U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for May 24: The First Web

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

THE FIRST WEB

Profile America — Wednesday, May 24th. In a way, today marks the 173rd birthday of the World Wide Web. Only it was electro-mechanical, not digital. On this date in 1844, Samuel F.B. Morse activated the first telegraph line, sending a dots-and-dashes code message from the U.S. Capitol building to a receiver in Baltimore. By the late 1850s, the first telegraph cable had been laid across the Atlantic Ocean, and in 1861, the telegraph spanned the continental United States. Over the ensuing decades, the wires wrapped around the world. From the 1844 demonstration, telecommunications today has grown into a half-trillion dollar a year industry, and employs more than 1 million workers in over 50,000 industry establishments. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 7692
Demonstration and development/accessed 3/3/2017: www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/reform/jb_reform_morsecod_1.html 
Transatlantic cable/accessed 3/3/2017: http://atlantic-cable.com/ 
Telecommunications revenue, employees and establishments/County Business Patterns/NAICS 517: https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/BP/2014/00A1//naics~517 
Telecommunications revenues/Economic Census/NAICS 517: https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ECN/2012_US/00CCOMP1//naics~517

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by 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 "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu). 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

Related Links

http://www.census.gov

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