The United States Postal Service is widely used during the holiday season and Monday was the busiest day of the year for them. Due to the tremendous use of USPS during this time of year BuzzFeed.com comprised a list of interesting facts the regular USPS sender or receiver might not be aware of that may keep your mind busy while you wait in line to send a package:
Currently, the city of Supai, Arizona, is the only country to still have a route that can only be traveled by mules due to its location inside the Grand Canyon, and it even has its own outgoing mail postmark, so the recipient knows how their mail got from point A to point B.
The Post Office Department began in 1775 by the Founding Fathers and is the second largest and oldest federal department in the United States.
The Second Continental Congress appointed the first postmaster General that same year and it was Benjamin Franklin, who was also the first postmaster to be fired for his involvement in the American Revolution. There has never been a woman postmaster.
The first general-issue stamp released in 1847 had George Washington's face on it. Washington has been on more stamps than any other person.
Abraham Lincoln was a postmaster before becoming president, working from 1833 to 1836, sometimes delivering the mail himself.
Mailbox or mail slots were not available until 1923, so until then, mail was delivered directly to an individual.
An African American was not honored on a commemorative stamp until 1940; Booker T. Washington was the first, though the first commemorative stamp was issued by postmaster General John Wanamaker featuring Christopher Columbus to celebrate the 400th anniversary of when he discovered the New World.
In the 1930s, mail delivered to Kelley's Island and Sandusky, Ohio had to taken by sailboat.
In 1966, the Chicago Post Office had to shut down for a week because there was too much mail going in and out. This shutdown led to the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 causing the Post Office Department to become the United States Postal Service.
The USPS has no official motto, but they do have an unofficial mascot name Owney, a dog who rode trains carrying mail across the country. Owney was put down in 1897 after biting someone, but was stuffed and is now on display in the National Postal Museum.
The official postal seal has been changed three times: until 1970 is was a picture of a man on a horse, and before that it was a depiction of the pagan god Mercury until 1837.
Back in the mid-19th Century, Los Angeles only found out California had become a state six weeks after the announcement due to extreme travel times.
