First Supersonic Flight

On October 14, 1947, Air Force brigadier general Charles Elwood Yeager set a world record on Bell Aircraft Company's Bell X-1. “Chuck” Yeager became the first pilot to break the sound barrier. Flying the rocket-powered Bell X-1, he achieved Mach 1.06 (Mach is the ratio of the speed of a body to the speed of sound in the surrounding medium).

Fifty years later the USPS commemorated that event with a 32-cent postage stamp honoring the first supersonic flight.

While coming to stamp issuing policy, many countries, includeing India, USA, the living persons can not appear on a stamp. So, neither Yeager’s name nor his image is part of the stamp design. This was not the first time in USA, that an airplane on a stamp appeared as if no pilot was on board. After Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927,  USPS issued an airmail stamp depicting the Spirit of St. Louis with no mention or image of Lindbergh.

But Yeager’s wife, Glennis Faye Dickhouse is half lucky as she has her name on the stamp. Yeager had named the Bell X-1 “Glamorous Glennis” in her honor. But because of the error in this stamp design, the plane's name near the nose is misspelled "Glenna" instead of "Glennis".

I am lucky to get this 1997, First super sonic stamps on cover.

The first supersonic transport (SST) was the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144, which had its first supersonic flight in June 1969 and began flying mail between Moscow and Alma-Ata (Almaty) in 1975.

The first supersonic passenger-carrying commercial airplane, the Concorde, was built jointly by aircraft manufacturers in Great Britain and France. It made its first transatlantic crossing on September 26, 1973, and entered regular service in 1976. British Airways and Air France stopped flying the Concorde in 2003.

The Concorde had a maximum cruising speed of 2,179 km (1,354 miles) per hour, or Mach 2.04.

Balloon Mail

 Balloon Mail

Homing pigeons had long been used to send messages (an activity known as pigeon mail),  the first mail to be carried by an air vehicle was on 7 January 1785, on a hot air balloon flight from Dover to France near Calais. It was flown by Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries.  The letter was written by an American Loyalist William Franklin to his son William Temple Franklin who was serving in a diplomatic role in Paris with his grandfather Benjamin Franklin.   

During the first aerial flight in North America by balloon on 9 January 1793, from Philadelphia to Deptford, New Jersey, Jean-Pierre Blanchard carried a personal letter from George Washington to be delivered to the owner of whatever property Blanchard happened to land on, making the flight the first delivery of air mail in the United States.  

The first official air mail delivery in the United States took place on 17 August 1859, when John Wise piloted a balloon starting in Lafayette,  Indiana, with a destination of New York. Weather issues forced him to land near Crawfordsville, Indiana, and the mail reached its final destination via train.  

In 1959, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 7-cent stamp commemorating the event. 

Balloons also carried mail out of Paris and Metz during the Franco-Prussian War (1870),  drifting over the heads of the Germans besieging those cities. Balloon mail was also carried on an 1877 flight in Nashville, Tennessee.

Ivan Sarić - Aviation pioneer

 Ivan Sarić - Aviation pioneer

Ivan Sarić (27 June 1876 – 23 August 1966) was a Yugoslavian sportsman and aviator. He was one of the most important pioneers of aviation in Eastern Europe. 

He is a successful cyclist and a football player.  He won several awards in cycling competitions. while visiting Paris in 1909, Sarić met some of the French flight pioneers,  including Louis Blériot.  He saw his planes and instantly became fascinated with the prospect of flying. Upon his return to Subotica, he immediately started building his own aircraft. His first construction was made entirely from materials he had like wood, linens, motorcycle wheels, and even piano strings.

In early 1910, he completed his one-winged Sarić 1 aircraft by incorporating the 24-horsepower Delphos engine.  On 16th October 1910, in front of 7,000 of his fellow citizens, Sarić took to air successfully.  In 1911, he constructed a more improved plane with 50-horsepower. He tried to build helicopters. World war 1, slowed his experiments, but till his end, he continued his inventions and constructions.

The below stamp was issued by Serbian Post on 9th December 2010 on account of the 100th anniversary of aviation in Serbia.

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation : Tabo Monastery

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation: Tabo Monastery

The oldest continuously operating Buddhist enclave in both India and the Himalayas is the Tabo Monastery.   It is situated at the height of 10,007 feet in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh in north India. It was founded by the Buddhist king Yeshe Ö in 996 A.D. and carries the Tibetan name ‘Place of Happiness’. Tabo is considered a ‘daughter’ monastery of  Tholing Monastery in Ngari, western Tibet.

