| National Postal Museum

January 5, 1892

The US Board of Geographic Names issues a report recommending that the names of post offices be simplified by combining multiple word names into a single word.

Stanhope S. Boggs wearing pilot gear posing for a photo with an airplane.

January 4, 1921

After his plane catches fire in flight, airmail pilot Stanhope Boggs makes a forced landing on a San Francisco city street. He escapes unharmed.

3-cent Utah centennial stamp featuring an illustration of a wagon train

January 4, 1896

Utah is admitted as the 45th state. Utah was commemorated on a stamp in 1947.

Wreckage of two trains with people looking on

January 4, 1896

Mail clerk J.C. Edgerton is fatally injured and two other clerks seriously injured when their Grafton & Cincinnati train collided with a freight train at Schooleys, Ohio.

blue and red screen wagon on display in the museum

January 31, 1955

Horse and wagon city service finally ends in Philadelphia. It had continued there on the narrow city streets.

January 31, 1940

John T. Jackson, Sr. retires as postmaster of Alanthus, Virginia after 49 years of service. Jackson was one of the longest-serving African-American postmasters in the country.

January 31, 1929

Airmail pilot Eugene Cecil is killed when his plane is demolished during a forced landing. He was flying from Cleveland to Pittsburgh for Clifford Ball Lines.

20-cent stamp featuring a painting of Jackie Robinson

January 31, 1919

Baseball legend Jack Roosevelt “Jackie" Robinson is born in Cairo, Georgia. Jackie Robinson was commemorated on stamps in 1982, 1998 and 2000.

January 31, 1774

Hugh Finlay replaces Benjamin Franklin as Postmaster General for the North American crown colonies.

January 30, 1995

Charlie Biederman donates his handcrafted 1922 dog sled to the museum. Biederman and his father used the sled to carry mail between Circle and Eagle, Alaska.

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