Marking the 100 years of the Royal Australian Navy this ‘then and now’ stamp issue features the Australian Navy’s first flagship, battle cruiser HMAS Australia (I) and modern missile frigate HMAS Sydney (IV).

From settlement in 1788 to 1859, Australia depended on units detached from the Royal Navy based in Sydney to provide naval defence. In 1859, Australia was established as a separate British Naval Station and, until 1913, a squadron of the Royal Navy was maintained in Australian waters. This Australian unit was to be paid for and controlled by the Australian Commonwealth and was to be eventually manned by Australian personnel.

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published June 26th, 2011

Did you know that more than 1.6 billion of the world’s people depend on forests for their livelihood? Or that worldwide, the forest industry is responsible for $270 billion in trade, annually? In Canada, forests are among the largest and most diverse in the world—and have long been central to their economy.

Canadian forests cover 41% of the country’s land mass, which amount to roughly 10% of the world’s forest. In addition to moderating climate and filtering the air we breathe, they also provide a home for countless wildlife species.

Given the importance of forests to their economy, their environment and their well-being, the essential role they play in countries around the world and the way in which issues surrounding the future of the forest unite us globally, it comes as no surprise that the United Nations has declared 2011 as International Year of Forests. This global initiative, launched in February during the 9th session of the United Nation’s forum on forests, seeks to “raise awareness and strengthen the sustainable forest management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for the benefit of current and future generations.”

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published June 25th, 2011

The Republic of San Marino have  issued a stamp dedicated to the Centenary of the foundation of Brescia Football Club – Brescia Calcio: a philatelic issue to commemorate a historic event of major importance.
In 1911 Brescia football club was founded out of a merger between the football associations led by Franco Apollonio: namely, Victoria, Unione Sportiva Bresciana and Gimnasium.
The first Brescia football club team was entrusted to the technical guidance of Ettore Bacchelli.

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published June 24th, 2011

The African nation of Liberia will issue two sheets of chocolate themed postage stamps commemorating one of their leading exports, cocoa. Postage stamps on the first sheet are designed to appear as blocks of chocolate in an unwrapped candy bar, while the second sheet portrays a box of truffles–each stamp depicting a different gourmet confection. Both sheets are cocoa scented. Liberia’s climate being so favorable to agriculture allows the country to be an exporter of products such as rubber, coffee, rice, cassava (tapioca),palm oil, sugarcane, bananas, timber, and cocoa.

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published June 22nd, 2011

This month’s Royal Mail’s special issue features the famous tank engine. We find out how he sprang from Reverend Awdry’s mind to physical reality

It all started as an attempt to keep a poorly child amused. As Christopher Awdry recounts: ‘In the autumn or 1942, I caught measles, and my father tried to enliven my bed-bound quarantine with a rhyme he remembered from his own childhood: “Early in the morning, down by the station. See the littlie engines all in a r0w’, Along comes the driver, pulls a little lever. Peep, peep, chuff’, chuff, off we go.” He drew me a picture to illustrate the verse, giving each engine a different facial expression, which prompted me to ask questions about the unhappy-looking engine: “what’s his name’” and “why is he sad?” Explanations were given – the sad – faced engine was called Edward. And so stories incorporating the many facets or the engines began to form, but because each time he told the stories the details would always be that little bit different, I began to criticise the changes. So, my father, perhaps in self-defence, decided to write down the three stories he had created, “That,” he may have thought, “might keep the boy quiet!’”  (read more)

published June 21st, 2011