1874

Herbert Clark Hoover was born on August 10, 1874, in West Branch, Iowa. Orphaned as a child, he eventually moved west and became a member of Stanford University's first entering class. Hoover built an international career as a mining engineer and business executive before gaining recognition for organizing large-scale humanitarian relief during and after World War I. He served as U.S. secretary of commerce under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge and was elected the thirty-first president in 1928. Only months after he took office, the stock market crashed and the United States entered the Great Depression. Hoover supported public works, agricultural assistance, banking measures, and eventually the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, but resisted more extensive direct federal relief. Rising unemployment...

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1874

Economics 19th Century Global

Treaty of Bern Creates General Postal Union

By the mid-19th century, international mail faced a patchwork of incompatible rates, routes, and accounting systems across nations. Swiss postal official Heinrich von Stephan proposed unifying these into a single territory. On October 9, 1874, representatives from 22 countries signed the Treaty of Bern in Switzerland, establishing the General Postal Union. The agreement standardized letter rates, allowed each country to retain postage revenue, and eliminated the need for multiple stamps on transit mail. It quickly expanded and was renamed the Universal Postal Union in 1878, becoming a specialized UN agency.

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1874 Timeline

Herbert Hoover Born in West Branch

Treaty of Bern Creates General Postal Union