U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for March 10

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Mar 10, 2014, 12:01 ET

WASHINGTON, March 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

FIRST PHONE CALL

Profile America — Monday, March 10th.For many Americans, trying to envision life without our various telephones would be like trying to live without indoor plumbing. The telephone is 138 years old today. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Over a wire to his assistant in the next room, Bell said, "Mister Watson, come here; I want to see you." Only when Bell improved his invention to carry a voice for several miles did the public discover a need for them. Now, the public has an insatiable appetite for phones and uses them in ways Bell could not have foreseen. Over 116 million — or over 88 percent — of America's 132 million housing units have phone service. You can find more facts about America's people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, at <www.census.gov>.

Sources:
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/recon/jb_recon_telephone_1.html
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/recon/jb_recon_telephone_1.html
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=AHS_2011_C01AO&prodType=table
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_12_1YR_B992513&prodType=table

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau