As National Hispanic Heritage Month continues, the focus is on the contributions of this community to the nation’s military history. The exploits of David Farragut, the first admiral in the U.S. Navy, during the Civil War are fairly well known. Less attention has been paid to Bernardo de Gálvez, who aided George Washington during the Revolution, and for whom the city of Galveston, Texas is named. Up to half a million Hispanics served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II — 12 of them earning the Medal of Honor. Many Hispanics are on active duty now in Afghanistan. Across the country, there are more than a million Hispanic veterans of the armed forces. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy from the American Community Survey at <www.census.gov>.
Sunday, September 23rd. This actually happened 104 years ago today. It was the last day of the baseball season, and the Chicago Cubs and New York Giants were battling for the National League pennant. It was bottom of the ninth, score tied 1 to 1, and the Giants had two men on base. The batter hits a single, scoring the winning run. But Fred Merkel on first, seeing the game, over heads for the dugout without taking second. Chicago protests, but by now fans are pouring onto the field. The commissioner of baseball calls the game a tie, forcing a postseason game, which the Cubs win 4 to 2. Some 41 million fans watch National League games each year — usually with less dramatic endings. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy from the American Community Survey at <www.census.gov>.
Saturday, September 22nd. As of 10:49 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time today, it’s autumn. It’s a time for football games, Halloween, and cooler temperatures, including the first frost of the season. It’s also when trees become decked out in glorious colors and birds begin to migrate. And it’s time for the annual harvest of whatever this year’s drought allowed to ripen. In the past, this meant entire families helped to bring in the crops to get ready for winter. Up until 1920, more people lived on farms than in cities. That year’s census showed there were about 6.5 million farms in the U.S., feeding a population of just over 100 million people. Today, advances in agriculture are such that about one third as many farms provide food for a population nearly three times that of 1920. Profile America is in its 16th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.