The exact date on which William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon is unknown, but tradition says it was on St George’s Day, April 23, 1564.
The Post Office’s long-standing refusal to countenance stamps in honour of famous people gave it a problem in 1964 when there was agitation for a special issue of stamps to mark the 400th anniversary.
A set of eight stamps issued by Royal Mail on August 10 celebrates the 40th anniversary of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, the series of fantasy novels with total worldwide sales of more than a hundred million copies.
The 1924 three-halfpence for the British Empire Exhibition
Until the mid-1920s, the British postal authorities had consistently shunned the idea of commemoratives, an opinion shared by the 'philatelist king' George V, who branded the notion of special event stamps ‘un-English’.
Before 1924 the British Post Office had issued a few items of commemorative postal stationery, but never a commemorative stamp.
The birth of the stamps
In the early planning for the British Empire Exhibition, a strong case was made that the only special issue should be postal stationery.
Royal Mail celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Spice Girls, the most successful girl group in pop music history, with a set of 15 stamps on January 11.
The Viking Britain set of eight stamps, issued on February 20, explores the legacy of the seaborne adventurers from Scandinavia who transformed the British Isles between the end of the 8th century and the middle of the 11th century.
A set of eight stamps issued by Royal Mail on June 22, titled Windrush: 75 Years, celebrates the contribution made to British culture by immigrants from the West Indies.
