Animals

Naturalist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian was born on April 2, 1647, in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany. Merian spent her life studying insects and plants and capturing them in beautifully detailed paintings and drawings.

Cattle rancher Charles Goodnight was born on March 5, 1836, in Macoupin County, Illinois. One of America’s most famous cattle barons, Goodnight helped blaze a major cattle trail and is sometimes referred to as the “Father of the Texas Panhandle.”

On February 2, 1971, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, also known as the Convention on Wetlands, was signed in Ramsar, Iran.

On October 10, 1858, the first shipment of overland mail arrived in San Francisco.

On September 20, 2011, the USPS issued its fourth Semipostal stamp, which raises money for wildlife conservation.

On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered one of his most famous and stirring speeches, to generate support for the Apollo program.

On June 11, 1897, the US Railway Mail Service mascot, Owney the Postal Dog, died in Toledo, Ohio.

On April 29, 1961, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was founded. 

Jean Rabin Audubon (later known as John James Audubon) was born on April 26, 1785, in Les Cayes, Saint-Domingue – today’s Haiti.