Penny Black Black design features in the innovations section of the new British passport in 2015. Also in 2015, the search engine Google marked the 175th anniversary of the postage stamp with a Google doodle of the Penny Black. Penny Black The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was first issued in Great Britain on 1 May 1840, but was not valid for use until 6 May. It features a profile of Queen Victoria. In 1837, British postal rates were high, complex and anomalous. To simplify matters, Sir Rowland Hill proposed an
Penny knife on an axle mounted through a steel-bolstered wooden handle. Penny knife The penny knife dates from the 18th century and was a very basic utility knife, originally with a fixed blade. It received the name "penny knife" for what it reportedly cost in England and America during the late 18th century: one penny. The famous "Fuller's Penny Knife" helped build the reputation of Sheffield, England, cutlers in the pre-industrial era of the early 18th century. The "penny knife" would later evolve into a very simple, mass-produced pocketknife with a folding blade, which pivoted freely in and out of the handle