Whether it’s jazz, marching bands, or symphony orchestras, thousands of musicians and composers use saxophones to express their creativity. The family of brass wind instruments with Reed mouthpieces were invented by Adolph Sax of Belgium, whose birthday was noted earlier this month. Saxophones were first used in symphonic music but gained worldwide fame when American jazz artists such as Sidney Bechet, Lester Young, and Charlie Parker explored their sound and dynamic range. Today, saxophones are an important part of the inventory in the nearly 11,000 music stores around the nation, which sell almost $6 billion worth of instruments, music, and supplies each year. Profile America is in its 16th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sunday, November 18th. The final race of the NASCAR season will be run today in Homestead, Florida. The race will also be the last in this year’s “Chase for the Cup,” determining who will end up as the season champion. The season began 35 races ago in February with the Daytona 500. NASCAR was started in 1948 by Bill France, and the France family still owns and operates it as a business venture. NASCAR is second only to the NFL in terms of sports franchise television ratings. Across the U.S., there are 510 auto race tracks, which generate more than $2 billion in revenue each year. You can find current data on the country’s economy — on the go — by downloading the new “America’s Economy” mobile application at <www.census.gov/mobile>.
Saturday, November 17th. As National American Indian Heritage Month continues, many people across the country may not be aware that the states they live in have names derived from Indian words. In fact, the names of 22 states are derived from American Indian-Alaska Native words, including Alaska, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Ohio, as well as Connecticut, Michigan, and Illinois. The number of American Indian tribal groups numbering more than 100,000 has grown. The largest is Cherokee at over 819,000, followed by Navajo, Choctaw, Mexican-American Indian, Chippewa, Sioux, Apache, and Blackfeet. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.