United Nations 25th Anniversary 20.11.1970

Founded on October 24, 1945, the United Nations is an international organization dedicated to maintaining international peace and security, and developing friendly relations between nations. The stamp on this cover was issued to commemorate the 25^th Anniversary of the United Nations. The United Nations Headquarters are located in New York City where this stamp was released on 20.11.1970.

The U.N. Charter was approved by the required number of nations in 1945. At that time, the organization lacked a permanent headquarters. Delegates agreed the headquarters should be in the United States. On December 14, 1946, the U.N. General Assembly accepted a donation of $8.5 million from John D. Rockefeller, Jr., to buy 18 acres of land along the East River in New York City. The next year, the U.S. Congress approved an interest-free loan of $65 million to construct the headquarters buildings. The buildings were completed in the fall of 1952. The most prominent of these is the tall Secretariat Building, which is a well-known symbol of the United Nations.

Thank you Merja for this nice FDC.

Pollution

This issue of four different stamps by the USA, were originally printed as a se-tenant, and focused attention on the need for pollution control and made it clear that only a massive effort would help in solving the perilous pollution problems in our air, water, soil, and cities. The stamp was released at San Clemente, CA on 28.10.1970.

What is pollution? When something is added to the environment which is very harmful, poisonous or fatal to the animal, people surrounding it and other living things is called as pollution. In simple term pollution is a contamination by a chemical or other pollutant that renders part of the environment unfit for intended or desired use. It is triggered by industrial and commercial waste, agriculture practices, day to day human activities and most notably, modes of transportation and many the other sources. Pollution has many forms; it may be chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light.

Some most common types of pollution are; Air Pollution, Water pollution, Noise pollution, and Solid waste.

Thank you Merja for this lovely FDC.

U.S. Railroad Engineers 29.4.1950

The 1950 3¢ violet brown U.S. Railroad Engineers Issue commemorates the role of railroad engineers in building America. The stamp pictures folk hero John Luther “Casey” Jones, who was killed in a train wreck near Vaughn, Mississippi.

The stamp was issued in Jackson, Mississippi, on 29.4.1950, the 50th anniversary of Jones’ death. Jones, who lived in Jackson, had a reputation for always staying on schedule – “get there on the advertised,” as the saying went. He was also known for his unique use of a train whistle. 

On April 29, 1900, Jones had completed a run to Memphis, when he volunteered to return to Canton, Mississippi, that same night to replace another engineer who was sick. While trying to make up time, he collided with the rear cars of another train that had moved to a side rail, but still was partially on the main rail. Jones was able to reduce his speed from 75 miles per hour to 35, which helped prevent likely deaths among the passengers. He was the only fatality.

Thank you Merja.

1990 Cosmonaut’s Day - Cuba

Cuba celebrated Cosmonaut’s Day in 1990 with the issue of stamps and a first day cover. The issue was released in Havana on 12.4.1990. It may be mentioned here that 12^th April is celebrated as Yuri Gagarin Day, as it was on this day in 1985 when he took flight in his spacecraft on an orbit around the Earth. Below is a quote from Yuri Gagarin.

Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it!

Yuri Gagarin, 1st person in space

My friend Pia sent me this lovely FDC.

Leif Erikson - Explorer 9.10.1958

This light gray, brown and black brown stamp honours Leif Erikson, a Norse explorer who led the first known European expedition to the mainland of North America. 

Erikson was born in Iceland around 980 A.D.  About 985 A.D., his father, Erik the Red, founded a settlement in Greenland.  About 1002 A.D., Erikson and a crew of 35 men sailed west from Greenland in search of land sighted by another sea captain.  They landed in what they called Helluland – flat rock land.  They traveled further south and reached Markland – forest land.  Traveling farther south, they reach Vinland – or wineland.  Their crew members likely made wine from cranberries or gooseberries. nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, tentatively identified with the Norse L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland in modern-day Canada.

