Philippine Stamp: Mary Knoll College 50th Anniversary

Mary Knoll College was established in 1926 when the Archbishop of Manila, then Reverend Michael O’ Doherty, requested the Sisters of the Maryknoll Congregation in New York to initiate a teacher-training program for women in the Philippines. Originally named Malabon Normal School, the school’s first site was a remodeled Augustinian Convent in Malabon, Rizal. 

In 1953, the Malabon Normal School moved to the college’s present location in Diliman, Quezon City and was officially renamed Mary Knoll College. 

In 1989, after a series of consultations, Maryknoll College was renamed Miriam College.

Philippine Stamp: National Bird (Philippine Eagle)

The Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) is a critically endangered eagle species endemic to the forests of the Philippines. 

The Philippine Eagle was discovered British naturalist John Whitehead in 1896 and was named after his father Jeffery Whitehead. The bird was originally called Monkey-eating Eagle, due to the previous belief that the eagle exclusively preyed on monkeys, hence the generic name Pithecophaga. 

On July 15, 1995, Fidel V. Ramos, then President of the Philippines, signed Proclamation No. 615, declaring the Philippine eagle as the national bird.

Norwegian Stamp: Norsk Lundehund

The Norwegian Lundehund (Norsk Lundehund) is a small dog breed of the Spitz type that originates from Norway. Its name is composed of the prefix Lunde, from the Norwegian lundefugl (puffin), and the suffix hund, meaning dog. The breed was originally developed for the hunting of puffins and their eggs.

Australian Stamp: The Bush

The bush is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country ares in certain countries. 

It is an iconic term in Australia. In reference to the landscape, bush describes a wooded area, intermediate between a shrubland and a forest, generally of dry and nitrogen-poor soil, mostly grassless, thin to thick woody shrubs and bushes, under a sparse canopy of eucalyptus. The bush was something that was uniquely Australian and very different to the green European landscapes familiar to many new immigrants.

The Bush also refers to any populated region outside of the major metropolitan areas, including mining and agricultural areas.

Canadian Stamp: Skunk

Skunks (in the United States, occasionally called polecats) are mammals best known for their ability to secrete a liquid with a strong, foul odor. General appearance varies from species to species, from black-and-white to brown or cream colored. Skunks, together with their closest living relatives, the stink badgers, belong to the "skunk family", the "Mephitidae" and to the order Carnivora. There are twelve species of Mephistids, which are divided into four genera: Mephitis, the (hooded and striped skunks, two species), Spilogale the (spotted skunks, four species), the Mydaus or stink badgers, two species), and Conepatus, the (hog-nosed skunks, four species). The two stink badgers in the Mydaus genus inhabit Indonesia and the Philippines; while all skunks inhabit the Americas from Canada to central South America. 

Canadian Stamp: Peary Caribou

The Peary Caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) is a caribou subspecies found in the high Arctic islands of Canada's Nunavut and Northwest territories. They are the smallest of the North American caribou, with the females weighing an average of 60 kg (132 lb) and the males 110 kg (243 lb). In length the females average 1.4 m (4.6 ft) and the males 1.7 m (5.6 ft).

The Peary caribou, called tuktu in Inuinnaqtun/Inuktitut, is a major food source for the Inuit and was named after Rear Admiral Robert Peary.

Australian Stamp: Tasselled Anglerfish

The Tasselled Anglerfish (Rhycherus filamentosus), also called Tasselled Angler and Tasselled Frogfish, is a type of frogfish and is of one of over 200 anglerfish species.

Tasselled Anglers are brown to red above. They have dark blotches or bars on their sides separated by whitish areas extending up from below. Its dorsal fin has four parts: a long illicium with an esca that resembles two worms, a second and third dorsal spine, and 12 to 13 soft rays.

The Tasselled Anglerfish is very similar to the Glover's Anglerfish. They can be separated by the shape of their escas and length of the illicium, which is longer in the Tasselled Anglerfish.

It is endemic to Australia, living on kelp covered rocky reefs from Bass Strait to South Australia.

Philippine Stamp: Aerides lawrenciae orchid

Aerides lawrenciae is a species of plant in the Orchidaceae family. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Growing in brightly lit environments at low altitude, on the islands of Mindanao and Cebu, Aerides lawrenciae is a robust species up to 5 ft (1.5 meters) tall. It sometimes becomes pendulous. The inflorescence has up to 30 strongly fragrant flowers, each about 4 cm across. 

