On 9 October each year we celebrate World Post Day.
Did you
know the UK Penny Black, featuring Queen Victoria's portrait was issued
on 1 May 1840 and it was the world's first official adhesive postage
stamp.
The day marks the anniversary of creation of the Universal Postal Union
in 1874 in Bern in Switzerland. Then, in 1969, the Universal Postal
Union Congress was held in Japan and they declared October 9th World
Post Day. These days, countries from all around the world celebrate
postal systems everywhere!
Nearly 445 billion letters are delivered around the world every year.
In
the UK, the peak period for the Royal Mail (the UK postal system) was
2005-2006 when they delivered around 84 million items every day and had
around 14,376 Post Offices across the country!
A number of events
will be held worldwide to celebrate the day, including workshops on the
art of stamp making and information and seminars about stamp collecting.
Often
around this special day, postal services issue special commemorative
stamps, so all you budding philatelists (that's stamp collectors to you
and me!) should keep your eyes peeled on the World Post Day website!
The
day is supported by the United Nations (UN), and you can also find out
more about the history of the postal service at the site.
