Today in History

On March 2, 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote.

According to Washington Press, modern first day cover collecting began with the Fourth Bureau Issue of 1922-26. President Hayes (shown above) was on the first stamp, SC #563, of the series and was issued on October 4, 1922.

Besides appearing on U.S. postage stamps...

• Hayes was the first president to take the oath of office in the White House.
• Hayes was the only president whose election was decided by a congressional commission.
• Hayes was the first president to travel to the West Coast during his term as president.
• Hayes was the first president to have a telephone in the White House.
• Hayes was the first president to have a typewriter in the White House.
• Though other presidents served in the Civil War, Hayes was the only one to have been wounded - four times!
• Hayes began the "Easter Egg Roll" for children on the White House Lawn (1878) - a tradition which still continues on the Monday after Easter.
• Lucy Webb Hayes was the first wife of a president to graduate from college,
• Lucy Webb Hayes was the first wife of a president to be called "First Lady"

To learn more about Rutherford B. Hayes, click here.

To see other U.S. Presidents on stamps, click here.