateur radio operators15.12.1964

U.S. 5¢ Amateur Radio stamp honours America’s amateur radio operators, of which there were about 250,000 in 1964. Issued on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the American Radio Relay League, it pictures a radio broadcast wave and radio dial. The stamp was released on December 15, 1964 at Anchorage in Alaska.

Amateur Radio Operators Provide Emergency Communications. On March 28, 1964, the largest earthquake in the history of the United States struck Alaska, greatly damaging Anchorage, Valdez, and the surrounding areas. The earthquake, which measured 8.3 or higher on the Richter scale, caused widespread destruction. In conjunction with the ensuing tsunami (tidal wave) it caused, the quake took 125 lives.

This U.S. postage stamp specifically honors the Amateur Radio Relay League for its important work during the devastating 1964 Alaska earthquake. In the aftermath of this natural disaster, amateur radio operators provided essential emergency communications, which greatly aided relief and rescue operations. Amateur radio operators, often referred to as “hams,” continue to serve during emergency situations, especially in places with such sparsely populated areas as Alaska.

Thank you Merja.

Heroes of Medicine

This FDC has four stamps honouring personalities whose contribution to medical science has been immense. They were undoubtedly Heroes of Medicine. The details of these great personalities on the stamps issued by Transkei at Umtata on 17.8.1983 are as follows:-

(10c) Edward Jenner, FRS (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was an English physician and scientist from Berkeley, Gloucestershire, who was the pioneer of smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. He is often called "the father of immunology", and his work is said to have "saved more lives than the work of any other human".

(20c) Gregor Johann Mendel (July 20, 1822 – January 6, 1884) was a German-speaking Silesian scientist and Augustinian friar who gained posthumous fame as the founder of the new science of genetics. Mendel demonstrated that the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants follows particular patterns, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance. The profound significance of Mendel's work was not recognized until the turn of the 20th century, when the independent rediscovery of these laws initiated the modern science of genetics.

(25c) Louis Pasteur (December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases, and his discoveries have saved countless lives ever since. He reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax. His medical discoveries provided direct support for the germ theory of disease and its application in clinical medicine. He is best known to the general public for his invention of the technique of treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination, a process now called pasteurization. He is regarded as one of the three main founders of bacteriology, together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch, and is popularly known as the "father of microbiology".

Pasteur also made significant discoveries in chemistry, most notably on the molecular basis for the asymmetry of certain crystals and racemization. He was the Director of the Pasteur Institute, established in 1887, till his death, and his body lies beneath the institute in a vault covered in depictions of his accomplishments in Byzantine mosaics.

(40c) Florence Nightingale, OM, RRC (12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was a celebrated British social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing. She came to prominence while serving as a nurse during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was known as "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night.

Early 21st century commentators have asserted Nightingale's achievements in the Crimean War had been exaggerated by the media at the time, to satisfy the public's need for a hero, but her later achievements remain widely accepted. In 1860, Nightingale laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of her nursing school at St Thomas' Hospital in London. It was the first secular nursing school in the world, now part of King's College London. The Nightingale Pledge taken by new nurses was named in her honour, and the annual International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on her birthday. Her social reforms include improving healthcare for all sections of British society, improving healthcare and advocating for better hunger relief in India, helping to abolish laws regulating prostitution that were overly harsh to women, and expanding the acceptable forms of female participation in the workforce.

Nightingale was a prodigious and versatile writer. In her lifetime much of her published work was concerned with spreading medical knowledge. Some of her tracts were written in simple English so they could easily be understood by those with poor literary skills. She also helped popularise the graphical presentation of statistical data. Much of her writing, including her extensive work on religion and mysticism, has only been published posthumously.

Thank you Maria for this lovely FDC.

