The Luxembourg Olympic Committee (COSL) was founded in 1912, the same year as its first participation in the Stockholm Olympic Games. Since then, the COSL has participated in all Summer Olympic Games’ venues (with the exception of the Los Angeles games in 1932). In 1952, in Helsinki, Josy Barthel won the only gold medal in Luxembourg Olympic history by winning the 1500 m in 3:45.2 seconds.

In 1974, a complete restructuring of the Luxembourg Olympic and sporting movement took place: the COSL brought together the Luxembourg sporting federations (61 at the time). On 28 April 1978, the cabinet recognised the COSL as the central sporting organisation. During the Winter Olympic Games in Albertville in 1992, Marc Girardelli won two silver medals in the Super G and Giant Slalom.

In 2001, the COSL modified its internal structure, allowing for greater professionalism, without which performances at the highest level would not be possible. Consistent with its mission to promote all levels of sport and sporting practice in Luxembourg, the COSL also supports competitive sports federations and invests in leisure sports and school sports.

The COSL hopes to participate in the London Olympic Games from 27 July to 12 August 2012 with a dozen athletes. It has done everything it can to enable Luxembourg athletes to be properly prepared and achieve good results.

The Olympic Games are the meeting place of some 10,000 athletes selected by 204 Olympic committees around the world.
The variety of events and the great media interest make these games the number one sporting event. The geographic proximity of the 2012 Games will allow numerous supporters to encourage Luxembourg athletes and to enjoy this unique ambiance.

Title: Olympic Games 2012 in London – Luxembourg
Date of Issue: 15 May 2012
Country: Luxembourg
Denominations: 0,60, 1,10

Source: http://www.pt.lu

Studies have revealed that among the points made when one chooses one cultural destination over another, three elements prevail: cultural heritage, contemporary art, and design. The ‘Europa’ stamps, created for 2012 by the artist Linda Bos, trace precisely these three pillars of cultural tourism. The artist conceived the two stamps in such a way as to give the impression of a single image which on the left-hand side has the Monument au Souvenir ‘Gëlle Fra’ and, on the right, the watertower of Leudelange which features internationally renowned contemporary architecture. The two monuments are synonymous with the development of architecture in Luxembourg.

Contemporary architecture becomes ‘the index of creativity’ for an entire population. This awakening strongly influenced Linda Bos in the creative production of these two stamps. She chose buildings which are valued by international critics and the national avant-garde scene alike. The Mudam, Philharmonie and Centre des Arts Pluriels d’Ettelbrück (Cape) show that culture and architecture go hand-in-hand. Only architecture gives industry a clear face. The architecture of banking buildings or buildings housing European institutions become symbols of a landscape, or an activity. Industry also becomes a work of art in a public space as shown by the watertower of Leudelange. Students of this historic and contemporary architecture will find information on the two stamps on how to learn more about Luxembourg: www.visitluxembourg.lu.

Title: Europa 2012 – Luxembourg
Date of Issue: 15 May 2012
Country: Luxembourg
Denominations: 0,60, 0,85

Source: http://www.pt.lu

Canada Post honours four outstanding and well-known Canadians in this new stamp series, featuring images of Rick Hansen, Michael J. Fox, Sheila Watt-Cloutier and Louise Arbour.

Rick Hansen
Young Rick Hansen dreamed of representing Canada at the Olympics someday. But at age 15, he lost the use of his legs in an automobile accident. His positive attitude allowed him to stay involved in sports and he became the first person with a disability to graduate with a degree in Physical Education. He was inspired by Terry Fox, and through his own epic journey on the Man In Motion World Tour years later, he kept a small statue of Fox close, as encouragement. Later, he established the Rick Hansen Foundation, continuing his quest for a cure for spinal cord injury, and for an accessible and inclusive society.

Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox’s drama teacher urged him to audition for acting parts. He appeared in numerous TV shows, theatre plays and movies, before getting his big break in 1982, in the hit TV show Family Ties. Fox has also appeared in feature films, including the blockbuster Back to the Future trilogy. In 1990, he was diagnosed with young onset Parkinson’s disease, but waited until 1998, while starring in the hit TV series Spin City, to disclose his condition to the public. Committed to campaigning for increased Parkinson’s research, he established the non-profit Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and remains an outspoken supporter of stem cell research.

Sheila Watt-Cloutier
Champion of Aboriginal and human rights, and a climate-change advocate, Sheila Watt-Cloutier has received the Aboriginal Achievement Award, the UN’s Champion of the Earth Award and the Norwegian Sophie Prize; she is also a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Officer of the Order of Canada. Born in Kuujjuaq in northern Quebec, she spent her first ten years leading a traditional Inuit life. Watt-Cloutier worked as an interpreter at the Ungava Hospital in Nunavik, and a student counselor in Kuujjuaq and Montréal. In 1995, she was named the Canadian president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, a position she held until 2002, when she was named its International Chair.

Louise Arbour
Following impressive work in the Ontario legal community, in 1996, Montreal-born Louise Arbour became prosecutor of war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and for the Former Yugoslavia. In 1999, she was appointed to the Canadian Supreme Court. She later served as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Arbour is currently President and CEO of the International Crisis Group (ICG). A Companion of the Order of Canada, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and a grande officière de l’Ordre national du Québec, she has received countless international awards as well as honourary doctorates from 30 universities.

Title: Difference Makers – Canada
Date of Issue: 22 May 2012
Country: Canada
Denominations: permanent x 4

Source: http://www.canadapost.ca

The remote Cocos (Keeling) Islands are located 2,770 kilometres north-west of Perth in the Indian Ocean and comprise two tropical coral atolls. The southern atoll consists of 26 islands and the uninhabited northern atoll, North Keeling Island, lies 24 kilometres away.

Of approximately 570 people living on the southern atoll, 86 per cent are Cocos Malays, descended from Javanese labourers originally brought to the islands in the 19th century to farm coconuts. The remaining population is European, mainly employed by the Australian government.

The romance and the beauty of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are captured in its dramatic sunrises and sunsets, although ironically, colour in our sky is infl uenced primarily by impurities like dust or smoke in the air.

Title: Skies of Cocos – Australia
Date of Issue: 22 May 2012
Country: Australia
Denominations: 60c, $1.20, $1.80, $3.00

Source: www.auspost.com.au

The Europa stamps are postage stamps issued by European postal administrations, every stamp issued every year addresses a common theme. For this year 2012, the theme is ” Visit … “focuses on cultural and tourist heritage of each country. For the stamp Visit France , the French Post issued this stamp featuring five landmarks or monuments representing France.

It includes as well the Place Stanislas in Nancy. World Heritage Site by UNESCO, it was created at the request of the Duke of Lorraine Stanislaw Leszczynski and built from 1755. This place has experienced many upheavals in the history of France but kept its name.

Le Mont Saint-Michel, which also appears on the stamp, is the third most visited tourist site in France and is named after the rocky island dedicated to St. Michael where stands the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel. Joined in 1979 World Heritage of UNESCO, Mont Saint-Michel is one cultural, tourist and pilgrimage for followers.

The Eiffel Tower, meanwhile, was built by Gustave Eiffel for the Universal Exhibition of 1889 . Since June 24, 1964, the Eiffel Tower is listed as a historical monument and a UNESCO World Heritage since 1991. His height allows him to have the title of “tallest structure in the world” until 1930.

Le Pont du Gard was also chosen to illustrate the theme Europa 2012. It was built by the Romans in the first century AD to supply water to the city of Nimes. It is a monument which is a World Heritage of Humanity since 1985. In 2000, the state decides to fund a project for the site, as part of an operation site of the Grand National with the assistance of UNESCO, local authorities and the European Union. All this to preserve the monument.

