Monday Open Line


America’s first life insurance policy issued by a general insurance company was issued on this date in 1794 in Philadelphia. The Insurance Company of North America was organized two years earlier, with a capital of $600,000. But the life insurance venture proved short-lived, as only six policies were written in five years, and the service was dropped in 1804. The Insurance Company of North America, which still exists as a subsidiary of a multinational insurance group. Now, of course, life insurance is an enormous business, with some 270 million policies in force. There are nearly 10,000 establishments in the U.S. employing 370,000 people to sell and administer life insurance policies. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.