Thomas Jeffrey Hanks is an American actor and filmmaker. Known
for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most
popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as
an American cultural icon. Hanks’s films have grossed more than
$4.9 billion in North America and more than $9.96 billion worldwide, making him the fourth-highest-grossing actor in North America.

Hanks made his breakthrough with leading roles in a series of
comedy films which received positive media attention, such as
Splash (1984), Bachelor Party (1984), and Big (1988) He won two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor for starring as a gay
lawyer suffering from AIDS in Philadelphia (1993) and the title
character in Forrest Gump (1994).

The Money Pit (1986)

Hanks collaborated with film director Steven Spielberg on 
five films including: Saving Private Ryan (above) (1998.

Hanks in Apollo 13 (1995).

Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994)

The Post Office Department issued its first postage stamps
on July 1, 1847.

Initial United States postage rates were set by Congress as part
of the Postal Service Act signed into law by President George Washington on February 20, 1792. The postal rate varied according
to "distance zone", the distance a letter was to be carried from the
post office where it entered the mail to its final destination.

Rates were adopted in 1847 for mail to or from the Pacific Coast
and in 1848 for mail sent from one place in the west to another
place in the west. There were double and triple rates as a letter’s
size increased. There were ship fees which were also added
(i.e. mail to Hawaii). The ship fee, including the ship rate on letters
for delivery at the port of entry, were on a per letter basis, rather
than weight. The United States issued its first postage stamps in
1847. Before that time, the rates, dates and origin of the letter
were written by hand or sometimes in combination with a
handstamp device.

Lawrence Samuel Storch (January 8, 1923 – July 8, 2022)

Larry Storch, the manic actor who starred as the bumbling sidekick Corporal Randolph Agarn on the 1960s ABC sitcom F Troop, has
died. He was 99.

  
MIKE GRACIA

Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey) achieved international fame
as the drummer for The Beatles. He 82 years old today.

On July 7, 1930, construction of the Hoover Dam begins. Over the
next five years, a total of 21,000 men would work ceaselessly to
produce what would be the largest dam of its time, as well as one
of the largest manmade structures in the world.