Title: Europa 2012 – The Visit France
Date of Issue: 21 May 2012
Country: France
Denominations: 0.77 euros

Source: http://timbres.laposte.fr

2012 marks a significant year for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, as she celebrates 60 years as a dedicated monarch. The 60th anniversary of a monarch’s accession is known as a ‘Diamond Jubilee’, and it is certainly an occasion worth celebrating. Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee is only the second in the past 1,000 years of New Zealand and British history. The first was Queen Victoria’s in 1897. Queen Elizabeth II’s coincided with Waitangi Day on 6 February 2012.

Queen Elizabeth II has close links to New Zealand, and is the first monarch to adopt the title Queen of New Zealand. She has visited New Zealand on ten separate occasions, both officially and informally, and in the past six decades she has been actively involved in all aspects of New Zealand life.

70c – 2012 Official New Zealand Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II
Official portraits of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh wearing their New Zealand honours have been released to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Taken in the Blue Room of Buckingham Palace, this portrait depicts The Queen wearing the Sovereign’s insignia of the Order of New Zealand, the New Zealand Order of Merit, Star, Sash and Badge
and The Queen’s Service Order. The Queen wears the Diamond Fern brooch presented by the women of Auckland in 1953 on her right shoulder, and is also wearing the historic Hanoverian Fringe Tiara and matching necklace.

70c – 2012 Official New Zealand Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh
In this official portrait, the Duke of Edinburgh is wearing the uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal New Zealand Navy (appointed 1958). This uniform is identical to that worn as an Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Navy, to which rank he was appointed in 1953. The Duke’s medal bar gives pride of place to the Badge of a Companion of The Queen’s Service Order, to which he was appointed in 1981.

$1.40 – 1986 Hastings, New Zealand
The $1.40 stamp pictures Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at the national Mäori reception given in their honour at Hastings, on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island. Both The Queen and the Duke are wearing ceremonial korowai (cloaks), made from prized kiwi feathers, as they arrive at the reception at Nelson Park.

$1.90 – 1981 Wellington, New Zealand
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh made a brief tour of New Zealand in 1981, following a Commonwealth Heads of Government conference in Melbourne, Australia. In the $1.90 stamp they are pictured waving to well-wishers from their open car in Wellington.

$2.40 -1977 Wellington, New Zealand
In 1977, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh embarked on a Commonwealth tour to celebrate Her Majesty’s Silver Jubilee. The royal couple were in New Zealand from 22 February to 7 March, and are pictured on the $2.40 stamp in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital.

$2.90 -1953 Auckland, New Zealand
Queen Elizabeth II made her first tour of New Zealand in 1953, and the country was overcome with excitement as she visited 46 towns and cities. The $2.90 stamp shows Her Majesty delivering her
Christmas message from Government House in Auckland. Significantly, this was her first and only Christmas message broadcast from outside Britain.

Title: 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee
Date of Issue: 9 May 2012
Country: New Zealand
Denominations: 70c (x2), $1.40, $1.90, $2.40 and $2.90

Source: http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz

The 2012 Olympics take place in London, England, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. London will become the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948. The majority of venues will be divided across London and use will be made of some partially new and temporary venues and structures. The stated goal is not to leave “white elephants”, i.e. large structures that no one will be using after the Games.

The Olympic Stadium and the Olympic Village will be situated in Stratford East London where the expropriation of older buildings, which might be demolished, has sparked controversy. The Olympic Stadium is designed to accommodate 80,000 visitors for the opening and closing celebrations of the Games. It will then be converted into a 25,000 seat sports stadium. Certain sports, such as sailing, will take place outside London. The soccer tournaments will be played on famous soccer fields in Scotland and England.

