Tuesday, May 14, 2019

July 8th in Stamps Christiaan Huygens, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, Space Shuttle Atlantis final mission

Here are some events that happened on July 8th. It could be an event or a person that died or was born on that day


1695 Died: Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1629)

Christiaan Huygens (Latin: Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch physicist, mathematician, astronomer and inventor, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time and a major figure in the scientific revolution. In physics, Huygens made groundbreaking contributions in optics and mechanics, while as an astronomer he is chiefly known for his studies of the rings of Saturn and the discovery of its moon Titan. As an inventor, he improved the design of the telescope with the invention of the Huygenian eyepiece. His most famous invention, however, was the invention of the pendulum clock in 1656, which was a breakthrough in timekeeping and became the most accurate timekeeper for almost 300 years. Because he was the first to use mathematical formulae to describe the laws of physics, Huygens has been called the first theoretical physicist and the founder of mathematical physics

Here are some stamps from the Netherlands depicting Huygens and his clock

Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist

Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist

Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist FDC

Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist



1838 Born: Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and businessman, founded the Zeppelin Airship Company (d. 1917)

Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin (8 July 1838 – 8 March 1917) was a German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships; he founded the company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin.


LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin (Deutsches Luftschiff Zeppelin #127; Registration: D-LZ 127) was a German-built and -operated, passenger-carrying, hydrogen-filled, rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a Graf or Count in the German nobility. During its operating life, the airship made 590 flights covering more than a million miles (1.6 million km). It was designed to be operated by a crew of 36 officers and men. More about that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_127_Graf_Zeppelin

Some stamps from the US and Germany depicting Zeppelins

Graf Zeppelin US Stamp


Graf Zeppelin Chicagofahrt 1 RM Graf Zeppelin Chicagofahrt 2 RM Graf Zeppelin Chicagofahrt 4 RM


Ferdinand von Zeppelin



Graf Zeppelin Polar-fahrt 1 RM

More Zeppelin stamps can be found here: Zeppelin on stamps



2011 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program.

Space Shuttle Atlantis (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV‑104) is a Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. Constructed by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985, Atlantis is the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built. Its maiden flight was STS-51-J from 3 to 7 October 1985.

Atlantis embarked on its 33rd and final mission, also the final mission of a space shuttle, STS-135, on 8 July 2011. STS-134 by Endeavour was expected to be the final flight before STS-135 was authorized in October 2010. STS-135 took advantage of the processing for the STS-335 Launch On Need mission that would have been necessary if STS-134's crew became stranded in orbit.Atlantis landed for the final time at the Kennedy Space Center on 21 July 2011

Here are 3 covers commemorating Space Shuttle Atlantis' last mission

Space Shuttle Atlantis Cover

Space Shuttle Atlantis Cover

Space Shuttle Atlantis Cover

Sunday, May 12, 2019

July 7th in Stamps

Here are some events that happened on July 7th. It could be an event or a person that died or was born on that day



Born: 1860 – Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1911)

Gustav Mahler (7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian late-Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 his compositions were rediscovered by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century. In 2016, a BBC Music Magazine survey of 151 conductors ranked three of his symphonies in the top ten symphonies of all time.

Below are some stamps depicting Mahler from the Vatican, Austria, China, Hungary and Monaco








Born: 1893 - Miroslav Krleža, Croatian author, poet, and playwright 

Miroslav Krleža (7 July 1893 – 29 December 1981) was a Croatian writer and a prominent figure in cultural life of both Yugoslav states, the Kingdom (1918–1941) and the Socialist Republic (1945 until his death in 1981). A one time Vice President and General Secretary of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (JAZU), he has often been proclaimed the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century and beyond.

Miroslav Krleža, Croatian author, poet, and playwright


Died: 1930 – Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (b. 1859)

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer best known for his detective fiction featuring the character Sherlock Holmes. Originally a physician, in 1887 he published A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels about Holmes and Dr. Watson. In addition, Doyle wrote over fifty short stories featuring the famous detective. The Sherlock Holmes stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Below are a stamp from Great Britain and a sheetlet from the Ukraine depicting Conan Doyle

Literature, Writer Arthur Conan Doyle, Great Britain

Literature, Writer Arthur Conan Doyle, Ukraine

July 6th in Stamps Maximilian, Frida Kahlo, Anne Frank, Guy de Maupassant

Here are some events that happened on July 6th. It could be an event or a person that died or was born on that day


1832 Born: Maximilian I of Mexico (d. 1867)

Maximilian I (Spanish: Fernando Maximiliano José María de Habsburgo-Lorena; 6 July 1832 – 19 June 1867) was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire. He was a younger brother of the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I. After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy as its commander, he accepted an offer by Napoleon III of France to rule Mexico, conditional on a national plebiscite in his favour.

