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Thursday May 3rd 1962...continued

next we have two first day covers from Canada:





and a commercial cover from France:

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Peter

Friday May 4th 1962
On this day in 1962, Dr. Masaki Watanabe of Japan performed the very first arthroscopic surgery to repair a meniscus tear, a common injury for athletes. The first patient to receive the procedure was a 17-year old basketball player, who was returned to playing six weeks after the meniscectomy and resection of his right knee by Dr. Watanabe.

One first day cover today, from Hong Kong:

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Peter

Saturday May 5th 1962
The Tupamaros were a group of urban guerrillas who operated in Uruguay (primarily Montevideo) from the early 1960's to the 1980's. They were created in the early 1960's by Raúl Sendic, a Marxist lawyer and activist who sought to bring about social change peacefully by unionising sugarcane workers. On this day in 1962, Sendic, along with a handful of sugarcane workers, attacked and burned the Uruguayan Union Confederation building in Montevideo in what was arguably their first act of violence.

Three first day covers today from all over the world:

Ethiopia


Mexico



and the Ryukyu Islands

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Peter

Sunday May 6th 1962

On this day in 1962, Pakistan's President Muhammad Ayub Khan opened the Ayub Bridge between Rohri and Sukkur on the Indus river in Pakistan. The Ayub Bridge became the world's third longest Railway arch span and the first Railway bridge in the world slung on coiled wire rope suspenders.

Here is a commemorative cover for the opening of the Ayub Bridge:



also today we have a first day cover of Russia's contribution to the anti-malaria campaign:


(This set also included a 6k value)

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Peter

Monday May 7th 1962
On this day in 1962, Fox studios suspended production of the movie "Something's Got to Give" after Marilyn Monroe declined to work. She returned to work a week later but the film, directed by George Cukor and starring Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse was destined never to be finished...

Today's cover is a first flight cover from India to Australia, which includes the Indian anti-malaria stamp:

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Peter

Tuesday May 8th 1962
On this day in 1962, in a message to the Second National Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Space at Seattle, President Kennedy noted that the U.S. was already “working hand in hand with scientific groups of fifty nations".

“Ours is an open society and the benefits of our space program will continue to flow throughout the world. It is my hope that the Soviet Union will cooperate constructively in the proposals which we have made so that all peoples will gain in the improvement of weather observation, communications systems and the manifold output of the peaceful application of space technology.’’

Today we have a marketing postcard from Ifni:





and a large philatelic cover from Ocean Island:

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Peter

Wednesday May 9th 1962

On this day in 1962, the Beatles signed their first recording contract, with Parlophone, after Brian Epstein persuaded George Martin to sign them, sight unseen.

Let's start today with the return flight of the first flight cover from May 7th:



Next two First Day Covers featuring Hungarian Fish:




To finish a nice (except for the missing corner) cover from Sierra Leone:

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Peter

Thursday May 10th 1962
On this day in 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev said in speech to transport workers that despite the claims of American scientists no U.S. rocket has hit the moon: “The Americans have tried several times to hit the moon with their rockets. They have proclaimed for all the world to hear that they had launched rockets to the moon, but they missed every time. The Soviet pennant on the moon has been awaiting an American one for a long time but in vain and is
becoming lonesome. ”
In response, Dr. William Pickering, Director of the US Jet Propulsion Laboratory, stated: “On April 26, at 4:47.50 AM, Pacific standard time, RANGER IV was tracked by the Goldstone receiver as it passed the leading edge of the moon. At 4:49.53 it crashed on the moon at a lunar longitude of 229.5 degrees East and lunar latitude of 15.5 degrees South.” After 64 hours of tracking, the trajectory of RANGER IV was precisely known and it was only 110 miles from the surface when it vanished behind the moon.

Let's start today with first day covers from West Germany and Denmark:





and finish with an Australian diplomatic cover:

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Peter

Friday May 11th 1962
On this day in 1962, in accepting the Sylvanus Thayer Award, retired General Douglas MacArthur delivered his memorable "Duty, Honor, Country" speech to West Point cadets. The 82 year old MacArthur delivered the 30 minute address from memory and without notes, and a recording of the remarks would be released as a record album later:

"The shadows are lengthening for me. The twilight is here. My days of old have vanished, tone and tint. They have gone glimmering through the dreams of things that were. Their memory is one of wondrous beauty, watered by tears, and coaxed and caressed by the smiles of yesterday. I listen vainly, but with thirsty ears, for the witching melody of faint bugles blowing reveille, of far drums beating the long roll. In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield. But in the evening of my memory, always I come back to West Point. Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country. Today marks my final roll call with you, but I want you to know that when I cross the river my last conscious thoughts will be of The Corps, and The Corps, and The Corps. I bid you farewell."

Two covers today that seem somewhat appropriate. A naval cover from the United States:



and an Australian cover to the US:

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Peter

Saturday May 12th 1962

After yesterday's MacArthur speech, it is somewhat ironic that on this day in 1962, the Philippines changed its name on coins and postage stamps to "Pilipinas", apparently to distance itself from its past as an American protectorate.

Today's cover is more friendly to the United States - from Guatemala:

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Peter

Sunday May 13th 1962
On this day in 1962, Vice-President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the second President of India, succeeding Rajendra Prasad.

Two covers today, first a first day cover featuring the previous President of India:


and one for the Philippines for someone with a great title "Brain of the Revolution":

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Peter

Monday May 14th 1962
On this day in 1962, Prince Juan Carlos of Spain married Princess Sophie of Greece in Athens. The two would become King and Queen when the monarchy was restored in Spain in 1975.

First day covers again today. First two from Czechoslovakia promoting the upcoming Praga Philatelic Exhibition:




and another contribution to the anti-Malaria campaign; this time from Cyprus:

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Peter

Tuesday May 15th 1962

This day in 1962 marked the the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At first it had one commissioner and a staff of nine, whose overall job was to apply science to agriculture. President Lincoln signed the bill forming the USDA on May 15, 1862.

A bit of variety today. Let's start with a first day cover from South Vietnam:


and two from Japan:
\



and for the train enthusiasts, one from Rhodesia and Nyasaland:

Tuesday May 15th 1962...continued..

Next an "almost FDC" - the day after from New Zealand:



Two first flight covers for the Khartoum / Frankfurt route:




and to finish; an Australian Aerogramme that never quite made it:

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Peter

Wednesday May 16th 1962

On this day in 1962, Mildura's newspaper reported that the Mallee regional rabbit eradication program will use 600 tonnes of carrots over 25,000 square miles of Mallee country beginning within the next few weeks. Carrots will be used in preference to oats, as it has been found only an 80 per cent kill can be obtained with oats. [ presumably poisoned carrots ]

Today we have a meter cover from Australia:


A commercial cover from Switzerland:



and one from Malaya:

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Peter

Thursday May 17th 1962
On this day in 1962, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered an "extraordinary manifesto" to the White House. Constructed as both a moral appeal and a legal brief, the 64-page document called on President John F. Kennedy to issue a “second Emancipation Proclamation,” an executive order outlawing segregation — just as President Abraham Lincoln had done with slavery a century earlier.

Today we have a first day cover from East Germany:



and a large commercial cover from Angola:

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Peter

Friday May 18th 1962
On this day in 1962, the Panchen Lama, leader of the Tibetan people since the nation's conquest by Communist China, presented a 70,000 word petition to visiting Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, pleading for relief for the suffering of Tibetans under Communist rule. Repression of Tibetan Buddhists eased to some extent after the Panchen Lama's move, however he was to spend 14 of the next 15 years in detention or under virtual house arrest.

Today's item originated a long way from Tibet - an aerogramme from Barrow, Alaska:



The second Arctic Research Laboratory Ice Station (ARLIS II), was established on a 3.5 by 1.5 mile drifting ice island north of Point Barrow. Using R4Ds (the Navy equivalent of the C-47) and Cessnas, all of the equipment to outfit the 14 prefabricated buildings was transported to the ice island in 22 days. Scientific operations commenced in June 1961, and continued all the way into 1965.

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Peter

Saturday May 19th 1962
On this day in 1962, Marilyn Monroe made her last significant public appearance, singing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" at a birthday party for President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden. The event was part of a fundraiser to pay off the Democratic Party's four million dollar debt remaining from Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign. Monroe was stitched into a $12,000 dress "made of nothing but beads" and wore nothing underneath as she appeared at the request of Peter Lawford; President Kennedy thanked her afterward, joking, "I can now retire from politics after having had 'Happy Birthday' sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way."

Today's covers are a first day cover from Belgium:



and a commercial / philatelic registered cover from Malacca:

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Peter

Sunday May 20th 1962
On this day in 1962, the first specifically-built coronary care unit in the world opened at the Bethany Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, under the planning of cardiologist Dr. Hughes Day. Other CCUs followed in Toronto, Sydney, New York and Philadephia, and by 1970, most major hospitals had units designed to treat heart attacks.

Here's a first day cover from the United States:



and a large registered FDC from Indonesia:

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Peter

Monday May 21st 1962
On this day in 1962, the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey ruled unanimously that Thiokol Chemical Corporation, producer of the rocket engines for the X-15, was liable for property damage caused in testing the engine. The Court ordered $25,605 damages to be paid to 15 home owners near the Picatinny Arsenal, Rockaway Township, for cracked foundations, floors, walls, chimneys, and fireplaces. Thiokol stated that it would have to pass these costs on to the Federal Government, since it had a cost-plus contract.

Let's start today with a Dutch Royal visit cover from Austria:



Next, a first day cover from Finland:


and to finish, a commercial (although philatelic) registered cover from Singapore:

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Peter

Tuesday May 22nd 1962
On this day in 1962, Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashed on a farm near Unionville, Missouri, after the in-flight detonation of a bomb near the rear lavatory. All 45 passengers and crew, on the Boeing 707 jet flight from Chicago to Kansas City, were killed.

FBI agents discovered that one of the passengers, Thomas G. Doty, a married man with a five-year-old daughter, had purchased a life insurance policy from Mutual of Omaha for $150,000, the maximum available; his death would also bring in another $150,000 in additional insurance (some purchased at the airport) and death benefits. Doty had recently been arrested for armed robbery and was to soon face a preliminary hearing in the matter. Investigators determined that Doty had purchased six sticks of dynamite for 29 cents each, shortly before the crash, and were able to deduce that a bomb had been placed in the used towel bin of the right rear lavatory.

Author Arthur Hailey based a subplot of his 1968 novel Airport on the Flight 11 bombing.

Two first day covers from the Netherlands today:

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Peter

Wednesday May 23rd 1962

On this day in 1962, the first successful reattachment of a severed limb was accomplished by Dr. Ronald A. Malt at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Everett Knowles, a 12 year old boy, had had his right arm severed at the shoulder by a freight train. A year after the limb was saved, Everett could move all five fingers and bend his wrist, and by 1965, he was again playing baseball and tennis.

Today we have a local cover from Adelaide featuring the Australian Antarctic Territory Mawson stamp:


and a large colourful first day cover from Paraguay with its contribution to the anti-Malaria campaign:

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Peter

Thursday May 24th 1962

On this day in 1962, in the second Mercury mission, Scott Carpenter orbited the Earth 3 times in the Aurora 7 space capsule, then splashed down 250 miles off course. He was located and rescued by the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid. Carpenter's rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 7:45 am local time, went around the Earth three times, then began its return at 1:30. Instead of being tilted 34° toward the horizon, the capsule was inclined at 25° and overshot its mark, landing at 1:41 pm. Carpenter deployed a rubber raft and stayed afloat for another three hours before being spotted.

Here's a commemorative cover for the event from the Netherlands:



a nice first day cover from Denmark:



and another large first day cover from Indonesia's Asian Games series:

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Peter

Friday May 25th 1962

On 14 November 1940 St Michael's Cathedral was bombed almost to destruction during the Coventry Blitz by the German Luftwaffe. Only the tower, spire, the outer wall and the bronze effigy and tomb of its first bishop, survived. The new St Michael's Cathedral, built next to the remains of the old, was designed by Basil Spence and Arup, built by John Laing, and its foundation stone was laid by the Queen on 23 March 1956. On this day in 1962 the new Coventry Cathedral was consecrated.

Let's start with a commemorative cover from the occasion:



a first day cover from Austria:



Two FDC from West Germany for butterfly enthusiasts amongst us:




and a little worse for wear but full of character, a cover from China to Israel:

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Peter

Saturday May 26th 1962

Here's one for Norm.... On this day in 1962, Geelong 19.15 (129) defeated North Melbourne 6.14 (50) at Arden Street. Also on this day, Acker Bilk's "Stranger On The Shore" became the first British recording to reach number one in the US Billboard Hot 100.

Today we have three first day covers from Italy:






and a commercial cover from Iraq:

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Peter

Sunday May 27th 1962
On this day in 1962, the contents of the new landfill in Centralia, Pennsylvania, were burned as part of a cleanup on the day before Memorial Day. As had been done in the past, the volunteer fire department then extinguished the blaze. The new landfill, however, had been placed above an abandoned coal mine and continued to burn underground. 50 years later Centralia is a ghost town and the fire still burns........

This day also marked the 25th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge - here is a commemorative cover for the occasion:



In 1962 we have the usual surface mail and airmail along with Rocket Mail and even Hovercraft mail. Here's some Balloon mail from Austria (signed by the pilot):

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Peter

Monday May 28th 1962
On this day in 1962, in an impromptu speech at opening of an Italian industrial exhibition in MOSCOW, Soviet Premier Khrushchev acknowledged that the U.S. had achieved “notable successes” in space and saluted the courage of Mercury astronauts Glenn and Carpenter. Commenting on M. Scott Carpenter’s MA-7 flight in AURORA 7, Khrushchev declared: “I congratulate him especially because he gave proof of great courage in a situation in which he could have been burned in his ship or drowned in the sea. All the scientists could do from the earth was to advise him to drink water and to land. But he had the presence of mind and the courage to continue his flight.”

Let's start today with a first day cover from Spain:


Next, a commercial use of a first day cover from Rhodesia & Nyasaland, 13 days later:


and to finish an aerogramme from South Africa:


Hard to see on this scan but this is postmarked 28 May 1962 -trust me

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Peter

Tuesday May 29th 1962
On this day in 1962, stock market prices fell worldwide in the largest one-day decline since the Great Depression. Heavy sales were registered in New York, London, Tokyo, Paris, Frankfurt and Zurich.

One cover today - a first day cover for the 5th Islamic conference, Iraq:

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Peter

Wednesday May 30th 1962
On this day in 1962, the 7th FIFA Football World Cup commenced in Chile and ran until 17 June. The tournament was won by Brazil, who claimed their second World Cup title by defeating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final.

In May 1960, as the preparations were well under way, Chile suffered one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded (9.5 magnitude), which caused enormous damage to the national infrastructure. In the face of this, Carlos Dittborn, the president of the Organising Committee, coined the phrase "Because we don't have anything, we will do everything in our power to rebuild," which became the unofficial slogan of the tournament. Stadia and other infrastructure were rebuilt at record speed and the tournament occurred on schedule with no major organisational flaws. Dittborn did not live to see the success of his efforts, as he died one month before the start of the tournament. The World Cup venue at Arica was named Estadio Carlos Dittborn in his honour and bears his name to this day.

Today's cover is not a football one but a first day cover of Haiti's contribution to the anti-malaria campaign:

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Peter

Thursday May 31st 1962
On this day in 1962, Adolf Eichmann, German Nazi and SS Lieutenant Colonel and one of the major organisers of the Holocaust, was hanged for his role in the extermination of European Jews. The first execution in the history of modern Israel took place at 11:58 pm local time "on an improvised scaffold in a third story storeroom" at the Ramleh prison near Tel Aviv. The body was cremated soon afterward and Eichmann's ashes scattered over the Mediterranean Sea.

Again, just one cover today, a FDC for Brazil's contribution to the anti-malaria campaign:

_________________
Peter

May 1962 continued.....

To wrap up May, here are a few covers that I missed as the month went by - mainly new arrivals:
















So including these we have seen 86 items from 48 countries during May......

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Peter

Friday June 1st 1962
On this day in 1962, President Kennedy, in a memorandum to the Secretary of Defense, dated 1 June 1962, authorized the award of the US Army Commendation Medal to members of the Armed Forces of friendly foreign nations who, after 1 June 1962, distinguished themselves by an act of heroic, extraordinary achievement, or meritorious service.

June already! Eight covers today. Let's start with three first day covers from New Zealand:






and one from Switzerland:

Friday June 1st 1962...continued..

next we have first days covers from...

Japan



Norway



Mauritania



and the Ryukyu Islands

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Peter

Saturday June 2nd 1962
On this day in 1962, Chile beat Italy in a World Cup match 2 - 0. Punches were thrown, noses were bloodied and police had to intervene three times during the game. Known as "the Battle of Santiago," the match was played before a crowd of 66,057 at the Estadio Nacional and was the second group stage match of the tournament for both teams. Anti-Italian sentiment was running high in Chile because a pair of Italian journalists had disparaged both the city of Santiago and its women before the tournament even started (worried about their own safety, the two men had to flee the country before the match). The game was described by David Coleman on British television a couple of days later (not the same night, because film of matches still had to be flown back) as "the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game."

The referee was Ken Aston who later went on to invent yellow and red cards

Seems appropriate that today's cover is from Italy, although this one commemorates the Eurospace initiative:

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Peter

Sunday June 3rd 1962
On this day in 1962, Air France Flight 007, chartered as the Chateau de Sully, over-ran the runway on takeoff from Orly Airport in Paris, killing all 122 passengers and 8 of the 10 crewmembers at 12:29 pm local time. Two flight attendants survived. Most (106 of the 122) of the victims were cultural and civic leaders of the Atlanta Art Association, who were on their way home after a tour of Europe. The Boeing 707 crashed through an airport fence and into the woods near the village of Villeneuve-le-Roi.

Three first day covers today from Singapore. The first two used locally and the third, posted to South Australia:

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Peter

Hi Peter

What amazes me about your thread is not just that you have hunted down the respective dates, but the research you have undertaken to identify obscure but significant events that have happened on those specific days. Ditto for your thread on just stamps. They are basically a history lesson. Do you just rely on the internet wickipedia or do you utilise more traditional forms of research?

Regards
King Tut

A question on history from King Tut .... highly appropriate

Some people like to understand all about postage rates and usage for their cover collection. I confess to not being that interested in whether someone applied the correct postage. Rather I've always been interested in the history and social context of my covers.

Over the last couple of years I've been assembling historical snippets to match my cover collection - organising them in a simple spreadsheet and every time I come across a "better" snippet I upgrade

A fair portion has started with Wikipedia but everything there needs confirmation in my view. The internet is full of incredibly useful sites for this - from historic newspaper sites and every scorecard from every FIFA associated soccer game ever played to published chronologies of key events in the space program. The stamps and covers themselves are also a great guide to such research - stamp issues to mark visiting Royalty for example.

Cheers

Peter

Monday June 4th 1962
On this day in 1962, a coup d'état attempt by rebel Venezuelan soldiers began. It was to last only 48 hours but provided the setting for the world press photo of the year 1962. The picture, taken by Héctor Rondón Lovera at Puerto Cabello Naval Base, shows a dying soldier clinging to Chaplain Luis Padillo. You can see the photo at: Wordpress

On an almost opposite theme to that above, today's cover has a back stamp celebrating 100 years of Tongan emancipation:




Not sure what this is a first day cover for, the stamps were released on February 7, 1962.

If you want to learn more about Tin Can Mail, check out this great thread, started by Lakatoi 4: Tin Can Mail

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Peter

Tuesday June 5th 1962

On this day in 1962, there were two major events in the history of Marvel Comics. Marvel released "JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #83" which was the first appearance of "Thor" and more significantly (I think) they also released "AMAZING FANTASY #15" - the first appearance of "Spider-man".

Two covers today. A first day cover from Israel:



and a commercial cover from Argentina to Switzerland:

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Peter

Wednesday June 6th 1962
On this day in 1962, the Beatles auditioned for George Martin of EMI's Parlophone label. Four songs were recorded -- "Love Me Do," "P.S. I Love You," "Ask Me Why" and "Besame Mucho." Though liking parts of what he had heard, Martin was noncommittal at the time as to whether the label would release any songs by the group. He was subsequently convinced and the band’s first single, ‘Love Me Do’ eventually was released in early October ‘62.

June 6 seemed to be the day that Monaco released stamps - here are their first day covers for this day:








and as a break from FDC, we also have a large cover from Canada:

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Peter

Thursday June 7th 1962
On this day in 1962, Pakistan made its first space experiment, the launching of a Rehbar I sounding rocket from a site near Karachi. Part of a cooperative program between NASA and the Pakistan Upper Atmosphere and Space Research Committee, the Rehbar I was a Nike-Cajun rocket supplied by the U.S., carrying a sodium vapor payload to an altitude of about 80 miles to measure upper-altitude winds. Prior to the launch, Pakistani scientists and technicians were given training in NASA research and launch centers.

Today's cover is a first day cover from Bolivia with with surcharged Refugee Year stamps:

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Peter

Friday June 8th 1962
On this day in 1962, in address at Ohio State University, General Curtis E. LeMay (USAF) said: "It is in the fields of science and technology that the greatest explosion of problems is occurring. We are in the midst of an age of technological change that will make the industrial revolution seem dull indeed. The problems associated with technical change are producing opportunities in greater abundance than ever before. Opportunity is not only knocking at the door, it is beating gongs all around the house . . . ."

Let's start with two first day covers from Yugoslavia:





and finish with one from Congo:

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Peter

Saturday June 9th 1962
On this day in 1962, astronaut Scott Carpenter received a bachelors degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Colorado, a degree he missed in 1949 by not taking the final examination in a course in heat transfer. According to the University, "His subsequent training as an Astronaut has more than made up for the deficiency in the subject of heat transfer."

Three covers today. First two postally used first day covers from Czechoslovakia:






and a book post cover from India:

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Peter

Sunday June 10th 1962
On this day in June 1962, the third of 10 atmospheric nuclear tests to be conducted that month by the United States in the vicinity of Christmas Island (in the Pacific) took place. The "Yeso" test, dropped by a B-52 bomber 20 miles south of Christmas Island, yielded 3000 kilo-tons.

On the same day in the Soviet Union, Operation Anadyr, to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, was approved unanimously by the Presidium of the Soviet Union on the recommendation of Defense Minister Rodion Malinovsky and Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev.

Two covers today. A first day cover from Japan:



and a commercial cover from the United Kingdom to the USSR:

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Peter

Monday June 11th 1962
On this day in 1962, there was an attempt by American criminals Clarence Anglin, John Anglin and Frank Morris to escape Alcatraz Island, one of the United States' most famous prisons. They burrowed out of their cells, climbed a ventilation shaft onto the roof and then climbed down and left the island on a makeshift raft. Despite an extensive search, the men were never heard from again and their fates remain unknown.

Today we have a first day cover from Syria:



and one from Portugal:

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Peter

Impresive thread, congratulations!!!!

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http://www.albumdeestampillas.com.ar
http://albumdeestampillas.blogspot.com

Cheers

Tuesday June 12th 1962
On this day in 1962, for the first time, the Philippines celebrated 12 June as independence day. Prior to this they had celebrated on 4 July.

Also on this day, some three days before his high school graduation, 18-year old George Lucas survived a near fatal car crash caused by a fellow student. Lucas would subsequently abandon his early dream to become a race car driver, and go on to become a successful filmmaker.

Let's start with a first day cover from Italy:



next, three FDC from the Vatican:





to finish, a nice cover from Kuwait with a slogan cancel "Collection of Stamps Promotes Eduction and Saving":

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Peter

Wednesday June 13th 1962
On this day in 1962, Lee Harvey Oswald arrived back in the United States on the Dutch cruise ship S.S. Maasdam, after more than two years away in Russia. Oswald and his family were greeted on arrival in New York by Mr. Spas T. Rankin of the Travelers Aid Society of New York.

Another Russia / New York connection - also on this day in 1962, "Lolita," Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of the Vladimir Nabokov novel, had its world premiere in New York City.

The covers today are all first day covers from Canada showing a selection of cachets used:

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Peter

Thursday June 14th 1962
On this day in 1962, Anna E. Siesers, 55, was found dead in her apartment in Boston, raped and strangled to death. Before the end of the summer, four other women would be raped and strangled in and near Boston. They would be first victims (out of a total of 13) of the serial killer nicknamed "The Boston Strangler".

On a lighter note, following a successful pilot episode shown in January, the classic British sitcom Steptoe and Son began its 12-year run on BBC. The show would later be described as "the most popular situation comedy in British television history".

After a rash of first day covers so far in June, today we have three commercial covers....

The first from Australia to West Germany:



the next from Vietnam to the United States:



and the last, a registered meter cover from KUT to Switzerland:

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Peter

Friday June 15th 1962
During 1962, a group of American college students who had been active in the civil rights movement and the peace movement created Students for a Democratic Society. On this day in 1962, at its organising meeting in Port Huron, Michigan, SDS adopted a manifesto drafted by Tom Hayden, a graduate student at the University of Michigan. The Port Huron Statement was a wide-ranging critique of American society -- of racial injustice, the dangers of nuclear war, the failure to develop peaceful atomic energy, the Cold War, the maldistribution of wealth, the political apathy of students, and the exhaustion of liberal ideology. The opening and closing words of the Port Huron statement:

"We are people of this generation, bred in at least modest comfort, housed now in universities, looking uncomfortably to the world we inherit."
....

"If we appear to seek the unattainable, as it has been said, then let it be known that we do so to avoid the unimaginable."

Let's start today with two very similar covers postmarked Christmas Island (in the Pacific) - the base for over a dozen nuclear tests in June 1962:




next, a first day cover from Norway:



a commercial cover from Mozambique:



and to finish, a large cover from Germany:

_________________
Peter