The wildebeest, also called gnu, is a genus of antelopes, scientific name Connochaetes. It belongs to the family Bovidae, which includes antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep and other even-toed horned ungulates. Connochaetes includes two species, both native to Africa: the black wildebeest, or white-tailed gnu (C. gnou); and the blue wildebeest, or brindled gnu (C. taurinus). Fossil records suggest these two species diverged about one million … Continue reading Wildebeest (Gnu)
April 6 in Thailand is marked as King Phutthayotfa Chulalok the Great and Chakri Dynasty Memorial Day (วันพระบาทสมเด็จพระพุทธยอดฟ้าจุฬาโลกมหาราชและวันที่ระลึกมหาจักรีบรมราชวงศ์), or simply Chakri Day (วันจักรี — Wan Chakkri) which commemorates the establishment of the Chakri Dynasty and the founding of Bangkok by King Phutthayotfa Chulalok in 1782, detailed on A Stamp A Day last year. This year, I have found several events that occurred on this date … Continue reading Cape Town, Shiloh, the G.A.R., & the 1896 Olympics
The first triangular stamps in the world were released by the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, otherwise known as Cape Colony (Kaapkolonie in Dutch). The British colony was preceded by an earlier Dutch colony of the same name, the Kaap de Goede Hoop, established in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company. The Cape was under Dutch rule from 1652 to 1795 and … Continue reading The Cape Triangles
The Kingdom of Zulu, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or the Kingdom of Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north. The Zulu Kingdom was defeated by Britain in the Anglo-Zulu War and was annexed as a British territory in 1887. For a … Continue reading Zululand #15 (1894)
The Swaziland Protectorate was established in 1903 after Great Britain’s victory in the Anglo-Boer War. Much of its early administration (for example, postal services) was carried out from South Africa until 1906 when the Transvaal colony was granted self-government. Following this, Swaziland was partitioned into European and non-European (or native reserves) areas with the former being two-thirds of the total land. At no more than 120 … Continue reading Swaziland Protectorate #10 (1933)
South West Africa (Suidwes-Afrika in Afrikaans, Zuidwest-Afrika in Dutch, and Südwestafrika in German) was occupied by South African troops from 1915, and a mandate of that country by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 until it achieved independence as Namibia in 1990. Located in southern Africa with the Atlantic Ocean as its western border, the present-day country shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the … Continue reading South West Africa #97 (1927)
The Orange River Colony (Oranjerivierkolonie) was the British colony created after Britain first occupied (1900) and then annexed (1902) the independent Orange Free State (Oranje-Vrijstaat in Dutch) in the Second Boer War. The colony ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Union of South Africa as Orange Free State Province. Extending between the Orange and Vaal rivers, its borders were determined by … Continue reading Orange River Colony #57 (1902)
The Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded on the south by 1,739 miles (2,798 kilometers) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; on the north by the neighboring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and on the east and northeast by Mozambique and Swaziland; and surrounds the kingdom of Lesotho. South … Continue reading Republic of South Africa #258 (1961)
A Stamp A Day 