On August 3, 1958, the world went somewhere it had never been before—under the Arctic ice cap. The USS Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine, departed from Point Barrow, Alaska, and journeyed 1,830 miles beneath the frozen ocean to the geographic North Pole.

This daring mission didn’t stop there—the Nautilus continued on to Iceland, proving for the first time that submarines could navigate an entirely new, faster route between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. It was a technological milestone that pushed the limits of exploration and redefined how we viewed the top of the world.

To commemorate this extraordinary feat, the U.S. issued the 1959 Arctic Exploration stamp (4¢, Scott 1128). Featuring imagery of a dog sled and the pioneering submarine itself, this stamp celebrates both the spirit of exploration and the powerful meeting of tradition and technology.

📬 Add a piece of this icy adventure to your collection today—because some stamps carry history that’s cooler than the rest. ❄️