Timeline of postal history

Seventeenth Century

• 1639 - Richard Fairbanks' tavern in Boston named repository for overseas mail

• 1775 - Benjamin Franklin, first Postmaster General under Continental Congress
• 1789 - Samuel Osgood, first Postmaster General under Constitution
• 1792 - On February 20 the Postal Service Act establishes the United States Post Office Department.

1820s

• 1823 - Navigable waters designated post roads by US Congress
• 1825 - Dead letter office
• 1829 - US Postmaster General joins Cabinet

• 1830 - US Office of Instructions and Mail Depredations established, later Office of the Chief Postal Inspector
• 1838 - Railroads designated post routes by U Congress

• 1840 - Penny Black, first regular official postage stamp
• 1843 April - first stamps of Zürich and Geneva
• 1843 August 1 - Bull's Eyes, first stamps of Brazil
• 1845 - New York Postmaster's Provisional
• 1845 - US Star routes
• 1847 - first stamps of United States
• 1848 - first use of Perot Provisionals in Bermuda
• 1849 - first stamps of Belgium

• 1850 - first stamps of Austria and Lombardy-Venetia
• 1850 - first stamps of British Guiana
• 1850 - first stamps of federal Switzerland
• 1850 - first stamps of New South Wales
• 1850 - first stamps of Victoria
• 1851 - Hawaiian Missionaries, first stamps of kingdom of Hawaii
• 1852 - Scinde Dawks in India
• 1852 - first stamps of Barbados
• 1852 - US Stamped envelopes
• 1853 November 1 - first stamps of Tasmania
• 1854 - first stamps of India
• 1854 - first stamps of Western Australia
• 1855 - first stamps of South Australia
• 1855 - US Registered Mail
• 1855 - US Compulsory prepayment of postage
• 1856 August 21 - first stamps of Corrientes
• 1856 - first stamps of Danish West Indies
• 1856 - British Guiana 1c magenta issued
• 1858 April 29 - first stamps of Buenos Aires
• 1858 May 1 - first stamps of Argentine Confederation
• 1858 October 28 - stamps issued by Cordoba
• 1858 - Street letter boxes
• 1858 - London divided into postal districts, precursor of UK Postcode System
• 1859 - first stamps of Bahamas

• 1860 November 1 - first stamps of Queensland
• 1860 - first stamps of Jamaica
• 1860 - Pony Express
• 1861 - American Civil War begins, postmasters in South make provisional issues
• 1861 - first stamps of Confederate States of America
• 1862 January 11 - first stamps of Argentine Republic
• 1862 - first stamps of Antigua
• 1862 - US Railway mail service, experimental
• 1863 - US Free city delivery
• 1863 - US Uniform postage rates, regardless of distance
• 1863 - US Domestic mail divided into three classes
• 1863 - Bolivia lets a private contract for mail, rescinds it six weeks later
• 1864 - US Post offices categorized by classes
• 1864 - US Railroad post offices
• 1864 - US Domestic money orders
• 1865 - first regular stamp issue in Bermuda
• 1866 - first stamps of British Honduras
• 1866 - Lombardy-Venetia annexed to Italy, including postal services
• 1867 - first stamps of Bolivia
• 1867 - first stamps of Austrian post offices in the Turkish Empire
• 1868 - first stamps of Azores
• 1869 - Foreign or international money orders

• 1870 - first stamps of Angola
• 1871 - first stamps of Afghanistan
• 1871 - first stamps of Japan
• 1872 - United States Post Office Department established as an executive department by Congress
• 1872 - US Congress enacts Mail Fraud Statute
• 1873 - first stamps of Iceland
• 1873 - US Penny postal card
• 1874 - General Postal Union (later Universal Postal Union)
• 1879 - Domestic mail divided into four classes
• 1879 June 1 - first stamps of Bulgaria

• 1880 - US Congress establishes title of Chief Post Office Inspector
• 1882 - stamps of Straits Settlements overprinted at Bangkok
• 1885 - US Special Delivery
• 1886 - first stamps of British Bechuanaland
• 1886 - first stamps of Congo Free State (Belgian Congo)
• 1887 - International parcel post
• 1888 - first stamps of Bechuanaland Protectorate

