Sir Rowland Hill (1795-1879), an Englishman, was born poor. Aggressive and inventive, he succeeded in life by self`study. He invented the world’s first postage stamp 〝Black Penny〞 and was thus honorably called 〝the father of the postage stamp.〞 Furthermore, he suggested 〝prepaid postage〞and 〝uniform rate of postage〞systems. Although he took charge of the British Post for only ten years (1854-1864), Sir Rowland Hill made significant contributions by introducing his system and improving the efficiency of the post office. Proven immensely successful, his many plans were widely imitated by countries the world over. Consequently, he was honored by the Universal Postal Union as one of the greatest men in the world.