In day October 9th, is celebrated the Post day, or International Postal Service Day. This date has been celebrated since 1874, when the first international organization of stamp and postage services was created.
Before we know the origin history of this date, it is worth saying that the activities of delivering objects and letters or printing stamps on merchandise have been around since the earliest civilizations. Since the first empires appeared, both in the region of Egypt and Mesopotamia and in the Far East, the presence of the "messenger" and symbols printed on certain materials that belonged to certain kingdoms. The very word “mail” points, etymologically, to the figure of the messenger, since it means “to move quickly”, “to run”.
Well, the person who first conceived of an international organization for postal services was the German Heinrich Von Stephan (1831-1897), posting officer of the newly formed North German Confederation. Von Stephan had a workable plan to unify the posting structures of many countries at the time. This plan was made possible by the logistical and technological conditions of the time, such as territorial integration by lines railways, use of the telegraph, steam-powered transatlantic cargo ships, among many other inventions that came to light after
Industrial Revolution.Von Stephan's proposal was appreciated by the Swiss government, which organized a meeting on September 15, 1874, in the city of Bern, to establish the guidelines for such an organization. Delegates from twenty-two countries attended the meeting: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, Spain, United States of America, France, Great Britain, Greece, Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. This meeting resulted in the creation of the General Post Office, on October 9th.
However, in 1878, a new meeting of the members of the General Post Office was held, this time in Paris. Noticing the wide increase in membership, the union members decided to change the name to Universal Postal Union, UPU. It is worth mentioning that, before the creation of the UPU, other ideas had already been discussed. Some ideas were presented, years before, in England, by the Sir Rowland Hill (1795-1879), and in the United States of America, by General Montgomery Blair (1813-1897). However, it was in Switzerland that the organization originated and established itself.
On July 1, 1948, the UPU became part of the UN, United Nations Organization, of which it is still a member agency. The guidelines on the most diverse services involving postal services come from the UPU, which fulfills the role of global standard-setter for these services.
By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/datas-comemorativas/dia-correio.htm