The first sticky postage stamp was the Penny Black, released in Great Britain on May 1, 1840.

Sir Rowland Hill created the Penny Black to make the mail system easier and cheaper. The stamp shows a picture of Queen Victoria when she was 15 years old. Workers printed over 68 million of these stamps using 11 different steel plates.These early stamps did not have holes between them. People had to use scissors to cut each stamp out of a large sheet. This is why many old stamps have crooked or uneven edges today.The new system caused a huge increase in mail. In 1839, people in the UK sent 76 million letters. By 1850, that number grew to 347 million letters because it was finally affordable for everyone.The post office stopped using the Penny Black in 1841. They switched to the Penny Red because red ink marks were easier to see on a red stamp than on a black one. This helped prevent people from reusing stamps that had already been through the mail.