Norsemen continued to travel from Greenland to Vinland for a period of about 15 years after Erikson’s discovery.  Historians believe these voyages ceased due to violent confrontations with American Indians. October 9th is observed as Leif Erikson day in the United States. And it is on this day in 1968 at Seatle that this stamp was issued.

Daniel Boone

This stamp issued on 26.9.1968 at Frankfort, KY, remembers the American pioneer Daniel Boone who settled in Kentucky and founded Boonesboro.  His frontier exploits and his adoption by the Shawnee Indians earned him a place in American Folklore.

Boone is one of the greatest pioneers in American history.  This frontiersman paved the way for settlement of Kentucky by leading settlers from North Carolina through the Cumberland Gap into that territory.  Boone founded Boonesborough there, near present-day Lexington.  Boone’s exploits as a frontiersman, hunter, and trapper have earned him a special place in American folklore.

Daniel Boone (November 2, 1734 – September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then part of Virginia but on the other side of the mountains from the settled areas. Despite some resistance from American Indian tribes such as the Shawnee, in 1775 Boone blazed his Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachian Mountains from North Carolina and Tennessee into Kentucky. There he founded the village of Boonesborough, Kentucky, one of the first American settlements west of the Appalachians. Before the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 European people migrated to Kentucky/Virginia by following the route marked by Boone.

Boone was a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–83), which in Kentucky was fought primarily between the American settlers and the British-aided Native Americans. Boone was captured by Shawnee warriors in 1778, who after a while adopted him into their tribe. Later, he left the Indians and returned to Boonesborough to help defend the European settlements in Kentucky/Virginia.

Boone was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the Revolutionary War, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782. Blue Lick was one of the last battles of the Revolutionary War, coming after the main fighting ended in October 1781.

Boone remains an iconic figure in American history. He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After his death, he was frequently the subject of heroic tall tales and works of fiction. His adventures—real and legendary—were influential in creating the archetypal Western hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, he is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen. The epic Daniel Boone mythology often overshadows the historical details of his life.

Wilbur and Orville Wright - 46th anniversary of the first successful flight of a heavier-than-air powered aircraft 17.12.1949

Wilbur and Orville Wright

The cover displayed has a 6c USA stamp showing Wilbur and Orville Wright and the aircraft they flew on that historic day in 1903. The stamp commemorates the 46th anniversary of the first successful flight of a heavier-than-air powered aircraft. The flight took place on December 17, 1903, at 10:30 a.m. at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where this stamp was postmarked after issue on 17.121949. Two bicycle repairmen from Dayton, Ohio (Orville and Wilbur Wright) took their revolutionary vehicle to Kitty Hawk, where steady winds and high sand dunes were ideal for their gliding hobby. The very first flight lasted a mere 12 seconds and covered 120 feet.

The Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were two American brothers, inventors, and aviation pioneers who were credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903. From 1905 to 1907, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible.

The brothers' fundamental breakthrough was their invention of three-axis control, which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium. This method became standard and remains standard on fixed-wing aircraft of all kinds. From the beginning of their aeronautical work, the Wright brothers focused on developing a reliable method of pilot control as the key to solving "the flying problem". This approach differed significantly from other experimenters of the time who put more emphasis on developing powerful engines. Using a small homebuilt wind tunnel, the Wrights also collected more accurate data than any before, enabling them to design and build wings and propellers that were more efficient than any before. Their first U.S. patent, 821,393, did not claim invention of a flying machine, but rather, the invention of a system of aerodynamic control that manipulated a flying machine's surfaces.

They gained the mechanical skills essential for their success by working for years in their shop with printing presses, bicycles, motors, and other machinery. Their work with bicycles in particular influenced their belief that an unstable vehicle like a flying machine could be controlled and balanced with practice. From 1900 until their first powered flights in late 1903, they conducted extensive glider tests that also developed their skills as pilots. Their bicycle shop employee Charlie Taylor became an important part of the team, building their first aircraft engine in close collaboration with the brothers.

The Wright brothers' status as inventors of the airplane has been subject to counter-claims by various parties. Much controversy persists over the many competing claims of early aviators.