4th July - USA's Independence Day

America celebrates its Independence Day on the Fourth of July every year.  In 1776, the USA got its Independence from the British.  Though the Continental Congress voted to declare Independence on the 2nd of July,  they approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence on July Fourth, 1776. They'd been working on it for a couple of days after the draft was submitted on July 2nd.  So, July fourth, 1776, is a day that represents the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation. 

Initial years Americans were busy with other things and celebrations didn't take place.  But celebrations of the 4th of July became more common as the years went on and in 1870, almost a hundred years after the Declaration was written, Congress first declared July 4 to be a national holiday as part of a bill to officially recognize several holidays,  including Christmas.   

This important day for the Americans is marked with grand celebrations - bursting of fireworks, parties, basketball games, family reunions, etc. The Bristol, July Fourth Parade in Rhode Island is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the US.

The below Forever USA definitive stamp issued in the year 2016 depicts the beautiful American flag.             

30th June - International Asteroid Day

Today, the 30th of June is observed as the International Asteroid Day by the United Nations since the year 2016. The annual event marks the anniversary of the Tunguska event that happened on the same day in 1908 in Siberia, Russia.  It is observed to raise awareness about asteroids and what can be done to protect the Earth from a catastrophic event.

The below stamp was issued by Austria Post in the year 2006 depicting a meteor. The stamp has a meteor dust hand affixed to it with a special adhesive. Meteors are smaller pieces or smaller versions of asteroids.

July 1st - Canada Day

The 1st of July this year 2019, the beautiful country nicknamed " The great white North" due to its geographic location and cold, harsh winters, the country with abundant maple trees and known for it's maple syrup is turning 152!!!

Yes, the 1st of July is observed as Canada day (Fete du Canada in French) or Canada's birthday as on this day in the year 1867, the British North America Act or the Constitution Act of 1867 was passed.This Act helped in the forming of the nation (joining of the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick which then split into Ontario and Quebec), one of the important milestones to Canada's complete Independence from England which it  got in the year 1982. 

The National Day of Canada is celebrated with a lots of activities and events.  To mark the memorable occasion, fireworks, bonfires, parades, concerts, parties and picnics are held nation wide with great joy, happiness and pride. Not only Canadians living in Canada, Canadians around the globe too get to enjoy the important day. Canada Day celebrations are  held for Canadians in Bund Beach, Shanghai, at the  Royal Canadian Legion  and in Canadian clubs in Mexico etc.

Canada Day is observed on the 1st of July every year except when it falls on a Sunday. If it falls on a Sunday, July 2nd is taken to be a statutory holiday as per the federal holidays act.

Advance Happy Birthday Canada :) and advance Happy Canada Day to all the Canadians around the world :)!!!

The above stamp on the cover, made of cloth material depicting the beautiful Canadian Flag was issued in the year 2015 by Canada Post to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Flag!!

June 26th - International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

Since the early 1900s, the world saw a big explosion in drug trades worldwide that has till now kindled problems and sufferings globally. To put a full stop to this issue, in 1909, an International conference on addictive drugs (narcotics) was held in Shanghai.

From then on, till now, many steps have been taken to control the overuse and misuse of  drugs. The UN has adopted 3 drug conventions that is globally adhered.

To achieve the goal of an international society completely drug abuse free, the UN General Assembly since 1989 has observed the 26th of June as The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. It is extremely necessary to prevent and treat those who consume narcotics and so annually observing a day for the cause is of at most importance.

In the year 1973, the United Nations (Geneva) issued the below stamp on "The Fight against Drug Abuse".

Save the Butterflies

Recently I visited the Bannerghatta  Biological Park.  It has a Butterfly park inside.  I was deeply moved by the pathetic situation of the park.  They have very very few butterflies that too common ones. Even if you go to my hometown you can see atleast twice the amount of butterflies everywhere (Touchwood).  When I visited the same park about 5-10 years back there were way more butterflies than how many are there now. Conservation and protection of butterflies is the need of the hour. 

The below 1993 Butterfly Souvenir sheet from Netherland shows, there were 75 varieties of Butterflies native to Dutch land and among them, 15 are extinct and 26 are vulnerable.  We cannot reduce the number of extinct ones but atleast we can protect the vulnerable ones, other wise our future generations can only see butterflies in these kind of stamps only.   

Chunghwa Post(Taiwan post) issued the below miniature sheet in 2009 to create awareness to protect the natural habitat of butterflies.