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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