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Wednesday January 31st 1962

This day in 1962 was the fourth day of an unusually heavy fog in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys in central California, with the deaths of 11 people on their way to a labor camp in Mendota. Their bus was hit by a Southern Pacific freight train. Since January 28, seventeen other people had been killed on U.S. Highway 99 in accidents related to visibility of less than 100 feet. The cloud cover dissipated by February 2.

Five covers today starting with a pair of first day covers from Netherlands Antilles:





Next a first day cover from Finland:



and one from South Korea:



Finally to wrap up the first month of the year (where did that go??) a commercial cover from Morocco:

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Peter

Before we move to February, I want to include 3 January covers that have arrived after their respective dates.

A first day cover from Pakistan:



Nice commercial meter cover from Aden:



and for me, an unusual source / destination from January 6 - Gabon to Bulgaria:



So, including these 3 we have seen ninety two, January 1962 items from 50 different countries - hopefully February provides similar variety

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Peter

Thursday February 1st 1962

On this day in 1962, U.S. President Kennedy delivered "the first presidential message entirely devoted to public welfare", proposing that federal aid to the poor be extended to include job training programs and day care for children of working parents.

Two covers today. A first day cover from the Ryukyu Islands:



and a commercial cover from Zanzibar:

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Peter

Friday February 2nd 1962

On this day in 1962, the Soviet Union conducted its very first underground nuclear test. Previously, the Soviets had conducted all of their atomic and hydrogen bomb explosions in the atmosphere.

Two commercial covers today. First one from Panama to Switzerland:



and the second from Antigua to a nun in the United States:

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Peter

Saturday February 3rd 1962

On this day on 1962, the United States embargo against Cuba was announced (to take effect on Feb 8th )

Just the one cover today, an advertising cover from Australia:



I think this is about the 5th cover to this addressee I've featured - thank goodness some people kept their mail

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Peter

Saturday February 3rd 1962.... continued

Almost missed listing this fold-a-letter (or at least its front) from the Bahamas:

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Peter

Sunday February 4th 1962

Gnostic Philosopher Samael Aun Weor, declared February 4, 1962, to be the beginning of the "Age of Aquarius", heralded by the alignment of the first six planets, the Sun, the Moon, and the constellation Aquarius.

A first day cover today, from the French Southern & Antarctic Territories:

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Peter

Monday February 5th 1962

On this day in 1962, hours before the Beatles were scheduled to play at the Cavern Club, drummer Pete Best told his fellow musicians that he was ill and wouldn't be able to appear. Determined not to cancel the show, the group called around for a replacement and Ringo Starr, whose group had the day off, appeared in Best's place.

Four covers today. Two first day covers from Czechoslovakia:






and two from Norfolk Island:

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Peter

Tuesday February 6th 1962

On this day in 1962 the city of Memphis, Tennessee, ordered the desegregation of its' lunch counters, formerly limited to white customers only.

A bit of an aircraft theme with today's first day covers. One from Pakistan:



and two for the same issue from Rhodesia and Nyassaland:




and let's finish with a colourful cover from Grenada:

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Peter

Another Rhodesian FDC from that 6 Feb issue.

Nice cover - with a nice clear KITWE cancellation strike.

Makes you wonder how many variations to the cachet there are?

Wednesday February 7th 1962

On this day in 1962 the United States Air Force announced that in the first 15 years of its Project Blue Book investigation of U.F.O. sightings, there was no evidence that any of the 7,369 unidentified flying object reports indicated a threat to national security, any technological advances "beyond the range of our present day scientific knowledge", and no sign of "extraterrestrial vehicles under intelligent controls".

Here's a multi-franked cover from South West Africa to Germany:



and an aerogramme from the United States to Denmark with a "pray for peace" slogan cancel:

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Peter

Thursday February 8th 1962

On this day in 1962 the United States and the United Kingdom announced an agreement between the two nations to allow the U.S. to test nuclear weapons at Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean.

One of my handful of missing dates. The closest I have come so far is this paquebot cover that arrived in New York on 8 Feb 1962:

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Peter

Friday February 9th 1962

On this day in 1962, Spain requested admission to the European Economic Community. Membership was finally approved in 1986.

Four covers today. A first day cover from Gabon:



A nice meter cover from Australia:



and two (obviously philatelic) covers from the Cayman Islands:

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Peter

Saturday February 10th 1962

On this day in 1962, captured American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers was exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in Berlin.