Here are some Mexican stamps depicting Maximilian I

Fernando Maximiliano José María de Habsburgo-Lorena; 6 July 1832 – 19 June 1867

Fernando Maximiliano José María de Habsburgo-Lorena; 6 July 1832 – 19 June 1867


1893 Died: Guy de Maupassant, French short story writer, novelist, and poet (b. 1850)

Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, and as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives and destinies and social forces in disillusioned and often pessimistic terms.

Maupassant was a protégé of Gustave Flaubert and his stories are characterized by economy of style and efficient, seemingly effortless dénouements (outcomes). Many are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s, describing the futility of war and the innocent civilians who, caught up in events beyond their control, are permanently changed by their experiences. He wrote 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse. His first published story, "Boule de Suif" ("The Dumpling", 1880), is often considered his masterpiece.

French stamp and First Day Cover depicting Guy de Maupassant 

France 1993 Guy de Maupassant

France 1993 Guy de Maupassant FDC




1907 Born: Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter and educator (d. 1954)

Frida Kahlo de Rivera (born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican artist who painted many portraits, self-portraits and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, she employed a naïve folk art style to explore questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender, class and race in Mexican society. Her paintings often had strong autobiographical elements and mixed realism with fantasy. In addition to belonging to the post-revolutionary Mexicayotl movement, which sought to define a Mexican identity, Kahlo has been described as a surrealist or magical realist


Here are some stamps from the US and Mexico with Frida Kahlo on them.  The 2001 stamps were a join issue between Mexico and the United States

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo US minisheet

Frida Kahlo US Mexico joint issue

Frida Kahlo US First Day Cover


1942 – Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.

During World War II, Anne Frank hid from Nazi persecution with her family and four other people in hidden rooms at the rear of the 17th-century canal house, known as the Secret Annex (Dutch: Achterhuis). Anne Frank did not survive the war but in 1947, her wartime diary was published. In 1957, the Anne Frank Foundation was established to protect the property from developers who wanted to demolish the block.

1942 – Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse

1942 – Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse



July 5th in Stamps

Here are some events that happened on July 5th. It could be an event or a person that died or was born on that day



1687 – Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Latin for Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), often referred to as simply the Principia (/prɪnˈsɪpiə, prɪnˈkɪpiə/), is a work in three books by Isaac Newton, in Latin, first published 5 July 1687. After annotating and correcting his personal copy of the first edition,Newton published two further editions, in 1713 and 1726. The Principia states Newton's laws of motion, forming the foundation of classical mechanics; Newton's law of universal gravitation; and a derivation of Kepler's laws of planetary motion (which Kepler first obtained empirically).

The Principia is considered one of the most important works in the history of science. The French mathematical physicist Alexis Clairaut assessed it in 1747: "The famous book of Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy marked the epoch of a great revolution in physics. The method followed by its illustrious author Sir Newton ... spread the light of mathematics on a science which up to then had remained in the darkness of conjectures and hypotheses."


Here are some stamps from Russia, Germany, Great Britain and Monaco depicting Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.stamp Great Britain

Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.stamp Germany

Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.stamp Monaco FDC

Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.stamp Russia FDC




Died: 1833 – Nicéphore Niépce, French inventor, created the first known photograph (b. 1765)

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (7 March 1765 – 5 July 1833), commonly known or referred to simply as Nicéphore Niépce, was a French inventor, usually credited as the inventor of photography and a pioneer in that field. Niépce developed heliography, a technique he used to create the world's oldest surviving product of a photographic process: a print made from a photoengraved printing plate in 1825. In 1826 or 1827, he used a primitive camera to produce the oldest surviving photograph of a real-world scene. Among Niépce's other inventions was the Pyréolophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, which he conceived, created, and developed with his older brother Claude.

Here are some stamps from Albania and France depicting Nicéphore Niépce

Albania Stamps 2015. Nicéphore Niépce

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce France

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce France FDC Europa CEPT




1884 – Germany takes possession of Cameroon.


German Cameroon (German: Kamerun) was an African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon. German Cameroon also included northern parts of Gabon and the Congo with western parts of the Central African Republic, southwestern parts of Chad and far eastern parts of Nigeria.

Here are some stamps issued for this German colony





1996 – Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell

Dolly (5 July 1996 – 14 February 2003) was a female domestic sheep, and the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer.

Dolly was cloned by Keith Campbell, Ian Wilmut and colleagues at the Roslin Institute, part of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the biotechnology company PPL Therapeutics, based near Edinburgh. The funding for Dolly's cloning was provided by PPL Therapeutics and the Ministry of Agriculture. She was born on 5 July 1996 and died from a progressive lung disease five months before her seventh birthday (the disease was not considered related to her being a clone). She has been called "the world's most famous sheep" by sources including BBC News and Scientific American.

Dolly had three mothers: one provided the egg, another the DNA, and a third carried the cloned embryo to term

Here is a stamp of Liberia with the sheep Dolly

1996 – Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell