One of the saddest days in the long history of journalism occurred on this day in 1981, in Washington, D.C., as The Washington Star newspaper printed its last edition after covering local and national news for 128 years. The Star was looked on as the national capital’s paper of record, and its pages were praised for their objectivity and accurate content. Luckily, its complete archives are being made available online. The demise of The Washington Star was a harbinger of things to come. In 1980, there were 1,745 daily newspapers across the U.S. Since then, almost 350 papers have shut down. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy from the American Community Survey at <www.census.gov>.