Three items today.... a first day cover from Ghana:




a first day cover from the Canal Zone:


and an aerogramme from Nigeria with slogan cancel - "Licence your Radio":

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Peter

Sunday February 11th 1962

On this day in 1962, the UK selected its entry for the 1962 Eurovision Song Contest from a shortlist of 12. The winner was "Ring-a-ding Girl" sung by Ronnie Carroll.

Today's item is an advertising card from Berlin:

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Peter

Hi Peter

What you are showing in the two 1962 threads is what many people promote stamp collecting as, but few actually live it - the attainment of knowledge and world history.

It's a major acheivement not only in finding the items, but researching to find something of significance that occurred on that date.

Laurence

Thanks Laurence. What I love about Stampboards is that it provides the perfect opportunity for collectors like me to satisfy the secret urge to show our collections to other people (especially those who might actually appreciate them)

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Peter

Monday February 12th 1962

On this day in 1962, the body of British aviator Bill Lancaster was discovered almost 29 years after he had disappeared over the Sahara in the Southern Cross Minor. Lancaster had last been seen on April 12, 1933, when he took off from Reggane in French Algeria. Meanwhile on the other side of the world, the largest air search effort ever made in New Zealand commenced with the disappearance of five people on a scenic flight from Christchurch to Milford Sound. No trace of the aircraft, a Dragonfly ZK-AFB, has ever been found. More information about this can be found at http://www.findlostaircraft.co.nz/zk-afb.html

Today's covers aren't in great condition but they have character.

A cover from Nigeria to Chicago:



and a cover from the Noona Dan Expedition in Papua and New Guinea to Canada:

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Peter

Tuesday February 13th 1962

On this day in 1962, a huge crowd (estimated as high as 500,000 people) marched in Paris in the first massive protest against the continuing Algerian war, which had gone into its eighth year. The occasion was the funeral ceremony for people who had been killed by police in the Charonne metro station the previous Thursday. With many of the participants walking off of their jobs to protest, business in Paris and much of France was brought to a halt.

Today we have two maritime covers from the United States. One from Operation Sea Scan:



and the other the return trip of the SS France:

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Peter

Wednesday February 14th 1962

On this day in 1962, US First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy took television viewers on a tour of the White House. "A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy", produced by CBS News and hosted by Jacqueline Kennedy and CBS reporter Charles Collingwood, was broadcast on television by CBS and on NBC at 10:00 pm Eastern time. Attracting 46,000,000 TV viewers, or three out of every four households in America, it was the highest rated television program up to that time.

Let's start with a first day cover from the US:



next an advertising cover from Australia with nice "Prevent Bush Fires" slogan cancel:



and a romantic location for St Valentine's Day - posted from the summit of Mt Kosciusko:

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Peter

Thursday February 15th 1962

On this day in 1962, the parliament for the Republic of Katanga voted to ratify President Moise Tshombe's declaration that the breakaway state should end its secession and return to the Republic of the Congo.

Seven covers today. Let's start with an unaddressed FDC from Japan:



next a FDC from Finland:



another from Belgium:

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Peter

Thursday February 15th 1962....continued..

Two more FDC, this time from Albania and Germany:

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Peter

Thursday February 15th 1962....continued..

To close, a couple of commercial use covers. One from Germany that may be philatelic:



and one from the French Somali Coast that probably isn't:

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Peter

Friday February 16th 1962
On this day in 1962 voting in India's national election commenced, with 210 million voters going to the polls. The final result was that 119,904,284 eligible voters participated, and the Indian National Congress, led by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, won 361 (or about 73%) of the seats. The Communist Party of India was a distant second with 29 seats (6%).

In a presumably unconnected event, rioters in British Guiana set fire to much of the capital city of Georgetown, as Guianans of African descent attacked those of Indian descent. British troops were sent in to restore order.

Today we have two first day covers from the then East Germany:

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Peter

Saturday February 17th 1962

On this day in 1962, Joseph Kearns, an American actor who portrayed "Mr. Wilson" on the Dennis the Menace TV series, died at the age of 55 after collapsing from a cerebral hemorrhage the previous Sunday. Ironically, the plot for that Sunday evening's episode, "Where There's a Will", dealt with Kearns's character convinced that he had only a short time to live.

It's all about first day covers today......

Let's start with two from Mauritania:




and a nice registered FDC from Ecuador to mark Prince Phillip's visit:

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Peter

Saturday February 17th 1962... continued...

The rest of today's covers are from the common design series for the founding of Air Afrique:

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Peter

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Peter

Sunday February 18th 1962

On this day in 1962, two pilots of the French Air Force, described as "renegades", defied orders, broke away from a routine mission over French Algeria, flew their planes across the border into Morocco, and then attacked a rebel camp in the city of Oujda with rockets and machine gun fire. The two, believed to be members of the Organisation de l'armée secrète, then flew their planes to Saïda, Algeria, landed, and deserted.

Two covers today, a first day cover from Turkey:



and a flight cover from Germany:

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Peter

Monday February 19th 1962

On this day in 1962, musician Chuck Berry reported to the Federal Penetentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, after his conviction for violating the Mann Act (in 1959) was affirmed. He would, after serving for 20 months of his three year sentence, be released on October 18, 1963 and revive his career.

One cover today, from Rhodesia and Nyasaland:

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Peter

Tuesday February 20th 1962

On this day in 1962, Mercury spacecraft FRIENDSHIP 7, was launched into orbit by an Atlas booster rocket, Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr., (USMC), as astronaut. After three orbits FRIENDSHIP 7 re-entered and parachuted into Atlantic some 166 miles east of Grand Turk Island in the Bahamas. Beyond being the first U.S. manned orbital space flight, the flight provided aerospace medical data during 285 minutes of weightlessness, including consumption of solid and liquid food and disorientation exercises. Astronaut Glenn was forced to manually pilot the spacecraft during 2nd and 3rd orbits due to troubles with the automatic pilot. Glenn was pronounced “hale and hearty” after his 81,000-mile flight of 4 hrs. 56 min.

This event was marked by a stamp issued on the day by the United States:




other countries also marked the event:

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Peter

Tuesday February 20th 1962... continued...

On a different topic, here's a first day cover form Portugal:

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Peter

Wednesday February 21st 1962

On this day in 1962, Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev first danced together, in a Royal Ballet performance of Giselle at Covent Garden in London, creating one of the greatest partnerships in the history of dance. Nureyev had defected from the U.S.S.R. almost eight months earlier on June 16, 1961.

Two covers today. A first day cover from Israel:



and a commercial cover from Bermuda:

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Peter

Thursday February 22nd 1962

On this day in 1962, a freight train and a passenger train collided near Cali, Colombia, killing 40 passengers and injuring 67 others.

Let's start today with a couple of commercial covers. First one from Australia with "Prevent Bush Fires" slogan cancel:



next a commercial cover from France:

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Peter

Thursday February 22nd 1962... continued..

The other covers today are first day covers:

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Peter

Thursday February 22nd 1962... continued..

Oops almost missed this stamp-less official cover from Pitcairn Island:

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Peter

Friday February 23rd 1962

On this day in 1962, astronaut John Glenn arrived in Cape Canaveral to a hero's welcome and was reunited with his family for the first time since before going into space. U.S. President John F. Kennedy, for whom Cape Canaveral would be renamed during the 1960s, greeted Glenn and to personally award him the NASA Special Services Medal.

Three covers today....from Tonga, Guinea and Upper Volta:

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Peter

Saturday February 24th 1962

On this day in 1962, the United States government began its first telephone and television transmissions via satellite, bouncing signals off of Echo 1, which had been launched on August 12, 1960.

Just one, quite busy cover today from Lebanon:

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Peter

Sunday February 25th 1962

On this day in 1962, Blagonravov, Vice President of the International Committee on Space Research,
said in an Izvestia interview that the existence of a dense belt with energies of 200 to 20,000 electron volts at a distance of 25,000 to 50,000 miles was recorded by Soviet space launchings in 1958. If true this represented the discovery of the third radiation belt around the earth years before the findings of EXPLORER XII were made public by NASA on January 19, 1962.

Today we have a rocket cover from Poland:

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Peter

Monday February 26th 1962

On this day in 1962, the Irish Republican Army officially called off its five-year Border Campaign in Northern Ireland. In press releases dropped off at newspapers there as well as in Ireland, the IRA publicity bureau wrote, "The Leadership of the Resistance Movement has ordered the termination of 'The Campaign of Resistance to British Occupation'... all arms and other materials have been dumped and all full-time active service volunteers have been withdrawn." With the exception of a series of 17 bank robberies to finance the organization, the IRA violence halted until 1969.

Six covers today. Let's start with a series of first day covers for a set from Czechoslovakia:

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Peter

Monday February 26th 1962... continued...

Next we have a cover from Nigeria with slogan "Licence your radio":



A registered cover from Mozambique to the U.S.S.R:



and last but not least a cover from British Honduras featuring a couple of the Hurricane Hattie overprints that were issued in January 1962. The Hurricane struck in October 1961:

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Peter

Tuesday February 27th 1962

On this day in 1962, Sublieutenant Nguyễn Văn Cử and Lt. Phạm Phú Quốc, two members of the South Vietnamese Air Force, diverted from their combat mission south of Saigon and dropped bombs upon the presidential palace in an attempt to assassinate President Ngô Đình Diệm. One of the 500 pound bombs landed in the room where the President and his advisers were, but failed to detonate because it had been dropped from too low an altitude to arm itself. Quốc was arrested after being forced to land, while Cử fled to neighboring Cambodia. Both men would be reinstated to the Air Force after Diem's assassination in 1963.

A nice cover today from Japan:

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Peter

Wednesday February 28th 1962

On this day in 1962, a group of 15 American Jupiter missiles, with nuclear warheads, became operational at the Izmir U.S. Air Force Base in Turkey; within range to strike the Soviet Union. The presence of American nuclear missiles in a nation bordering the U.S.S.R. would become an issue during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when Soviet nuclear missiles were brought to Cuba, within striking distance of the United States. The missiles were withdrawn from both Turkey and Cuba following the crisis....

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





next a commercial cover from Kuwait:



and an official cover from Tanganyika:



Compare this last one to the cover shown on January 27th - a month further into independence and now they are crossing out "Her Majesty"

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Peter

On this day (Feb 29th) in 1962 absolutely nothing happened; 1962 not being a leap year

I'll take the opportunity to show a few February covers that I've acquired in the last few weeks from a range of countries....
American Samoa:



Dahomey:


The Bahamas:



and Ceylon:




A lot of variety in the last month with ninety one February 1962 items from 60 different countries - let's see what March brings us

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Peter

Thursday March 1st 1962

On this day in 1962, an American Airlines Boeing 707 crashed on takeoff at New York International Airport, after a rudder malfunction caused an uncontrolled roll, resulting in the loss of control of the aircraft, with the loss of all life on board. On a lighter note, the S. S. Kresge Company opened its first Kmart discount store in Garden City, Michigan.

Let's start March off with a bang - 9 covers today....

A couple of first day covers from East Germany:




and one from South Africa:

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Peter

Thursday March 1st 1962... continued..

Next a variety of commercial covers. From Togo:


from France:



and from Yemen:

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Peter

Thursday March 1st 1962... continued..

Next we have an aerogramme from British Guiana:



a registered cover from Selangor:


and to wrap up the day, some evidence of the longevity of Max Stern's stamp business:

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Peter

Friday March 2nd 1962

On this day in 1962, in Burma, General Ne Win and the Burmese Army staged a nearly bloodless coup d'etat against the civilian government of Prime Minister U Nu. He was arrested, along with the nation's President, the Chief Justice, and five of his cabinet members. Ne Win would go on to rule the nation until his retirement in 1988.

Just one cover today, a pre-stamped envelope from Australia:

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Peter

Saturday March 3rd 1962

On this day in 1962, the United Kingdom designated all land south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes 20°W and 80°W as the British Antarctic Territory. In addition to the wedge of the Antarctic continent, the territory included the uninhabited South Orkney Islands and the South Shetland Islands, while putting South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands under the jurisdiction of the Falkland Islands. The claim to the territories was not recognized by Argentina.

In warmer climes, Liu Cheng-sze, a second lieutenant in Communist China's air force, defected to Taiwan, taking with him a Soviet-built MiG-15 jet fighter. Liu had broken away from a training mission, then flew the jet 200 miles south and landed near Taipei, where he surrendered to the Nationalist Chinese Air Force. A parade was held in his honor on March 10, with 200,000 people turning out to honor him.

Two covers today. A first day cover from Japan:



and a commercial cover from British Guiana:

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Peter

Sunday March 4th 1962

On this day in 1962, Caledonian Airways Flight 153, a Douglas DC-7, crashed into a jungle swamp at Douala, Cameroon, killing all 111 people on board.

After that "on this day" I'm a bit hesitant, but here's a first flight cover - Germany to Nigeria:



Here's another German cover - this time for an Alpine Skiing event: