Forget what you may have heard about Abner Doubleday and Cooperstown. The national pastime of baseball evolved out of older bat and ball games. An important step in that evolution occurred on this date in 1845, when the Knickerbocker Baseball Club of New York was formed. It was the first organized club, and its rules have shaped today’s game. Practice and intrasquad games under the rules occupied the Knickerbockers until the first contested baseball game on June 19, 1846 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Just 30 years later, today’s National League began playing. From pickup games in empty lots, through school and municipal fields, on up to the newest major league ballpark, 11.5 million Americans play baseball at least once a year. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.
Sunday, September 22nd. The average age of the American population is on a steady climb, and the national median is nearly 37. As people grow older, many tend to become a little vague about their exact age. After about 85, though, they tend to become proud of their longevity. Not too many years ago, someone who had lived to be 100 was a true rarity. Even today, those reaching 100 are contacted by the White House, and often the national and local media. Now, generations of good nutrition and medical care are paying off, and the picture has changed. On this National Centenarians Day, there are some 53,000 Americans aged 100 or over, almost 83 percent of them women. In 1980, the number was 32,000. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy from the American Community Survey at <www.census.gov>.
Saturday, September 21st. On this date in 1959, Congress acted to help some Americans achieve minimum levels of nutrition, passing a bill which created food stamps for those with low incomes. In 2008, the Food Stamp Program was renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Today, there are nearly 47 million Americans enrolled in the program, more than double the number of a decade ago. The average value of the benefit they receive each month is almost $133, and the total cost of the federal program is some $78 billion a year. The state with the highest food stamp or SNAP participation is Oregon with nearly 18 percent of the population. States with the lowest rates included California, New Jersey and Wyoming. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.