Friday / Weekend Open Line


This was a day that didn’t exist in Colonial America in 1752, as the familiar calendar underwent what is called the “Gregorian correction,” switching from the ancient Julian calendar to adjust for errors accumulated over centuries. After September 2nd, the next day was September 14th, and there was rioting by those who felt cheated and demanded the 11 days back. The British parliament’s Calendar Act of 1750 had also changed New Year’s Day from March 25th to January 1st. As a result, the year 1751 had only 282 days. Since then, with leap years built in, the calendar has remained constant. Calendar production engages some of the country’s nearly 26,000 printing establishments, which employ some 443,000 workers. Profile America is in its17th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Saturday, September 13th. When Henry Bliss stepped off a streetcar at Central Park West and 74th Street in New York, on this date in 1899, automobiles were a novelty. Thus, he didn’t look carefully, and was run over by an almost silent electric taxi. The accident was the first fatality in the U.S. involving an automobile. At the time, there were fewer than 8,000 motor vehicles in the whole country. As the number of registered automobiles climbed rapidly, so did the number of deaths. In 1990, some 45,000 drivers, passengers and pedestrians were killed on the nation’s highways. In recent years, the number has trended down to fewer than 31,000 fatalities as of 2011, even though the number of cars continues to increase. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.

Sunday, September 14th. The stubborn economic difficulties the nation is experiencing began six years ago today, and may seem unique. But they have their antecedents in history. Most of us are familiar with the Great Depression of the 1930s, But 141 years ago, the nation was struck by the Panic of 1873, now called the Long Depression. It started because of a collapse in the demand for silver in Europe and spread around the world. In the U.S., banks failed, railroads went bankrupt, factories closed, and unemployment soared. The chaos caused the New York Stock Exchange to close for 10 days in late September that year. The depression dragged on until 1879. Demand for silver rebounded, and today in the U.S., nearly a half-billion dollars worth of silver ore is mined annually. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov