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Postage Stamps

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Rowland Hill, a schoolmaster from England, is credited with inventing the adhesive postage stamp in 1837. The first official postage stamp appeared in England in 1840 and pictured Queen Victoria's profile. It was called the Penny Black because the cost was a penny to send a letter anywhere in England, and the stamp was black and white.

The official debut of postage stamps in the United States came in 1847, and the first two stamps featured George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. By 1860 almost all countries had postage stamps. In 1940, Booker T. Washington was the first African American featured on a stamp. The price for a first-class stamp was increased to 42 cents on May 12, 2008.

The National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. is one of the 19 Smithsonian museums. The hobby of collecting stamps is called "philately".

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