• 1890 - first stamps of the Brazilian Republic
• 1890 - first stamps of British East Africa
• 1891 - first stamps of British Central Africa
• 1892 - first stamps of Anjouan
• 1892 - first stamps of Angra
• 1892 - first stamps of Benin
• 1893 - First commemorative stamps
• 1893 - Hawaiian monarchy overthrown, first stamps of republic
• 1895 - stamps of Dahomey supersede those of Benin
• 1896 - US Rural free delivery, experimental
• 1898 - stamps of Cuba under US military rule
• 1898 - Puerto Rico stamps issued under US administration
• 1898 - US Private postcards authorized
• 1899 - US stamps overprinted for use in Guam
• 1899 - first stamps of the Philippines, overprinted US issues
• 1899 - US stamps supersede those of Hawaii

• 1900 - first stamps of Kiauchau, German colony in China
• 1902 - US Rural free delivery, permanent
• 1903 - first stamps of Aitutaki
• 1903 - first stamps of Austrian post offices in Crete
• 1904 - first stamps of Panama Canal Zone
• 1906 - first stamps of Brunei, overprints on Labuan
• 1908 - first stamps of Belgian Congo under Belgian administration

• 1911 - Postal savings system
• 1911 - Carriage of mail by airplane sanctioned between Garden City and Mineola, NY; Earle H. Ovington, first U. S. mail pilot
• 1912 - US Village delivery
• 1912 - last stamps of Anjouan, superseded by Madagascar
• 1913 - first stamps of Australia, superseding those of the various former colonies
• 1913 June - first stamps of Albania
• 1913 - US Parcel post
• 1913 - US Post Office Insurance
• 1913 - US Collect-on-delivery
• 1914 - US Government-owned and -operated vehicle service
• 1915 August 15 - British forces overprint Iranian stamps in Bushire, use until October 16
• 1916 - US Postal Inspectors solve last known stagecoach robbery
• 1918 - first airmail stamps of US, some are the Inverted Jenny
• 1918 - first stamps of the Italian occupation of Trieste and Trentino
• 1919 - first stamps of Armenia and Azerbaijan
• 1919 - first stamps of Batum

• 1920 - US Metered postage
• 1920 - First transcontinental airmail
• 1920 - plebiscite stamps for Allenstein
• 1920 - first stamps of Upper Volta as French colony
• 1920 June - first stamps of La Aguera
• 1921 - East Africa and Uganda Protectorates issues stamps
• 1922 July 13 - Barbuda overprints stamps of Leeward Islands
• 1922 - Karelia briefly independent, issues stamps
• 1922 - first stamps of Kenya and Uganda
• 1922 - first stamps of Ascension Island
• 1922 - last stamps of La Aguera
• 1923 - first stamps of Jordan (as British mandate)
• 1923 - first stamps of Transcaucasian Federated Republics, superseding those of Armenia
• 1924 - first stamps of Algeria
• 1924 - Regular US transcontinental airmail service
• 1925 - Special handling
• 1925 - first stamps of Alaouites
• 1927 - International airmail
• 1928 - first stamps of Spanish Andorra

• 1931 June 16 - first stamps of French Andorra
• 1933 August 10 - first stamps of Bahrain, issued by Indian postal administration
• 1933 December 1 - first stamps of Basutoland
• 1935 May - common issue of stamps for Silver Jubilee of King George V
• 1935 November 15 - first stamps of Commonwealth of the Philippines
• 1935 - first stamps of Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika
• 1935 - Trans-Pacific airmail
• 1937 April 1 - first stamps of Aden
• 1937 April 1 - first stamps of Burma, overprints on India
• 1937 May 12 - common issue of stamps for coronation of King George VI
• 1938 April 14 - stamps issued for Alexandretta, last on November 10
• 1938 - Austrian stamps phased out after Anschluss
• 1939 - Trans-Atlantic airmail
• 1939 - Autogiro service, experimental

• 1941 - US Highway post offices
• 1942 - US V-mail
• 1943 - US Postal zoning system in 124 major post offices
• 1945 May - provisional stamps issued for Austria
• 1946 - first stamps of independent Jordan
• 1948 - British postal administration takes over in Bahrain
• 1948 - US Parcel post international air service
• 1948 - US Parcel post domestic air service
• 1949 July 18 - first stamps of Ryukyu Islands

• 1950 - US Residential deliveries cut from two to one a day
• 1951 - first stamps of United Nations
• 1953 - Piggy-back mail service by trailers or railroad flatcars
• 1953 - US Airlift
• 1955 - US Certified mail
• 1957 - US Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
• 1958 April 23 - members of West Indies Federation make a joint issue
• 1959 - UK Postcode scheme introduced
• 1959 - first stamp of independent Upper Volta
• 1959 - Missile mail dispatched from submarine to mainland Florida