It is spread over an area of 6300 sq metres. The monastery comprises nine temples and gompas,  in addition to cave shrines along the mountain slope. All of which are originally made in mud and have been standing like this for more than 1000 years. The main temple hall has all its walls painted with Buddhist stories and 33 stucco sculptures of Bodhisattvas.  As murals and stucco sculptures are just like Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra. it is fondly known as Ajanta of the Himalayas.   

Tabo served as a meeting point for two cultures, Tibetan and Indian cultures - usually described as Indo-Tibetan. Because of its archaeological and historical importance, the monastery is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. 

India Post honored Tabo monastery with a special permanent pictorial cancellation on 22nd March 2022.  Thanks to Mr. Kamran for helping me with Tabo PPC.

The cancellation depicts the new Tabo monastery with the backdrop of the Himalayan mountains.

The New Tabo Monastery

July 3rd : Belarus Independence Day

Belarus Independence Day

Belarusian Independence Day is observed on 3rd July since 1996.  The date was chosen through a referendum to honour and pay tribute to the heroism of those who fought to free the capital, Minsk from the Nazis' occupation during the Great Patriotic War (World War II).  

Earlier, from 1990 to 1995, they were celebrating Independence Day on the 27th of July, the day they got freedom from the USSR.  But this freedom they got from the fall of the Soviet Union, like many other ex-soviet states.  But for the 1944 freedom Belarus paid a hefty price, a third of the population was killed during the war.  In 1996, Alexander Lukashenko, the country's first President passed a referendum, and the majority of Belarusians voted for 3rd July.  From 1996 to date, they are celebrating independence day on the 3rd of July. 

The below hologram stamp was issued by the Belarusian post on 3rh July 2001 for the 10th anniversary of the Republic of Belarus.

June 22: World Camel Day

World Camel Day

World Camel Day(WCD) has been celebrated on June 22nd every year.  Dr. Raziq Kakar, who has been working with camels for more than 20 years saw the potential of camels and the need to safeguard them.  Since camels can sustain in hottest places and long thirsty days, Razig decided to celebrate World camel day on 21st of June, as it is the longest and hottest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.  But June 21st is already assigned for the World Father's day, he decided to celebrate on June 22nd, which is just 2 seconds shorter than June 21st.

Camels are used in combat, transport, and to provide food.  In those days, without camels, it is hard to travel in the desert.  That's the reason they are fondly known as the ‘Ship of the Desert'.  Scientists found out that camel milk has miraculous powers and high nutritional value.  In fact, the Raikas of Rajasthan, India survived a year-long drought by just drinking camel's milk.  Several studies show that Camel milk has more vitamin C, iron, and calcium than Cow's milk and it showed a positive impact on autism, liver disease, diabetes, jaundice, and even cancer.

Dr. Raziq Kakar started a camel dairy. Al Ain Farms for Livestock production is the world’s first commercial camel dairy.  He believed that promoting commercial values of camel milk and dairy products will create an awareness to breed camels.

From 2009 to 2012 WCD was celebrated in the province of Balochistan. Slowly and gradually, it earned support at the global level. And from 2014, it has been celebrated every year all around the world.

Below stamp was issued by Lebanon post in the year 1968 under the theme, domestic animals.

June 21st : World Giraffe Day

World Giraffe Day

The longest day is for the tallest animal on the earth.  June 21st is the longest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere. The Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) the only NGO in the world that concentrates solely on the conservation and management of giraffes in the wild throughout Africa decided to celebrate June 21st as World Giraffe Day to promote awareness to save Giraffes.  It was first celebrated in the year 2014.

The friendly, active (they sleep for just 2 hours a day), inspirational and unique animal is found at just around 100,000 in the wild.  In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, giraffes have recently had their listed status changed to Vulnerable to extinction.  Giraffes are officially extinct in more than seven African countries.

It's all because of human greediness.  On one side, they have been hunted for medicinal use and to make fashion products.  Another side, their habitat was reduced by 90% because of encroachments.  It would be a tragedy if giraffes were to go extinct in the wild. 

There are four separate species of giraffe in the world. The Masai giraffe lives on the border between Kenya and Tanzania, the reticulated giraffe and the southern giraffe live in countries like Botswana, and the northern giraffe, dominates much of the north of Africa. 

Like how no two humans have the same fingerprints the same way no two individual Giraffes have the same spots. 

If you want to donate, please visit the below link. Please check for authenticity before donating.

https://giraffeconservation.org/2021/11/29/worldgiraffeday2022/

When I was digging into my stamp file, I got only one Giraffe stamp.  The below stamp was issued by Poland in the year 1972.