Title: The London Olympic Games – Island
Date of Issue: 3 May 2012
Country: Island
Denominations: 580 ISK

Source: http://stamps.postur.is

The Church of St Simeon and the female prophet Anne is the second Orthodox church built in a Tallinn suburb after the Great Nordic War. It is located close to the harbour and was dedicated to St Simeon the Righteous and the prophet Anne (Hannah). The church was built on the initiative of the navy and with its donations in 1752-1755 and served long as the church of the Navy. Legend has it that the church was built on the wreck of a sunken ship and a landfill. Considerable rebuilding of the church took place in 1827 and in 1870 and it was probably then that it received its present size, façade and its cross-shaped ground plan.

The church has a belfry and an onion-shaped cupola rises on the higher central part of the church. In 2001-2005 the church was thoroughly renovated; in 2007 it received a woodcut iconostasis and other interior furnishings and was reconsecrated. At present it serves as the Cathedral of the Tallinn Archbishop and of the whole Estonian metropolitan. The Church of St. Simeon and the female prophet Anne is one of few wooden churches that has come down to our days and is a listed architectural monument. The belfry of the church has a museum of Orthodox church textiles and sacral attributes.

Title: Church of St Simeon – Estonia
Date of Issue: 17 May 2012
Country: Estonia
Denominations: 0.45 Euro

Source: http://www.post.ee

In 2012, the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO), celebrates the centenary of its creation. This association is for daily backup of biodiversity from its mission to protect birds. Four birds are placed particular highlight the block of stamps in their respective ecosystems, including the Atlantic Puffin with the LPO made ??its emblem.

Title: Power League for the Protection of Birds
Date of Issue: 14 May 2012
Country: France
Denominations: 0.57 euros x 4

Source: http://timbres.laposte.fr

Chess is certainly the oldest intellectual game. There are many legends among which the best known is the one with a checkerboard and wheat grains. Among archaeological remains of old civilisations wooden plates similar to that of chess were found, but it was still not the chess in today’s sense of the word. The oldest findings of chess game originate from India (from the middle of the 6th century).

Chess has developed and changed throughout centuries and its modern history reaches into the 15th century when Juan Ramirez Lucena in 1497 in Spain (Salamanca) published the first book on chess. This game acquired global popularity as an art and skill, since with equal success the rich as well as the poor, old and young, professionals and amateurs could practice it.

There are three basic ways of playing and competing in chess: the first is classical chess played between two players (over-board chess), the second is correspondence chess and the third is problem chess. Croatia has got a rich chess tradition. There are legends about Croatian coat of arms, which is often in error called checkerboard; however, chess is not played on it, chess is played on the real chessboard with the total of 64 fields (8×8). The story about the King Držislav (which mentions also the King Suronja) tells us how the king was captured by Venetians and about the chess games he played with the Doge of Venice, Pietro II Orseolo who lost three games and liberated Držislav giving him the power over Dalmatian towns.

Držislav inserted a part of chessboard into his coat of arms. English historian Thomas Hyde in his book De ludis orientalibus (On Oriental Games) from 1694 mentions correspondence chess games played between Venetian and Croatian merchant in 1650. In the 19th century chess became increasingly popular owing to students who attended universities in Vienna, Brussels and Paris. First chess column appeared in 1875 in the weekly Hrvatska lipa and in the same century began organised occupying with chess. Thus, it is mentioned that the first chess club was founded in 1879 in Dubrovnik and according to preserved documentation in 1886 also Zagreb Chess Club was founded by the academician, and Dean of the University of Zagreb, one of the most prominent Croatian chess players, Prof. Dr. Gjuro Pilar and his co-workers: Dragutin pl. Šram and Dr. Slavko Wolf.

The Club was registered according to legal regulations of that time and had its own regulations officially approved on 22 March 1886. In January of the same year first chess tournament was organised in Zagreb under the name „Trial Tournament“. It was organised by Gjuro Pilar according to the experience that he acquired during his stay and study in Brussels where he was in touch with some of the most famous chess players of the time. There were nine participants at the Tournament and the winner was Dragutin Šram.

Title: 100th Anniversary of Croatian Chess Federation
Date of Issue: 12 May 2012
Country: Croatia
Denominations: 4,6 kn

Source: http://www.posta.hr