Sunday Stamps II A-Z 'Z' Romania, South Africa

Following a suggestion on my 'Y' post for a Zeppelin I searched my stamps in vain.

South African flowers allow me to present arum lilies as a tribute to the work that Violet puts in each week hosting Sunday Stamps now that we have ended the second A-Z round.

South Africa -20 November 1974
Zantedeschia aethiopica

Bucharest Zoological Gardens  has some splendid birds as shown on this stamp from 1964.

Romania 14 October 1964
 Black Crowned Cranes

I've enjoyed this second A-Z, to round it off all that's left is the check on Sunday-stamps-z to see what others have contributed this week.

Sunday Stamps II A-Z 'Y' - USA, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia

Two stamps with the emphasis on youth and one just because I only have a few from there.

In date of issue order - 

USA - 11 August 1948

I guess I could have used the next stamp under 'J' - 

Rwanda- 31 May 1966 - Youth and Football

1966 was the year in which England won the world cup.

Saudi Arabia  switches the theme from youth - 

Saudi Arabia - 25 May 1976 - Yuba Mosque

Now I will have to start the search for a 'Z' related stamp to end this second round of A-Z on Sunday-Stamps-y.

Sunday Stamps II A-Z 'X' Hungary, Ireland

'X' always seems to be a difficult letter in any A-Z theme. The last time it came up in Sunday Stamps I had to be a bit inventive using stamps like this - 

Ireland - 2 December 1963:
100th anniversary of the Red Cross

To find a true 'X' I had to go fishing for a green-tailed swordfish in Hungary.

Hungary - 9 May 1962
Xiphophorus helleri

In Ancient Greek ξίφος (ksíphos) means a kind of double-edged sword and -φóρος (-phóros) means bearing. This alludes to the presence of an anal fin in male fish which enables it to hook into the vent of a female fish to deposit sperm.

hellerii: honours the name of Austrian botanist and naturalist Karl Bartholomaeus Heller (1824-1880), who explored Mexico between 1845-1848 and brought the type series of X. hellerii to Vienna.

The fish has been widely introduced into Mexico river basins and now occurs in rivers on all continents except Antarctica.

For other stamps from the 'X' files visit the links at Sunday-Stamps-x.

Sunday Stamps Ii A-Z 'W' USA

The 150th anniversary of the Ratification of the Constitution of the USA was commemorated with a stamps issued on 21 June 1938.

In case you wondered how this links to 'W' the building shown is the Old Courthouse at Williamsburg.

Franklin D Roosevelt was the only US President to serve 12 years. He died in 1945.

Roosevelt and the White House - 27 June 1945

In 1903 Wilbur and Orville Wright's plane flew 120 feet in 12 seconds. This stamp commemorated their feat.

The Wright Bros with their plane - 17 December 1949

For other 'w' related stamps fly over to Sunday-Stamps-w.

Sunday Stamps II A-Z 'V' Canada, China, New Zealand

The first flying boat made for Canadian conditions was the Vickers Vedette commemorated in a transportation series issued in 1979.

Canada - 15 November 1979

First made in 1924 the Vedette gave improved access to lakes and rivers opened up by canoes. The three seater was designed for forest fire patrols and photographic work. It starred in mercy missions and saw some service with the RCAF until the beginning of WWII.

May 1949 saw China issue a stamp dedicated to victory in North Kiangsu. Today Jiangsu formerly Kiangsu, capital Nanjing, is an eastern central coastal province of the People's Republic of China. I presume that the victory refers to the war with Japan.

China - 7 May 1949

Victory stamps from New Zealand were issued in 1920 to celebrate the end of WWI.

New Zealand - 27 January 1920

The British Lion represents the British Empire with the allegorical figure of Peace.

For other 'V' stamps go over to Sunday-stamps-v.

Sunday Stamps II A-Z 'U' UNESCO

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organisation) was established in 1946. Since then many of its World Heritage Sites have been commemorated on stamps.

At  the UNESCO General Conference in Paris, 1968 it was decided that activities would be initiated to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Lenin, including the organisation of a symposium on the theme: 'Lenin and the development of science, culture and education'.

The symposium was held in Tampere, Finland, from 6 to 10 April 1970. Tampere was chosen because Lenin lived here from 1905 to 1907. The city houses the only Lenin Museum outside the former Soviet Union.

Finland - 6 April 1970

The medieval centre of the city of Regensburg in Bavaria was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2006 and appears on a joint issue stamp with Japan in 2011.

