Until just a couple of months ago, I did not know that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), or Organisation des Nations unies pour l’éducation, la science et la culture as it is called in French, has issued its own postage stamps since 1961. These are valid for postage only on mail posted from UNESCO Headquarters or Maison de l’UNESCO at number … Continue reading UNESCO and the World Heritage Site at Kotor
The Liberation of Paris (Libération de Paris) was a military action that took place during World War II from August 19, 1944, until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on August 25, 1944. Paris had been ruled by Nazi Germany since the signing of the Second Compiègne Armistice on June 22, 1940, after which the Wehrmacht occupied northern and western France. The liberation began … Continue reading The Liberation of Paris
The inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, occurred on July 29, 1836, following 30 years of construction. The Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile (Triumphal Arch of the Star) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the center of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l’Étoile — the étoile or … Continue reading Arc de Triomphe, Paris
At 7:52 on the rainy morning of May 20, 1927, a 25-year-old former U.S. Air Mail pilot with the nickname of Slim taxied his single-engine Ryan monoplane, Spirit of St. Louis, down the muddy runway at Roosevelt Airfield near Garden City on Long Island, New York. Taking off in relative obscurity, 33 hours, 30 minutes later Charles Augustus Lindbergh landed at Aéroport Le Bourget in … Continue reading Lucky Lindy Flies the Atlantic!
Did anybody ever tell you that you look a little like Mary Cassatt a mother and a child arranged, estranged a mere brush stroke apart while underneath your varnish hides an unpossessible soul you remind me of someone I don’t know who somebody who’s so hard to know —”You Remind Me of Someone” (lyrics ©1994 by Bob Walkenhorst; from The Rainmakers album Flirting With The Universe (Mercury Records, … Continue reading Mary Cassatt “The Boating Party”
The 14th of July is annually celebrated as French National Day, also known as Bastille Day. In France, it is known as National Day (fête nationale) or, more commonly, le quatorze juillet (the fourteenth of July), commemorating the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. The Bastille was a medieval fortress and in the center of Paris. It contained just seven inmates at the time of its … Continue reading Bonne Fête Nationale Française!
A Stamp A Day 