On this day in 1854, Kansas became a territory. Some examples of early mail from the territory are featured in this exhibit.

In 1856, The steamer Propontis sailed from London to St. John's, Newfoundland with mail. Its owners hoped to establish direct regular mail service between Great Britain and Newfoundland, but the ship made only one voyage. Other shipping companies to establish a service, but none of them were successful. Eventually, postal officials gave up the up the idea of a mail contract and in 1889 announced that mail could go by any ship. 

More information about the steamer can be found here

In 1864 the Ionian Islands ceased to issue its own stamps when Great Britain ceded the islands to Greece. Examples of the stamps that were issued under British control can be found in the last "This Day in History".

In 1912, at Salem Depot, New Hampshire mail was to be officially flown during an aviation meet. Bad weather forced pilot Lincoln Beachey to cancel the flight. At the same time, specially canceled mail was flown at an aviation meet held at the fairgrounds in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Two years later, between May 30 and September 7, experimental airmail flights made by a seaplane flown by Aflred Engle took place over Chautauqua Lake, New York. The flights served several communities and the flown mail bears a special cachet. To learn more about the development of airmail during this time period, click here.

In 1952, the first aerogramme for general use was issued for Trieste, Zone A, by Allied occupation authorities. It was an overprinted aerogramme for Italy. 

Example of the aerogramme, more information can be found here

In 1967, the Caribbean island of Anguilla proclaimed its independence from the island of St. Kitts, which had been responsible for its administration. Anguilla issued its first stamps on September 4 of the same year. They were overprinted stamps of St. Kitts. More stamps from Anguilla and other countries can be seen in this article.

More examples of Anguilla stamps with a map of the island in its design can be found here.