Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the words to some of the most famous songs from the Broadway stage, working with songwriting partner Richard Rodgers on Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music, and many other successful shows.

The sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, was the son of the second president, John Adams. The younger Adams also served as Secretary of State under President James Monroe.

Alice Munro, acknowledged master of the short story and the first Canadian woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature, is celebrated on a new stamp that pays homage to important elements of her work.

Undoubtedly the most overpaid cover I‘ve ever come across is the Hilo, Hawaii, to Honolulu example shown nearby. Two $1 Lincoln Memorial stamps from the 1922 series (Scott 571) were used on the cover when 2¢ would have done the trick. Perhaps 2¢ is what the mailer thought he had put on the envelope?

When e-mail became a well-accepted way of communicating, we suggested that cartoon caption contest entries be sent in using the computer. About a third of the entries are now received in that form. Unfortunately, that leaves two-thirds that can get lost in the snail mail, and that has been a problem with the June contest.

When the New Horizons space probe passes by distant Pluto this month, it will have traveled about 3 billion miles in 9½ years. And, as Rick Miller reported in Linn’s issue of Nov. 10, 2008, along for the ride is a 29¢ U.S. postage stamp. The stamp is part of the Space Exploration set issued for National Stamp Collecting Month in 1991.

A young star in the world of tennis, Arthur Ashe became a champion of the sport, and an important voice in the effort to increase public awareness of HIV and AIDS in the 1980s.

Also this week, a new crop of Scott numbers were assigned and a wrong image was placed on a new Canadian issue.

A new Australia Post stamp issue is focused on four of the country's famous bushwalking trails.

The new Fanciful Flowers stamped postal card from the United States Postal Service is the latest to feature a nature design by Ohio-based artist Cathie Bleck. The imprinted stamp shows the orange blossoms and green stems of a flower resembling a bellflower.

My column this month was supposed to be part two of a three-part series on die proofs of the 20th century. However, my wife, Melanie, and I are in the midst of downsizing and moving to a new home. We just completed the first month of a 3½-month process, and all of my research materials are safety tucked away in storage until the end of August.

As a convenience to their patrons, many postal authorities have issued stamps in booklet format. Booklets usually comprise one or more small panes of stamps between cardboard or stiff paper covers, sometimes with interleaving between the panes if there is more than one pane in the booklet.

Considered by many to be the inventor of the sewing machine, Elias Howe (1819-67) created a practical machine that revolutionized the garment industry.

My colleague Marty Frankevicz, senior editor for new issues at Scott, recently blogged about the assigning of Scott No. 5000 to a United States stamps. He didn’t reveal which stamp it would be, but you already know the answer if you read our report of recently assigned U.S. Scott numbers.

A collector in Arizona who has been actively pursuing the rare upright $2 Jenny Invert pane finally found one. The intentional variety with the plane flying right side up came in his latest order of 10 panes.

Artist Michael Doret walked readers of his personal blog through the development of the soon-to-be released Summer Harvest designs.

Physics experiments that children can perform at home are illustrated on five stamps from the Netherlands. Called Discover Science, the stamps were issued July 20 in panes of 10 (two of each design) in collaboration with the Science Center Nemo, a hands-on interactive science and technology museum in Amsterdam.

Palo Albums has acquired the Lindner and Davo product lines for distribution in the United States.

On July 20, 1989, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp to celebrate the 20th anniversary of man’s first landing on the moon. Fittingly, the first-day ceremony took place at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

A German count who served as an observer during the American Civil War applied the ballooning basics he learned toward the development of the aircraft that would one day bear his name.