• 1960 - Facsimile mail
• 1960 July - Katanga secedes from Congo, issues stamps until 1961
• 1962 April - first stamps of Bhutan
• 1962 July 1 - first stamps of Burundi
• 1963 - ZIP Code and sectional center plan
• 1963 February 1 - first stamps of British Antarctic Territory
• 1963 December 12 - first stamps of Kenya
• 1964 March 30 - first stamps of Abu Dhabi
• 1964 June 20 - first stamps of Ajman
• 1964 - Self-service post offices
• 1964 - Simplified postmark
• 1965 - Optical scanner (ZIP Code reader tested)
• 1966 September 30 - first stamps of Botswana
• 1966 December 2 - first stamps of independent Barbados
• 1966 - US Postal savings system terminated
• 1967 - Mandatory presorting by ZIP Code for second - and third-class mailers
• 1967 August 21 - first stamps of Afars and Issas
• 1967 September 4 - first stamps of Anguilla
• 1968 January 17 - first stamps of British Indian Ocean Territory
• 1968 November 19 - first regular stamps of Barbuda
• 1968 - US Priority Mail, a subclass of First-Class Mail
• 1969 - US Patronage no longer a factor in postmaster and rural carrier appointments
• 1969 - First die proof of a US postage stamp canceled on moon by Apollo 11 mission

• 1970 - MAILGRAM
• 1970 - US Postal Reorganization Act
• 1970 - US Express Mail, experimental
• 1971 - United States Postal Service began operation; Postmaster General no longer in Cabinet
• 1971 - Labor contract achieved through collective bargaining for the first time in history of US federal government
• 1971 - US Star routes changed to highway contract routes
• 1971 - US National service standards established: overnight delivery of 95% of airmail within 600]] miles and 95% of First-Class Mail within local areas
• 1971 July 29 - first stamps of Bangladesh
• 1972 - US Stamps by mail
• 1972 - US Passport applications accepted in post offices
• 1973 - US National service standards expanded to include second-day delivery of parcel post traveling up to 150]] miles, with one-day delivery time added for each additional 400]] miles
• 1973 June 1 - first stamps of Belize
• 1974 - Highway post offices terminated
• 1974 - First satellite transmission of MAILGRAMs
• 1975 November 11 - first stamp of independent Angola
• 1975 December 8 - first stamps of renamed Benin
• 1976 - Post office class categories eliminated
• 1976 - Discount for presorted First-Class Mail
• 1977 - US Airmail abolished as a separate rate category
• 1977 - US Express Mail, permanent new class of service
• 1977 - Final run of US railroad post office on June 30
• 1978 - US Discount for presorted second-class mail
• 1978 - US Postage stamps and other philatelic items copyrighted
• 1979 - US Discount for presorted bulk third-class mail
• 1979 - US Postal Career Executive Service (PCES)
• 1979 July 12 - first stamps of Kiribati
• 1979 - Canal Zone transferred to Panama along with postal service

• 1980 - US New standards require envelopes and postcards to be at least 3 1/2" high and 5" long to be mailable
• 1980 - INTELPOST (high-speed international electronic message service)
• 1981 - US Controlled circulation classification discontinued
• 1981 - US Discount for First-Class Mail presorted to carrier routes
• 1982 - US Automation begins with installation of optical character readers
• 1982 - US E-COM (Electronic Computer-Originated Mail, electronic message service with hard copy delivery)
• 1983 - US ZIP + 4
• 1983 - Ended public service subsidy from US federal government
• 1984 - US Integrated retail terminals automate postal windows
• 1984 November 21 - first stamps of Burkina Faso
• 1985 - Jackie Strange, first female Deputy US Postmaster General
• 1985 - US E-COM terminated
• 1986 - International Priority Airmail
• 1986 - US Postal Service realigned; field divisions created
• 1986 January 1 - first stamps of Aruba
• 1987 - US Small parcel and bundle sorters
• 1987 - US Stamps by phone
• 1987 - US Multiline optical character readers ordered
• 1988 - US Inspector General's Act extends duties of Chief Postal Inspector
• 1989 - Universal Postal Union Congress in Washington, DC

• 1990 - US Wide area barcode readers
• 1990 - US Easy Stamp, allowing purchase of stamps through computers
• 1990 - US International business reply service
• 1991 - US Independent measurement of First-Class Mail service
• 1992 - US Remote barcoding system
• 1992 - USPS Reorganization: regions, divisions and management sectional centers replaced by area and district offices for customer service and mail processing
• 1992 - US Stamps sold through automatic teller machines
• 1992 March 20 - first stamps of Belarus
• 1992 March 26 - Azerbaijan resumes issuing stamps
• 1992 - first stamps of Kazakhstan

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