Two printers produced the make-up rate stamps. The Ashton-Potter
version has a white “USA” and a black “1998.” The stamp printed by
Banknote Corporation of America has a blue “USA” and “1998.”
This non-denominated "make-up" rate stamp, combined with a 32¢
stamp, provided the new 33¢ postal rate. This increase went into effect
January 1, 1999.
Creation Of The U.S. Weather Bureau
On February 9, 1870, Ulysses S. Grant created the US Weather Bureau.
Since the early days of the United States,
Americans have enjoyed keeping track of the weather. Presidents George
Washington and Thomas Jefferson regularly recorded the temperature and
other weather observations in their journals throughout their adult
lives.
A
major milestone in the recording of weather in the US came in 1849 when
the Smithsonian gave weather instruments to telegraph companies. This
allowed for the creation of a large national network in which people
could observe the weather, share it across the country, and analyze the
data. These observations were returned to the Smithsonian, which created
weather maps.
This
network grew substantially over the coming years and by the late 1860s,
many believed they could use this data to begin forecasting the
weather. However, in order to do this for the whole country, a
governmental agency would be needed. So in 1870, a joint Congressional
Resolution was submitted, calling on the Secretary of War to start
making meteorological observations at military stations and to provide
notices of storms. Congress passed the resolution and President Ulysses
S. Grant signed it into law on February 9, 1870.
The
new agency was known as The Division of Telegrams and Reports for the
Benefit of Commerce. The Secretary of War led it because Congress
believed that “military discipline would probably secure the greatest
promptness, regularity, and accuracy in the required observations.”
Within the Department of War, the new agency was part of the Army Signal
Service.
In 1890, the agency was renamed the US
Weather Bureau and moved to the Department of Agriculture and at that
time became a civilian enterprise. They soon began issuing flood
warnings and fire weather forecasts and issuing the first daily national
weather maps.
The
bureau was moved once again, to the Department of Commerce in 1940.
Then in 1966, it was made part of the Environmental Science Services
Administration. And then in 1970, the US Weather Bureau became the
National Weather Service, the name it still holds today. Today the
National Weather Service is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland,
employs 5,000 people, and collects data from 122 local weather forecast
offices.