1639 Richard Fairbanks’ tavern in Boston named repository for overseas mail
1775 Benjamin Franklin was appointed first Postmaster General under Continental Congress
1777 Continental Congress authorized appointment of an inspector of dead letters
1789 Samuel Osgood was appointed first Postmaster General under Constitution
1823 Navigable waters designated post roads by Congress
1829 Postmaster General joined Cabinet
1838 Railroads designated post routes by Congress
1845 Act of Congress created star routes
1847 U.S. postage stamps issued
1853 Stamped envelopes issued
1855 Registered Mail began
Prepayment of postage required
1858 Street letter boxes installed
1860 Pony Express started
1862 Railway mail service began experimentally
1863 Free city delivery instituted
Postage rates became uniform, regardless of distance
Domestic mail divided into three classes
1864 Post Offices categorized by class
Railway mail service inaugurated
Postal money order system created
1869 International money orders offered
1872 Congress enacted Mail Fraud Statute
Congress makes Post Office Department an executive department
1873 U.S. postal cards issued
1874 General Postal Union established (later Universal Postal Union)
1879 Domestic mail divided into four classes
1885 Special delivery began
1887 International Parcel Post instituted
1893 First commemorative stamps issued
1896 Rural free delivery began experimentally
1898 Private postcards authorized
1902 Rural free delivery became permanent service
1911 Postal Savings System started
First carriage of mail by airplane sanctioned by the Post Office Department
1912 Village delivery offered
1913 Parcel Post began
Insurance offered
Collect on delivery (COD) offered
1914 Government-owned and-operated vehicle service instituted
1918 Scheduled airmail service began
Non-profit second-class rates effective
1920 Metered postage authorized
1924 Scheduled transcontinental airmail service began
1927 International airmail began
1941 Highway Post Offices started
1942 V-mail inaugurated
1943 Postal zoning system began in 124 large cities
1948 Domestic and International Air Parcel Post inaugurated
1950 Residential deliveries reduced to once a day
1952 Nonprofit third-class rates effective
1953 Piggy-back mail service by trailers or railroad flatcars started
1955 Certified mail introduced
1957 Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee created
1959 Missile mail dispatched from submarine to mainland Florida
1960 Facsimile mail offered
1961 Mail Users Councils established
1963 ZIP Code and sectional center plan implemented
1964 Self-service Post Offices open
Postmark- simplified
1965 Optical scanner (ZIP Code reader) tested
Mailers’ Technical Advisory Committee established
1966 Postal Savings System terminated
1967 Presorting by ZIP Code became mandatory for second- and third-class mailers
1968 Priority Mail established as a subclass of First-Class Mail
1969 Patronage eliminated in postmaster and rural carrier appointments
1970 Postal Reorganization Act signed
Express Mail began experimentally
MAILGRAM instituted
1971 United States Postal Service began operations
Postmaster General no longer in Cabinet
Labor contract negotiated through collective bargaining, a first for the federal government
National service standards established
Letter cancelled on moon by Apollo 15 mission
1972 Stamps by mail instituted
Passport applications accepted in Post Offices
1973 National service standards expanded
1974 Highway Post Offices terminated
Self-adhesive stamps tested
1975 Post Office class categories eliminated
1976 Discount offered for presorted First-Class Mail
1977 Airmail abolished as a separate rate category
Express Mail became permanent class of service
Final run of railway post office on June 30
1978 Discount offered for presorted second-class mail
Postage stamps and other philatelic items copyrighted
1979 Discount offered for presorted bulk third-class mail
Postal Career Executive Service (PCES) established
New size standards implemented
1980 INTELPOST (high-speed international electronic message service) began
1981 Controlled circulation classification discontinued
Discount offered for First-Class Mail presorted to carrier routes
1982 Automation began with installation of optical character readers
E-COM (Electronic Computer-Originated Mail) offered
Last year Postal Service received public service subsidy
1983 ZIP+4 code instituted
1984 Integrated retail terminals automated postal windows
1985 E-COM terminated
1986 Field divisions created
1987 Stamps by Phone available
Multiline optical character readers ordered
1988 Small parcel and bundle sorters deployed
1989 First Postal Store opened
1990 International business reply mail offered
Easy Stamp allowed computer purchase of stamps
Independent measurement of First-Class Mail service implemented
1991 Wide area barcode readers added
Delivery point sequence processing began
1992 Remote barcoding system introduced
Area and district offices created for customer service and mail processing
Stamps sold through automatic teller machines
Flats barcoded for automation
Self-adhesive stamps introduced nationwide
Postal Service began national environmental program
1993 New corporate logo introduced
Postal Service began selling First Day Covers
National Postal Museum opened in Washington, D.C.
Elvis stamp issued (best-selling commemorative)
1994 Postal Service launched public Internet site
1996 Classification reform enacted
Standard Mail category created
Inspector General appointed
Postal Service released automated postage software via Internet
Self-adhesive coil stamps sold
Flat sorters introduced
1997 Robotic containerization systems deployed
Linerless self-adhesive coil stamps offered
StampsOnline instituted
1998 U.S. semipostal stamp issued
Confirm service tested
1999 Delivery Confirmation launched
PC Postage introduced
POS (Point of Service) ONE began
AFSM 100 installed
Lance Armstrong of the USPS Pro Cycling Team won his first Tour de France
2000 External First Class (EXFC) scores reached record high of
94 percent for the first time
2001 Business alliance with FedEx formed
Mail irradiated due to anthrax threat
Signature Confirmation launched
Internet change of address instituted
2002 Transformation Plan released
President’s Commission on the United States Postal Service established
Record levels of service performance posted for
First-Class Mail and Priority Mail
Confirm service became permanent
2003 Civil Service Retirement System funding reform legislation passed
Repositional notes authorized on advertising mail
First negotiated service agreement
Parcel Return Services pilot program began
2004 Biohazard detection equipment deployed
Pay for Performance implemented
Customized Postage tested
2005 Standard Mail volume outpaces First-Class Mail volume
Strategic Transformation Plan, 2006–2010 issued
2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act signed into law
“Forever” stamp proposed
Intelligent Mail devices with signature capture deployed
New barcode instituted (later called Intelligent Mail barcode)
