A postman walking up the garden path has been a familiar sight for more than 200 years. Today, postmen and women have been allowed to adopt a more casual uniform including shorts and polo shirts, but this hasn’t always been the case.

Stamp vending machines were an invention of the early 20th century, in the days when the price of a first-class British stamp was one penny and featured King Edward VII.

The famous theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein, has had a massive influence on science, despite being born 140 years ago. His theory of relativity provides the basis of modern physics, while his algebraic formula, E=MC², recognising the link between mass and energy, is known as the “world’s most famous equation”.

The world’s first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, was launched in Britain in May 1840. It depicted a dignified profile picture of Queen Victoria and received its name because of its colour and its face value of one penny.

Sister and brother duo The Carpenters became one of America’s top musical groups of the 20th century. Their total record sales surpassed more than 100 million and they were one of the top ten best-selling artists in the world at their peak.