The Storied History of the United States Postal Service

1911: Mail Takes Flight
The first efforts to deliver mail by air in the United States date to 1859, when a pilot attempted (unsuccessfully) to carry mail via air balloon from Lafayette, Indiana to New York. Many subsequent air mail deliveries were made, but Earle L. Ovington, above, an aviator and lab assistant to Thomas Edison, is credited with making the first official delivery, carrying a sack from Garden City, New York, to Mineola, New York. When he reached his destination, Ovington circled in the air and tossed the bag over the side of his plane, causing the sack to burst on impact, scattering the letters within.

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