• Happy World Elephant Day – Aug 12

    August 12 World Elephant Day.  Elephant Day began in 2012 to educate the public about the dangers of Asian and African elephants face daily.    This set of 4 First Day Covers was released by Uganda in 1983, in conjunction with the WWF. They were part of a larger set of info sheets exploring the […]

  • World Organ Donation Day is celebrated every August 13

    On August 13, 2005, the first World Organ Donation Day was celebrated. The Spanish National Transplant Organization organised the day to raise awareness about the need for people to sign organ donation cards. August 13 was picked to honour Dr. Christiaan Barnard, who was born on that day. The theme for 2025 is Answering the […]

  • Pakistan Independence Day is celebrated August 15

    2025 marks the 78th Pakistan Independence Day.   “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste, or creed—that has nothing to do with the business of […]

  • August 15 is Liechtensteiner Staatsfeiertag Day! 

    Happy Liechtensteiner Staatsfeiertag Day!  August 15 will be a day filled with fireworks, festivals, and bonfires celebrating Liechtenstein's National Day. National Day Procession and Fireworks at Vaduz Castle Liechtensteiner Staatsfeiertag From Liechtenstein's 1981 EUROPA Festivals set Designed by Regina Marxer On August 5, 1940, the government of the Principality of Liechtenstein declared August 15 as […]

  • Klondike Gold Rush kicks off a frenzy in Canada’s Yukon August 16

    The Klondike Gold Rush is set into motion August 16, 1896 with the discovery of gold in Canada's Yukon territory.  When out of the night, which was fifty below, and into the din and the glare, There stumbled a miner fresh from the creeks, dog-dirty, and loaded for bear. He looked like a man with […]

  • Frederick the Great died August 17, 1786

    Frederick the Great, King of Prussia died August 17, 1786. Frederick the Great (1712-1786) Issued in 1933 to coincide with the opening session of the new Reichstag in Potsdam Frederick II (born January 24, 1712, Berlin, Prussia —died August 17, 1786, Potsdam, near Berlin) was the king of Prussia (1740–86), a brilliant military campaigner who, […]

  • Honoré de Balzac born May

    French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac died August 18, 1850 in Paris, France.  Honoré de Balzac - For the Unemployed Intellectuals This semi-postal stamp was part of a series started in the 1935 to support unemployed writers, artists and intellectuals.  A portion of the money raised from these stamps went towards the relief program […]

  • Father of modern Turkish poetry, Tevfik Fikret died 1915

    On August 19, 1915 the father of modern Turkish poetry, Tevfik Fikret died in Istanbul.  In attempting to define a new literature, Tevfik Fikret and his contemporaries often wrote in an obscure style and in language containing many Arabic and Persian words not easily accessible to the average reader. Greatly influenced by the French Symbolist poets, he sought […]

  • Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian poet was born Aug. 20 1901

    Nobel Prize poet Salvatore Quasimodo was born August 20, 1901 in Modica, Sicily. ...the birth of a poet is always a threat to the existing cultural order  Salvatore 1959 Salvatore Quasimodo Issued by Italy in 2001 Designed by A.M. Maresca The poet is alone with infinite objects in his own obscure sphere and does not […]

  • Stadtpark, Austria’s 1st public park

    Vienna opened Stadtpark, Austria's first public park, August 21, 1862. Designed by Vienna's first city gardener, Rudolph Siebeck, in 1861 using original plans by Joseph Selleny Stadtpark Vienna and Botanic Gardens Buenos Aires This pair of stamps were part of a joint issue celebrating Argentina's Independence bicentennial.   Designed by Michael Rosenfeld In 1862 the city […]

  • Irish hero Michael Collins killed in a roadside ambush Aug. 22 1922

    Michael Collins, Irish Republic revolutionary, soldier & politician was assassinated in a roadside ambush on August 22, 1922. Collins was central figure in the Irish fight for independence from British rule. ... Collins never demonised his political opponents and his death in an ambush at Béal na Bláth during the Civil War robbed Ireland of […]

  • Iraqi poet Nazik Al-Malaika born Aug 22, 1923

    Nazik Al-Malaika, one of Iraq's great modern poets, was born August 22, 1923 in Baghdad.  Al-Malaika was an anomaly in her society, and her legacy as a poet resulted from her breaking away from many traditions. Nazik al-Malaika (1923-2007) Iraqi Woman’s Journey Changes Map of Arabic Poetry | Al Jadid Nazik Al-Malaika (1923-2007) Issued by […]