In philately … “that which is tax-free”; the postage stamp permitted the letter to come free of charge to the recipient, rendering it untaxed. Read More
introduction by Hill
In Sir Rowland Hill …subsequently became known as the postage stamp. Hill managed to put his program into effect in 1840, despite bureaucratic hostility. He was knighted in 1860. Read More
In postal system: Rowland Hill’s reforms … of postage by means of adhesive stamps sold by the post office. Hill proposed a basic rate of one penny for each half ounce, calculating the “natural cost of distribution” to be slightly less than this. The cheapest current rate of postage was fourpence, and the average charge 6 1/ Read More
postcards
In postcard …issued postal cards with imprinted stamps in May 1873. Until 1898 privately printed souvenir cards required a two-cent stamp (double the amount of the government card) if they bore a message. Read More
ultraviolet radiation
In spectroscopy: Fluorescence For example, postage stamps may be tagged with a visually transparent coating of a fluorescing agent to prevent counterfeiting, and the addition of a fluorescing agent with emissions in the blue region of the spectrum to detergents will impart to cloth a whiter appearance in the sunlight. Read More
