This Day In History

On July 3, 1890, Idaho was admitted as America’s 43rd state. This occurred 27 years after its creation as a territory.

On July 2, 1881, an assassin shot President James Garfield just four months into his presidency. Dying two months later, his was the second shortest presidency in US history.

On July 1, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1862 into law, to help fund the Civil War. Revenue stamps remained in use off an on for a century, paying the tax on a wide variety of items.

On June 30, 1899, the American military government issued its first stamps in the Philippines. Spanish colonization of the Philippines began in 1565 and continued for more than three centuries. In the late 1800s, the people of the Philippines revolted against the atrocities of their Spanish rulers. At the same time, unrest was growing in the Spanish colony of Cuba.

On July 2, 1881, an assassin shot President James Garfield just four months into his presidency. Dying two months later, his was the second shortest presidency in US history.

America’s 22nd and 24th president, Grover Cleveland, died on June 24, 1908, in Princeton, New Jersey. He was America’s first president to serve two non-consecutive terms and was known for his honesty and integrity.

On June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy delivered a television and radio address calling for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Pan-American Exposition opened to the public on May 1, 1901, in Buffalo, New York. That same day the set of six Pan-American stamps went on sale.

On July 4, 1971, the USPS issued the first stamp in the Bicentennial Series. Over the course of six years, the USPS issued 113 commemorative stamps honoring the 200th anniversary of the American Revolution.

On July 4, 1987, the USPS issued the first in a series of stamps honoring America’s first 13 states.  The series honored each state’s 200th anniversary of statehood as well as the bicentennial of the ratification of the Constitution. 

On July 4, 1957, the US Post Office issued its first stamp with the US flag as the central element.  It was also the first stamp printed by the Giori press, which allowed the design to be printed in its natural colors in one step.

On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence. One of America’s founding documents, it explained why the 13 colonies were at war with Great Britain and that they declared themselves to be independent sovereign states no longer under British rule.