Chad
Millenium Souvenir Sheets
On September 10, 1999 Chad issued a set of five souvenir sheets documenting the millenium that was coming to an end. Each sheet featured nine stamps depicting an eclectic selection of highlights of a particular segment of the preceeding thousand years.
The first sheet of 150 fr denomination stamps covered the first nine hundred years of the second millenium. The selected highlights of the period from 1000 to 1899 included a map of commercial routes in West Africa, the crusades, Notre Dame Cathedral, Ming dyanasty tombs, the discovery of America, Albrecht Durer, Sir Issac Newton, American independence and, finally, Napoleon. Such designs, which, apart from the first one have limited relevance to Chad, would have widespread appeal for topical collectors.
The global perspective continues in the designs of the 300 fr denominations in the second sheet which covers 1900 to 1924. Its designs commemorate the return of Halley's comet, the foundation of the Scout movement by Baden-Powell, the sinking of the Titantic, Madame Butterfly (the first technicolour film), Marconi's first trans-Atlantic transmission, Harry Houdini, Capablanca-Lasker chess matches, Pierre and Marie Curie's Nobel Prizes and, unexpectedly, the theft of the Mona Lisa.
The third sheet of 450 fr stamps covers the period from 1925 to 1949. This era includes the birth of Marilyn Munroe, the discovery of Pluto, Laurel and Hardy, Indian independence, Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin, the Vespa scooter and the Volkswagen Beetle, the film Dracula, World War II and the discovery of the Lescaux cave drawings.
The somewhat random selection of "highlights" continues in the fourth sheet consisting of 475 fr stamps depicting 1950 to 1974. This period is represented by the first flight of the Concorde, the seven original astronauts, the death of Buddy Holly, the first Super Bowl, the death of Eva Peron, Andy Warhol's Tomato Soup, the Beatles, China's cultural revolution, the assasination of John F. Kennedy and, in an interesting juxtaposition, the Cuban revolution.
The fifth sheet consisting of the 500 fr denominations documents the last quarter of the decade from 1975 to 1999. It shows the death of Princess Diana, the death of Enzo Ferrari, the manga and animated film character Akira, Argentina's 1986 World Cup, Brian Lara's cricket records, France's 1998 World Cup, the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, Pope John Paul II meeting Lech Walesa and the deaths of Frank Sinatra and Freddie Mercury.
A sixth souvenir sheet was issued on the same date to commemorate PhilexFrance '99. A 1500fr stamp depicting Auguste Rodin's statue of "The Thinker" is superimposed on selvage with a photograph of Notre Dame Cathedral.
Bibliography
"Chad." Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue. 2015.
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© Grose Educational Media, 2020
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