Wild Coast of Transkei

The Wild Coast is part of the Eastern Cape province in South Africa, encompassing the coastal region from north of East London to the southern border with KwaZulu-Natal at Port Edward. The Wild Coast encompasses the coast between the Kei River Mouth and Umtanvuma River along the Indian Ocean. During the former Apartheid regime the Transkei (the Wild Coast and adjacent interior up to the border with Lesotho) was one of the so called "homelands" and officially politically and economically independent. It is still one of the poorest regions of South Africa. It offers spectacular coastlines without the tourist crowd. The whole region is very rural and infrastructure is sparse.

Hole in the Wall is a geological phenomenon shaped by the Mpako River that runs into the sea right at that spot. Among the local Xhosa inhabitants, this region is inhabited by mythical "sea people" - one of whom fell in love with a local Xhosa maiden. Her father would have nothing of this relationship and prohibited the sea man from seeing his daughter. The sea people then asked a giant fish a ram a hole into the wall of rock, whereafter they abducted the maiden to their sea world. The instantly recognisable rock formation is made up of Ecca shale and sandstone, capped with hard volcanic dolerite.

Port St Johns is a small coastal town in South Africa known as the Jewel of the Wild Coast, offering true South African accommodation and hospitality. The Wild Coast is a stretch of 250 kilometers of coast, which gained its name by its inaccessibility and reputation for ship-crushing waves. Today the Wild Coast is still untouched by plastic civilisation and offers rich experiences and adventures. If you're after rustic authenticity with your accommodation in South Africa, this is the place for you.

The other famous rocks on this coast are shown on the two other stamps on the cover, namely, The Citadel and the The Archway.

The drawing on the cover is that of the Jacaranda Shipwreck. The Wild Coast is not a name given lightly. The coast is well known for the rough seas that slam on to rocky shelves along the beach, presenting all sorts of hazards to seamen.The beach is wide and inviting at the river mouth with a few small rocky points and estuaries scattered along its length in either direction as it stretches to the horizon. Side-step a few cows on the beach as you hike to the wreck of the Jacaranda which ran aground on the night of September the 18th, 1971. She was not laden with any cargo and riding high in windy seas when her engines failed. She was washed ashore and the captain, his wife and 14 crew members abandoned ship using a rope ladder which they strung from the ships prow to the nearby rocks. Successive storms have taken their toll on the stranded ship and today only the bow remains.

Thank you Maria for this FDC with the lovely stamps.

150th Anniversary of Alabama’s Statehood.2.8.1969

The 6c 1969 Alabama Statehood stamp was issued on August 2, 1969 at Huntsville, AL to commemorate the150^th Anniversary of Alabama’s Statehood.

First explored by Hernando de Soto of Spain, Alabama’s first permanent settlement was made by the French at Ft. Louis.  Thomas Pickney of the U.S. negotiated the Treaty of San Lorenzo in 1795.  This treaty fixed the U.S. border along the 31st parallel of north latitude, which meant all of Alabama, except the Mobile area, was part of the U.S. 

This area was made part of the Mississippi Territory in 1798.  During the War of 1812, the U.S. seized the Mobile area from Spain.  In 1813, Creek Indians massacred several hundred pioneers at Fort Mims, near today’s Timsaw.  The Creek were led by a William Weatherford, also known as Chief Red Eagle, who was of mixed European and Native American ancestry.  U.S. forces under General Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, in 1814.  In 1817, the Alabama Territory was organized.  Saint Stephens became the capital city.

In 1819, a constitutional convention was held in Huntsville.  This convention produced the territory’s first constitution.  On December 14, 1819, Alabama entered the Union as the 22nd state.  Huntsville served as the capital city, but a little more than a year later it was moved to Cahaba.  The capital was moved to Tuscaloosa in 1826, due to extensive flood damage in Cahaba. 

Thank you Merja.

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

U.S. 5¢ Verrazano-Narrows stamp honors the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge – the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its completion. Bridging Staten Island and Brooklyn, it also links New England with the southeast section of the U.S. The bridge is named afterGiovanni da Verrazano, an Italian explorer who discovered the New York Bay in 1524. The stamp was issued at Staten Island, NY on November 21, 1964.