Germany - 3 February 2011

One of my favourite Canadian stamps shows the Kluane, Wrangell-St Elias, Glacier Bay and Tatshenshini-Alsek national parks declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979  for its spectacular glacier and icefield landscapes and for its habitats for grizzly bears, caribou and Dall sheep.

Canada - 3 July 2015

For other stamps related to 'U' please visit the links at Sunday-stamps-u.

Sunday Stamps II - A-Z 'T' USA and Great Britain again,

At school many years ago I studied American history but only the War of Independence. So in checking my stamps for today I never knew that Texas was once a part of Mexico and even existed for a short while as the independent Republic of Texas. It was only in 1845 that Congress approved it to become a member of the United States.

USA Texas State Centennial - 29 October 1945
Flags of USA and Texas

During the American Revolution a group of Green Mountain Boys lead by Ethan Allen  and Colonel Benedict Arnold captured Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 from the British. A commemorative stamp was  issued ii 1955.

Map of Fort Ticonderoga, Ethan Allen and Artillery - 18 September 1955

But when it comes to historic buildings Great Britain has - 

Great Britain - 1 March 1978
The Tower of London 

The White Tower was built by William the Conqueror in 1078.

Even older is the discovery made by Howard Carter in 1992 in the Valley of the Kings.

Great Britain - 26 April 1972
Statue of Tutankhamun

For other 'T' stamps visit Sunday-stamps-t. where there will be others to admire.

Sunday Stamps II - A-Z 'S' Germany

I have a number of Swastika stamps from the time of the Third Reich but I have no intention of ever showing those. I've settled instead for the poet/playwright and compatriot of Goethe - 

Germany  - Friedrich Schiller (1759/1805)

I must confess I do not know of any of Schiller's work, but knew of - 

DDR (East Germany) - 18 March 1975

It was Albert Schweitzer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952,  and who is possibly more famous for setting up his hospital in Lambaréné in what was then the French Equatorial Africa (now Gabon). Schweitzer used his prize money to set up the leprosarium there. He died at his hospital in 1965.

For more 'S' related stamps check out the links at Sunday-Stamps-s.

Sunday Stamps II A-Z 'R' USA, Great Britain

Back in the 1950s when I was at school, I won my boxing colours and was captain of the boxing team. I wish I could say that I was undefeated like Rocky Marciano, the world heavyweight champion of the time,

USA -26 May 1999

Rocky (not the film) was on the stamp for the 1950s in the Celebrate the Century series.

From boxing to a gentler pastime of poetry for my next stamp from the USA.

" I wake to sleep and take my waking slow.

I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.

I learn  by going where I have to go."

USA - 21 April 2012

Theodore Roethke (1908-1963) is one of the ten 20th century poets that appeared on this set in 2012. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1954.

At this time so many years since England won the football world cup, I have chosen a stamp from back then (1966) showing what is claimed to be Britain's favourite bird.

Great Britain - 6 August 1966

Just like the one that chases other birds away from our feeders when it wants to eat.

This year sees the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Air Force. For the 50th anniversary in 1968 a commemorative stamp showed a Sopwith Camel from WWI and English Electric Lightning Fighters from the 1960s.

Great Britain - 29 May 1968

For other 'R' related stamps fly over and pick up the links at Sunday-stamps-r.

Sunday Stamps II - A-Z; 'Q' USA, Great Britain

I was expecting to show Queens on many stamps today, Last week when covering 'P', I considered focusing on pilots but then found this for today,

USA - 27 April 1991

Harriet Quimby was the first woman pilot in the USA and the first (in 1912) to fly over the English Channel. Tragically she died in a flying accident the same year at the age of 37.

In 1969 the Investiture of HRH the Prince of Wales was held at Caernarfon Castle. One of the set of stamps commemorating this depicted - 

Great Britain - 1 July 1969
Queen Eleanor's Gate, Caernarfon Castle

Queen Eleanor  was the wife of Edward I and gave birth to a son at the castle in 1284 who was to become King Edward II.

To see what other 'Q' related stamps are on show this week just follow the links at Sunday-stamps-q.

Sunday Stamps II A-Z 'P': Great Britain, Norway

I may have shown these before but they are worth another outing.

When I was a boy, fishing on the River Welland, I was always pleased to catch one of these - 

Great Britain - Perch 26 January 1983

Salmon, trout and pike were also in that set of British River Fish. Shame I do not have that pike.

The set for the Centenary of the Royal Society for Protection of Birds issued on 17 January 1989 included - 

Puffin

I always like stamps depicting dogs and despite the time I spent in Norway I never knew that this was a - 

Norwegian Puffin Dog (1983)

I was still in Norway when that stamp was issued.

