On this date 70 years ago, while most of America slept, one of history’s most notable events unfolded, as heard at the time: “CBS World News; Bob Trout speaking. And again we bring you the available report — all of them from German sources — on what the Berlin radio calls the invasion. The Berlin radio opened its news program with a so-called invasion announcement, and I quote: ‘Here is a special bulletin. Early this morning, the long-awaited British and American invasion began, when paratroops landing in the area of the Somme estuary …'” This was, of course, the Normandy invasion, which hastened the end of World War II in Europe. Currently, of the more than 21 million living veterans in the U.S., there are over 1.5 million from the Second World War. Profile America is in its 17th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Saturday, June 7th. A home entertainment revolution began on this date in 1975 when the videocassette recorder was introduced. It was Sony’s Betamax format recorder, which in a very few years was superseded by the rival VHS format. At its peak, some 9-out-of-10 households across the country had a VCR. Then, the DVD was introduced in 1997 and quickly eclipsed videocassettes. Now, the rising format is the Blu-ray system, allowing video quality to match high-definition television sets. Renting out discs and what’s left of videocassettes is the business of over 6,600 shops in the U.S., engaging in a nearly $9.5 billion a year business. You can find current data on the country’s economy by downloading the America’s Economy mobile app at <www.census.gov/mobile>.
Sunday, June 8th. One of the joys of summer and sins of consumption goes back to this date in 1786 when commercially made ice cream was first advertised in New York City. Until then, ice cream was a privately prepared treat, but the New York Post Boy announcement stated that anyone “may be supplied with ice cream every day at the City tavern by their humble servant, Joseph Cowe.” However, the supply was as limited as the technology of the age, and ice cream didn’t become a widespread favorite until the advances in electrical power and refrigeration in the early 20th century. In 1910, Americans on average consumed a little less than two pounds of ice cream a year. Today, that figure is just over 18 pounds, and making ice cream and frozen desserts is a $7.6 billion a year business. Profile America is in its 17th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.