Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia

Outgoing postcard US-3372299 to Taiwan shows an aerial view of Virginia Military Institute (V.M.I), a state-supported military college in Lexington, Virginia. Allegheny Mountains in the distance, V.M.I is famous as a military and engineering school, frequently referred to as "the West Point of the South."

In keeping with its founding principles as the oldest state-sponsored military institution in the United States, V.M.I enrolls only military cadets and awards 18 baccalaureate degrees exclusively in 14 majors in Applied Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Computer & Information Sciences, Economics & Business, Electrical & Computer Engineering, English, History, International Studies & Political Science, Mechanical Engineering, Modern Languages & Cultures, Physics, and Psychology. V.M.I offers cadets strict military discipline combined with a spartan, physically and academically demanding environment.

Photo by Herbert Lanks.

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

Postcard IE-78738 from Ireland shows a sunset view from the Cliffs of Moher or Aillte an Mhothair in Irish, located at the southwestern edge of the Burren region in County Clare, Ireland. According to Wikepedia, those cliffs rise 120 meters or 390 feet above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag's Head, and reach their maximum height of 214 meters or 702 feet just north of O'Brien's Tower, eight kilometers to the north. There is a round stone tower near the midpoint of the cliffs, built in 1835 by Sir Cornelius O'Brien, where visitors can see the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, the Maumturks and Twelve Pins mountain ranges to the north in County Galway, and Loop Head to the south. With almost one million visitors a year, it was one of the most popular tourist sites in Ireland.

A rainbow formed over Dublin in the evening yesterday as people in Ireland voted on a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize same-sex marriage. Final results indicated that 62% of voters and all but one district approved the amendment in a referendum Friday. It shows that support for marriage equality extended well beyond Ireland’s liberal urban centers and deep into its rural heartlands; and that a vote for same-sex marriage in Ireland is not a ‘No’ vote to Catholicism. Just as Prime Minister Enda Kenny proclaimed: “with today’s vote, we have disclosed who we are: a generous, compassionate, bold and joyful people.” Ireland became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote in the world, joining 18 other countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, Denmark, France, Brazil, Uruguay, New Zealand, Britain, Luxembourg, and Finland) where same-sex couples can marry nationwide.

Rainbow at the end of the canvass,last night North Dublin Suburbs #IrelandSaysYes #IrelandVoteYes #irelandreferendum pic.twitter.com/gzk9UFZVDv

— Simy Frant (@SimyFrant) May 23, 2015

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Postcard US-3263831 to California was a vintage card showing St. Patrick's Cathedral, a decorated Neo-Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral church and a prominent landmark of New York City, directly across the street from Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan and specifically facing the Atlas statue. The cathedral was completed in 1878, The cathedral and associated buildings were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976. According to a spreadsheet of NRHP list from the National Park Service, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 8, 1976 with a reference number 76001250.

Vista of Capitol through Cherry Blossoms

Outgoing postcard US-3372297 to Japan was a reproduction of vintage linen postcard Vista of Capitol through Cherry Blossoms, Washington, D. C. by D.C. Reynolds Co in the 1930s. It shows the famed cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin with the U.S. Capitol Building in the background. It has one of the USPS Gifts of Friendship stamps featuring the U.S. Capitol building surrounded by white and pink dogwood trees.

According to a USPS news release, "in a ceremony at the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., on March 27, 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two of 3,020 flowering cherry trees gifted to the nation’s capital from the city of Tokyo. As a show of gratitude for this generous gift, former President William Howard Taft arranged for the United States to send 50 flowering dogwood trees to Japan in 1915. This reciprocal gift featured a species of tree native to the eastern United States and Canada."

Yuccas Blooming on the Desert

Postcard US-3285001 to Finland was a vintage linen card Yucca Whipplei blooming with a background of mighty San Jacinto Mountain in California.

Native to southern California, United States and Baja California, Mexico, Yucca whipplei ( Hesperoyucca whipplei) is a species of flowering plant in the genus Hesperoyucca, but closely related to, and previously usually included in, the genus Yucca. It is extremely drought tolerant and thrives in clay soils. The fiber from its leaves was used extensively by Native Americans for making sandal, cloth, and rope.

Marilyn Monroe

Postcard US-1852497 to Ukraine shows a 1955 movie scene with actress Marilyn Monroe appearing in the Seven Year Itch where her dress blows up from the subway grate. It becomes one of the most famous Marilyn Monroe scenes of all time. The subway grate is marked at East 52nd Street and Lexington Ave in New York City.

Fifty three years ago on Saturday May 19, 1962, Marilyn Monroe sung "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" for President John F. Kennedy at a celebration of his forty-fifth birthday, ten days before his actual date on Tuesday May 29, 1962.

Less than three months later, Monroe was found dead at her home at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California on August 5, 1962. She was 36 years old.

Will Rogers Memorial Museum

Outgoing postcard US-3368790 to Germany was a vintage linen postcard with an aerial view of the Will Rogers Memorial Museum and Tomb in Claremore, Oklahoma that commemorates Native American social commentator and actor Will Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) who was one of the world's most famous stars in the 1920s and 1930s. The museum houses artifacts, memorabilia, photographs, and manuscripts pertaining to Rogers' life, and documentaries, speeches, and movies starring Rogers are shown in a theater. He made 71 movies and wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns. Rogers died in 1935 during a small airplane crash in Alaska. His tomb is located on its 20-acre or 8-hectare grounds overlooking Claremore and Rogers State University. The museum opened in 1938, three years after his death.

May 18 is the International Museum Day. The theme for 2015 is "Museums for a sustainable society."