For other 'P' stamps just pop over to the links at Sunday-stamps-p.

Sunday Stamps II A-Z 'O': Norway, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain

The Viking Ship Museum in Oslo contains three Viking ships - Tune, Gokstad and Oseberg. In 2014 Norway issued a set of three stamps to commemorate the Museum Unfortunately the one in my collection does not show a ship.

Norway - 28 April 2014

Saudi Arabia has vast reserves of oil so it should be no surprise that their stamps reflect this.

Al Khafji Oil Producting-plant - 1976

In 2000 the first series of Millennium Project 'Above and Beyond' stamps included one of my favourite birds.

Great Britain - World Owl Trust, Muncaster

Now if you are wise you will look for other 'O' related stamps at Sunday-Stamps-o.

Sunday Stamps II A-Z 'N' Nobel Prize winners

Three Nobel Prize winners from 1911 appeared on these Swedish stamps issued on 10 December 1971.

Count Maurice Polidore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck
Nobel Prize in Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1911 was awarded to Maurice Maeterlinck "in appreciation of his many-sided literary activities, and especially of his dramatic works, which are distinguished by a wealth of imagination and by a poetic fancy, which reveals, sometimes in the guise of a fairy tale, a deep inspiration, while in a mysterious way they appeal to the readers' own feelings and stimulate their imaginations".

Maeterlinck was born in Ghent, Belgium

Wilhelm Wien & Alivar Gullstrand

Wilhelm Wien, born in a part of Prussia that is now in Russia, was affiliated to Würzburg University in Germany when he won the Nobel Prize for Physics. During his career he submitted 24 nominations for a Nobel Prize and was nominated 9 times for the Physics Prize.

Alivar Gullstrand was Swedish and in 1911 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He was also a multi-nominee for Nobel Prizes including the one for Physics.

For other 'N' related stamps please visit Sunday-Stamps-n. where you will find another world famous scientist.

Sunday Stamps II A-Z 'M': USA

Three from the USA this week in the order of which they were issued.

26 May 1937 - US Naval Academy Seal & Midshipmen

In addition to naval personnel the Academy also trains marines.

4 April 1948 - Mississippi sesquicentennial

The the territory of Mississippi was first organised in 1798 with Winthrop Sargent as its governor. It became the 20th state in 1817.

1 May 1969 - The Fourth of July

Anna May Robert (Grandma) Moses didn't begin painting until she was in her seventies. Her basic theme was scenes on American folklore.

For other stamps on the 'M' theme please visit our host at Sunday-Stamps-m.

Sunday Stamps II - A-Z ; 'L' Great Britain

I thought it was time I showed some stamps from Great Britain. 'L' has given me the opportunity to go back to 1963 with the 9th International Lifeboat Conference in Edinburgh.

Rescue at Sea

19th Century Lifeboat

Lifeboatmen

Now you need to row over to Sunday-stamps-l where more 'L' related stamps may be found.

Sunday Stamps II: A-Z 'K' Iceland Malawi Norway

50 years ago today Iceland issued a Europa stamp depicting a - 

CEPT Key

Conférence européenne des administrations des postes et des télécommunications.

No translation needed for a pastime in Malawi,

Kayak Riding - 25 April 2014

And finally a Norwegian geologist who I know nothing about.

TR Kjerulf - 4 September 1974

For more stamps under 'K' follow the links at Sunday-stamps-k.

Sunday Stamps II - 'J'': Australia, Bangladesh

Two Js in one in Australia at - 

Jim Jim Falls - 8 September 2008

The falls are on the escarpment of Arnhem Land in the Kadahu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia.

In Bangladesh I found a jute field.

Bangladesh - 3 April 1973

For other 'J' related stamps just visit the links at Sunday-stamps-j where I'm sure you will find a jewel or two.

Sunday Stamps II A-Z: 'I" Canada

I know very little about the Indian tribes in North America and even less about those associated with Canada so these stamps were a pleasant surprise.

Canada - 1977

I had to photograph these stamps as I have a scanner problem with my laptop - or rather I am the problem when trying to use them together. Friday the 13th proved a stressful day as far as my desktop was concerned.

For the 'I' related stamps please visit Sunday-stamps-i.

Sunday Stamps - A-Z: 'F' Flags

On 6 August 2009 the USA Postal Service issue the flags of each State in a strip format. I have a coil of 50 stamps with 10 flags repeated 5 times. 

I have only included 5 of the 10 as it proved very difficult to stop the coil from curling up before the scanner closed. However I think these are rather splendid.

For other 'F' themed stamps check out the links at  Sunday-stamps-f