This Day In History

On June 6, 1955, the US Post Office issued its first and only Certified Mail Stamp, US #FA1. The stamp gave mail special protection and provided the sender with proof of delivery.

On June 5, 1883, the Orient Express made its first trip from Paris to Vienna. It quickly earned a reputation as the world’s most luxurious train.

On June 4, 1940, over 338,000 Allied troops were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk after being cut off and surrounded there for weeks.

On June 3, 1942, Japanese forces kicked of the 14-month Aleutian Islands Campaign. The campaign’s two Japanese invasions were the only ones on US soil during the war.

On June 6, 1955, the US Post Office issued its first and only Certified Mail Stamp, US #FA1. The stamp gave mail special protection and provided the sender with proof of delivery.

On May 23, 1918, Katherine Stinson became the first woman hired by the post office to deliver airmail in the US. She had several other notable firsts and records in her short flying career.

On May 17, 2010, the USPS issued the first stamp in the Butterfly Series.  The stamps were created for use on envelopes that couldn’t be sorted on the USPS’s automated equipment, otherwise known as “nonmachinable.”  They’re often used for greeting cards. 

On April 29, 1947, the United States issued its first aerogram, then called an air letter sheet. It was a simple folded sheet of paper, but it offered Americans a cheaper and faster way to send personal messages overseas in the growing age of air travel.

Poet, author, and teacher Gwendolyn Brooks was born on June 7, 1917, in Topeka, Kansas. The poet laureate of Illinois, she was the first Black American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

On June 7, 1942, the Allies won the Battle of Midway in the Pacific, turning the tide of the war. It’s been called “the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare.”

Conductor George Szell was born György Endre Szél on June 7, 1897, in Budapest, Hungary.  Szell conducted the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra and is credited with transforming it into one of the world’s greatest orchestras.

Dr. Virginia Apgar was born on June 7, 1909, in Westfield, New Jersey. She was a pioneer in the field of neonatology, the area of medicine that specializes in premature and ill newborns. Her work is credited with drastically reducing infant mortality worldwide.