2024-05-06 Mon

On May 6th, 1840 the World's First Postage Stamp was used in Great Britain.

The stamp features a profile of a Young Queen Victoria. The total print run was 286,700 sheets, a total of 68,808,000 stamps.

In 1837, Rowland Hill proposed adhesive stamps for pre-payment of postage to simplify the delivery of letters. The Penny Black stamp allowed delivery of letters weighing up to 1/2 ounce (14 grams) at a flat rate of one penny, regardless of distance.