//A Chronological History of the United States Postal Service: 1639-1992 //file author: unknown //file created on: unknown //file taken from: http://www.usps.com/history/history/his1.htm#DATES //Date of Discovery: 10/23/2002 //Date of Preparation: 10/23/2002 //Note: This file was created by pasting the original data, taken from the webpage, //onto notepad, and edit with notepad to make file fit the necessary format. //File edited by: Foster Lin; CSE 143 JF 1639 Richard Fairbanks' tavern in Boston named repository for overseas mail 1775 Benjamin Franklin, first Postmaster General under Continental Congress 1789 Samuel Osgood, first Postmaster General under Constitution 1823 Navigable waters designated post roads by Congress 1825 Dead letter office 1829 Postmaster General joins Cabinet 1830 Office of Instructions and Mail Depredations established, later Office of the Chief Postal Inspector 1838 Railroads designated post routes by Congress 1845 Star routes 1847 Postage stamps 1852 Stamped envelopes 1855 Registered Mail 1855 Compulsory prepayment of postage 1858 Street letter boxes 1860 Pony Express 1862 Railway mail service, experimental 1863 Free city delivery 1863 Uniform postage rates, regardless of distance 1863 Domestic mail divided into three classes 1864 Post offices categorized by classes 1864 Railroad post offices 1864 Domestic money orders 1869 Foreign or international money orders 1872 Congress enacts Mail Fraud Statute 1873 Penny postal card 1874 General Postal Union (later Universal Postal Union) 1879 Domestic mail divided into four classes 1880 Congress establishes title of Chief Post Office Inspector 1885 Special Delivery 1887 International parcel post 1893 First commemorative stamps 1896 Rural free delivery, experimental 1898 Private postcards authorized 1902 Rural free delivery, permanent 1911 Postal savings system 1911 Carriage of mail by airplane sanctioned between Garden City and Mineola, NY; Earle H. Ovington, first U. S. mail pilot 1912 Village delivery 1913 Parcel post 1913 Insurance 1913 Collect-on-delivery 1914 Government-owned and -operated vehicle service 1916 Postal Inspectors solve last known stagecoach robbery 1918 Airmail 1920 Metered postage 1920 First transcontinental airmail 1924 Regular transcontinental airmail service 1925 Special handling 1927 International airmail 1935 Trans-Pacific airmail 1939 Trans-Atlantic airmail 1939 Autogiro service, experimental 1941 Highway post offices 1942 V-mail 1943 Postal zoning system in 124 major post offices 1948 Parcel post international air service 1948 Parcel post domestic air service 1950 Residential deliveries cut from two to one a day 1953 Piggy-back mail service by trailers or railroad flatcars 1953 Airlift 1955 Certified mail 1957 Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee 1959 Missile mail dispatched from submarine to mainland Florida 1960 Facsimile mail 1963 ZIP Code and sectional center plan 1964 Self-service post offices 1964 Simplified postmark 1965 Optical scanner (ZIP Code reader tested) 1966 Postal savings system terminated 1967 Mandatory presorting by ZIP Code for second- and third-class mailers 1968 Priority Mail, a subclass of First-Class Mail 1969 Patronage no longer a factor in postmaster and rural carrier appointments 1969 First die proof of a postage stamp canceled on moon by Apollo 11 mission 1970 MAILGRAM 1970 Postal Reorganization Act 1970 Express Mail, experimental 1971 United States Postal Service began operation; Postmaster General no longer in Cabinet 1971 Labor contract achieved through collective bargaining for the first time in history of federal government 1971 Star routes changed to highway contract routes 1971 National service standards established: overnight delivery of 95% of airmail within 600 miles and 95% of First-Class Mail within local areas 1972 Stamps by mail 1972 Passport applications accepted in post offices 1973 National service standards expanded to include second-day delivery of parcel post traveling up to 150 miles, with one-day delivery time added for each additional 400 miles 1974 Highway post offices terminated 1974 First satellite transmission of MAILGRAMs 1976 Post office class categories eliminated 1976 Discount for presorted First-Class Mail 1977 Airmail abolished as a separate rate category 1977 Express Mail, permanent new class of service 1977 Final run of railroad post office on June 30 1978 Discount for presorted second-class mail 1978 Postage stamps and other philatelic items copyrighted 1979 Discount for presorted bulk third-class mail 1979 Postal Career Executive Service (PCES) 1980 New standards require envelopes and postcards to be at least 3 1/2" high and 5" long to be mailable 1980 INTELPOST (high-speed international electronic message service) 1981 Controlled circulation classification discontinued 1981 Discount for First-Class Mail presorted to carrier routes 1982 Automation begins with installation of optical character readers 1982 E-COM (Electronic Computer-Originated Mail, electronic message service with hard copy delivery) 1983 ZIP + 4 1983 Ended public service subsidy from federal government 1984 Integrated retail terminals automate postal windows 1985 Jackie Strange, first female Deputy Postmaster General 1985 E-COM terminated 1986 International Priority Airmail 1986 Postal Service realigned; field divisions created 1987 Small parcel and bundle sorters 1987 Stamps by phone 1987 Multiline optical character readers ordered 1988 Inspector General's Act extends duties of Chief Postal Inspector 1989 Universal Postal Union Congress in Washington, DC 1990 Wide area barcode readers 1990 Easy Stamp, allowing purchase of stamps through computers 1990 International business reply service 1991 Independent measurement of First-Class Mail service 1992 Remote barcoding system 1992 Reorganization: regions, divisions and management sectional centers replaced by area and district offices for customer service and mail processing 1992 Stamps sold through automatic teller machines