U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for April 27

WASHINGTON, April 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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TUESDAY, APRIL 27: WORST MARITIME DISASTER

Profile America -- Tuesday, April 27th.  Today marks the anniversary in 1865 of the nation's worst maritime disaster.  Moving up the Mississippi River near Memphis at night, the steamboat Sultana suddenly exploded.  It was overloaded with an estimated 2,300 passengers, most of them just released Union soldiers who had been prisoners of war.  There was no passenger list, but it's thought that up to 2,000 died from the exploding boilers, the fire that followed, or drowned in the dark, fast-moving water.  With the end of the Civil War and President Lincoln's assassination, the disaster created little notice and is now almost forgotten.  Today, Mississippi river boats carry few passengers, but each year, they move 700 million tons of cargo up and down the river.  Profile America is completing its 13th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:

Chase's Calendar of Events 2010, p. 244

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, t. 1048

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look under the "Newsroom" button).  

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau