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Profile America — Saturday, November 7th. Today is a big day on the college football schedule, and tens of thousands of people will be jamming the stands to see their favorite teams on the gridiron. Part of the fun in attending a college game is the music played by each school’s band. One of the key instruments in these bands is the saxophone. The family of brass wind instruments with reed mouthpieces were invented by Adolph Sax of Belgium, whose birthday was noted yesterday. Saxophones were first used in symphonic music, but gained worldwide fame when American jazz artists such as Sidney Bechet, Lester Young and Charlie Parker explored their sound and dynamic range. Today, saxophones are an important part of the inventory in the nearly 4,500 music stores around the nation, which sell close to $5 billion worth of instruments, music and supplies each year. Profile America is in its 13th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 540
2002 Economic Census, NAICS 451140
http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/data/industry/E451140.HTM

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Profile America — Friday, November 6th. The first intercollegiate football game was played on this date in 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The game, which resembled soccer more closely than today’s college football, was won by Rutgers, 6 goals to 4. A few years later, representatives from Rutgers, Princeton, Columbia and Yale met to formulate the first intercollegiate rules for the increasingly popular game, including the number of players and the size of the field. Today, there are 619 college football teams across the country, and their games are attended by nearly 49 million people annually. Additional, millions watch the games of their favorite teams on television. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 7315
440 International Calendar of Events
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1204
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

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Profile America — Thursday, November 5th. The national census next April will be the 23rd time this once-a-decade count has been conducted since 1790. The 14th census in 1920 marked a nation in transition. For the first time, there were more people living in urban areas than in rural surroundings. The U.S. population was just over 106 million. New York had more than 5.5 million residents, while Los Angeles was home to fewer than 600,000. In the decade to follow, radio would burst onto the national scene, Reader’s Digest would begin publishing, and Charles Lindbergh would fly solo across the Atlantic. At the decade’s end, the stock market would crash, leading to the Great Depression. Profile America is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau, now preparing for the 2010 Census.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Through the Decades
http://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/fast_facts/1920_3.html

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Profile America — Wednesday, November 4th. This year’s Nobel prizes were announced last month, and the award ceremonies will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, and Oslo, Norway, next month. In 1952, the prize for medicine was awarded for the discovery of the first antibiotic produced in the U.S. — streptomycin. The breakthrough medicine was developed by a Ukrainian immigrant, Dr. Selman Waksman, and four students in 1944 at Rutgers University in New Jersey. It went into production later that year. Prescriptions — including antibiotics — cost patients just over $231 billion a year — about $476 for each American. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 4998
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 126, 127
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

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Profile America — Tuesday, November 3rd. PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, aired its first television broadcasts 40 years ago today, as a string of local educational channels united to form the network. Over the years, PBS has built a reputation for excellent programs and objectivity. Some of its well-known programs include “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” “Masterpiece,” “Antiques Roadshow,” “American Experience” and “Sesame Street.” For some years, it was the leading broadcaster of key tennis matches. The Public Broadcasting Service currently has more than 350 stations, which collectively own the network. Across the U.S., there are 1,754 television stations. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 536
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1049
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

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Profile America — Monday, November 2nd. This is National American Indian Heritage Month, with a wide variety of events planned across the country. There are an estimated 4.5 million American Indians and Alaska Natives in the U.S., about 1½ percent of the total population. California is home to the highest number of these communities, at nearly 690,000, followed by Oklahoma with close to 400,000. Los Angeles County leads all of the nation’s counties with the number of people in this racial category. American Indians and Alaska Natives were the largest minority group in five states across the U.S. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources:  www.loc.gov/law/help/commermorative-observations/american-indian.php
U.S. Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB08-FF.18
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/012782.html

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Profile America — Sunday, November 1st. Daylight Saving Time ended this morning at 2 a.m., to return next year on the second Sunday in March. November also saw two landmarks in the history of keeping time. On this date in 1884, time zones around the world were set by delegates from 25 nations at a Washington, D.C., conference. And the year before, American Charles Dowd proposed four time zones for the U.S. to standardize then chaotic railroad timetables. Keeping time is not only important for individuals, businesses and transportation, but also lends itself to a fashion statement. The U.S. exports $218 million worth of watches a year, but we import more than $2 billion worth. Profile America is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau, now preparing for the 2010 Census.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 532, 534
U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Press Release, Exhibit 15
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_press_release/exh15.pdf

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Profile America — Saturday, October 31st. Beware — it’s Halloween, or more properly, all Hallow’s Eve, the day before the Feast of All Saints. According to Celtic tradition, it’s a time when witches, ghosts and other unsavory characters walk the earth for a day. For years, Halloween was eagerly awaited by youngsters, who would dress up in whatever was handy and make the rounds of the neighborhood, begging for candy with the empty threat “trick or treat!” Now, more formal parties are being held, and grownups are just as apt to wear a costume as children. Fads come and go, but the jack-o’-lantern, made from a real pumpkin, remains popular. U.S. farmers grow just over a billion pounds of pumpkins a year. Illinois is by far the leading producer, followed by California, Pennsylvania and New York. Profile America is in its 13th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 529
U.S. Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB09-FF.19
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/014211.html

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Profile America — Friday, October 30th. The events of the last year in the stock market have reminded many of the great crash of 1929. Newspaper headlines on this date 80 years ago told of the great Wall Street disaster the day before. That event ushered in the Great Depression and ended the boom days of the 1920s. Nine-thousand banks failed and some stocks took 25 years to regain their value. By 1932, one of every four Americans was out of work. Today, the structures put in place to prevent another Depression are under severe test, led by the mortgage crisis, a big drop in stock prices and increased unemployment. Now, one-in-four U.S. households own shares of stock and more than four-out-of-10 invest in mutual funds. Profile America is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau, now preparing for the 2010 Census.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 527
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1171
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

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Profile America — Thursday, October 29th. A technological breakthrough that has had a profound impact on American society, the nation’s economy and on most individuals is 40 years old. It was on this date in 1969 that the first connection was made on what would become the Internet. The first two computers linked were at the University of California at Los Angeles and the Stanford Research Institute — part of a defense department program called ARPANET. Within a year, 10 sites were connected, and in 1972, the now universal symbol for “at” was selected to facilitate e-mail. Today, six-out-of-10 U.S. households have access to the Internet, and just over half have a broadband connection. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 527
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1118
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html