Giovanni da Verrazano and the Verrazano-Narrows. Born in Florence, Italy, Verrazano (1485-1528) moved to France in 1506, beginning his career as a navigator. In 1523, King Francis I of France invited him to explore the area between Florida and Terranova in search of a sea route through the recently discovered Americas to the Pacific Ocean.

Aboard the La Dauphine, he reached Cape Fear in March 1524 and made his way north to what is now known as New York Bay on April 17. There he met the Lenape, a group of Native Americans. He returned to France in July and later made two return trips to North America.

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, named in the explorer’s honor, is a double-decked suspension bridge connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn. The upper level opened in 1964 and the lower level five years later. It has been the starting point of the New York City Marathon since 1976 and as the gateway to New York Harbor; all ships must pass under it.

Thank you Merja.

The History of Writing

This cover has four stamps issued by the erstwhile Republic of Venda which depict four different styles in The History of Writing as described in the following paragraphs.

(10c) stamp showing the Cuneiform script is one of the earliest known systems of writing, distinguished by its wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets, made by means of a blunt reed for a stylus. The name cuneiform itself simply means "wedge shaped", from the Latin cuneus "wedge" andforma "shape," and came into English usage "probably from Old French cunéiforme."

Emerging in Sumer in the late 4th millennium BC (the Uruk IV period), cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs. In the third millennium, the pictorial representations became simplified and more abstract as the number of characters in use grew smaller, from about 1,000 in the Early Bronze Age to about 400 in Late Bronze Age (Hittite cuneiform).

The original Sumerian script was adapted for the writing of the Akkadian, Eblaite, Elamite, Hittite, Luwian, Hattic, Hurrian, and Urartian languages, and it inspired the Ugaritic and Old Persian alphabets. Cuneiform writing was gradually replaced by the Phoenician alphabet during the Neo-Assyrian Empire. By the 2nd century AD, the script had become extinct, and all knowledge of how to read it was lost until it began to be deciphered in the 19th century.

Between half a million and two million cuneiform tablets are estimated to have been excavated in modern times. Of these, only approximately 100,000 have been published.

(20c) Evolution of Chinese Characters. Written Chinese (Chinese: 中文; pinyin: zhōngwén) comprises Chinese characters used to represent the Chinese language, and the rules about how they are arranged and punctuated. Chinese characters do not constitute an alphabet or a compact syllabary. Rather, the writing system is roughly logosyllabic; that is, a character generally represents one syllable of spoken Chinese and may be a word on its own or a part of a polysyllabic word. The characters themselves are often composed of parts that may represent physical objects, abstract notions, or pronunciation.

Various current Chinese characters have been traced back to the late Shang Dynasty about 1200–1050 BC, but the process of creating characters is thought to have begun some centuries earlier. After a period of variation and evolution, Chinese characters were standardized under the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC). Over the millennia, these characters have evolved into well-developed styles of Chinese calligraphy.

Some Chinese characters have been adopted as part of the writing systems of other East Asian languages, such as Japanese and Korean. Literacy requires the memorization of a great many characters: Educated Chinese know about 4,000; educated Japanese perhaps about 3,000. The large number of Chinese characters has in part led to the adoption of Western alphabets as an auxiliary means of representing Chinese. Chinese speakers in disparate dialect groups are able to communicate through writing, because standard written Chinese is based on a standard spoken language ("Mandarin"). Although most other varieties of Chinese are not written, there is a well-developed Written Cantonese tradition.

(25c) Cretan hieroglyphs are undeciphered hieroglyphs found on artefacts of early Bronze Age Crete, during the Minoan era. It predates Linear A by about a century, but continued to be used in parallel for most of their history.

In addition to the possible evolution of the hieroglyphs into the linear scripts, relations to Anatolian hieroglyphs have been suggested.

(40c) Egyptian hieroglyphs (god's words) were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood. Less formal variations of the script, called hieratic and demotic, are technically not hieroglyphs.

Thank you very much Maria for this interesting FDC with these four wonderful stamps.