Matthew - Ship of John Cabot

Date of Issue: April 01, 1949
Scott #: 282

This stamp was issued to commemorate the entry of Newfoundland into confederation with Canada.

The ship depicted in the stamp is "Matthew," a caravel sailed by John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), an Italian navigator and explorer working under contract to England on his expedition from Bristol, England to North America, presumably Newfoundland in 1497. This discovery is considered by historians as having laid the initial foundation of the British Empire.

John Cabot was commonly credited as the first European to discover North America.