THIS DAY IN HISTORY-US Postal Service's First and Only Delivery of "Missile Mail"(1959)

This Day in History

US Postal Service's First and Only Delivery of "Missile Mail" (1959) Discuss

In 1959, the US Navy assisted the US Post Office Department—predecessor of today's US Postal Service—in its search for a faster form of mail transportation. The USPS tried its first and only delivery of "missile mail" when a Navy submarine fired a guided cruise missile containing 3,000 pieces of mail off the Florida coast. Twenty-two minutes later, the missile landed at a naval station in Mayport, Florida. What bold claims did the postmaster general make about missile mail at the time? More...