New Zealand Stamp: Kōkako

The Kōkako (Callaeas cinereus) is a forest bird which is endemic to New Zealand. It is slate-grey with wattles and a black mask. It is one of three species of New Zealand Wattlebird, the other two being the endangered Tieke (saddleback) and the extinct Huia. 

The Kōkako illustrated is a North Island Kōkako (Callaeas cinerea wilsoni). It has blue wattles while the South Island Kōkako (Callaeas cinerea cinerea) by contrast has largely orange wattles, with only a small patch of blue at the base.

The North Island Kōkako is now quite rare—barely surviving its orange-wattled South Island cousins, considered today to be extinct. Kōkako populations throughout New Zealand have been reduced by the predations of mammalian invasive species such as possums, stoats, cats and rats and their range has contracted significantly. 

Philippine Stamp: Elpidio Quirino

Elpidio Rivera Quirino (November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Filipino politician, and the sixth President of the Philippines.

A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered politics when he became a representative of Ilocos Sur from 1919 to 1925. He was then elected as senator from 1925–1931. In 1934, he became a member of the Philippine independence commission that was sent to Washington, D.C., which secured the passage of Tydings-McDuffie Act to American Congress. In 1935, he was also elected to become member of the convention that will write the draft of then 1935 constitution for the newly-established Commonwealth. At the new government, he served as secretary of the interior and finance under Manuel Quezon's cabinet.

After the war, Quirino was elected vice-president in 1946 election, consequently the second and last for the Commonwealth and first for the third republic. After the death of the incumbent president Manuel Roxas in 1948, he succeeded the presidency. In what was claimed to be a dishonest and fraudulent 1949 presidential election, he won the president's office under Liberal Party ticket, defeating Nacionalista vie and former president José P. Laurel as well as fellow Liberalista and former Senate President José Avelino.

Japanese Stamp: Kallima inachus

The Orange Oakleaf or Dead Leaf (Kallima inachus) is a nymphalid butterfly found in tropical Asia from India to Japan. With wings closed, it closely resembles a dry leaf with dark veins and is a spectacular example of camouflage.

Philippine Stamp: People Power

The People Power Revolution (also known as the EDSA Revolution and the Philippine Revolution of 1986) was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines that occurred in 1983-86. The methods used amounted to a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud. This case of nonviolent revolution led to the departure of President Ferdinand Marcos and the restoration of the country's democracy.

The majority of the demonstrations took place on a long stretch of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, more commonly known by its acronym EDSA, in Metropolitan Manila from February 22–25, 1986 and involved over two million Filipino civilians as well as several political, military, and including religious groups led by Cardinal Jaime Sin, the Archbishop of Manila. The protests, fueled by the resistance and opposition from years of corrupt governance by Marcos, culminated with the departure of the dictator from Malacañang Palace to the United States state of Hawaii. Corazon Aquino was proclaimed as the legitimate President of the Philippines after the revolution.

Philippine Stamp: Happy Valentine 1996

valentine (plural valentines)

1. An expression of affection, especially romantic affection, usually in the form of greeting card, gift, or message given to a person the object of affection, especially on February 14th.

        Such an extravagant valentine was unexpected.

2. A person to whom a valentine is given or received, especially on February 14th.

       Won't you be my valentine? 

U.S. Stamp: Jack London

John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. Jack London was able to produce more than 50 books before his death in 1916 at age 40. London's best-known novels, The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea-Wolf.

Indonesian Stamp: Chaetodon Ephippium

The Saddle Butterflyfish, Chaetodon ephippium, is a species of butterflyfish (family Chaetodontidae). It is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans from Sri Lanka and the Cocos-Keeling Islands to the Hawaiian, Marquesan and Tuamoto islands, north to southern Japan, south to Rowley Shoals and New South Wales in Australia.

It is a large butterflyfish, at up to 30 cm (nearly 12 in) long together with the Lined Butterflyfish (C. lineolatus) the giant among its genus. In shape it resembles certain angelfishes more than most of its relatives. The overall color is yellowish grey, with a large black spot bordered below by a broad white band on the back and wavy blue lines on the lower sides. The throat and the outline of the hind parts is bright yellow. Adults have a filament extending posteriorly from the upper part of the soft portion of the dorsal fin.

U.S. Stamp: New Orleans steamboat

The New Orleans was the first steamboat on the western waters of the United States. Its 1811-1812 voyage from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to New Orleans, Louisiana on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers ushered in the era of commercial steamboat navigation on the western rivers.

U.S. Stamp: Red-headed Woodpecker

The Red-headed Woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, is a small or medium-sized woodpecker from temperate North America. Their breeding habitat is open country across southern Canada and the eastern-central United States.