Today is that most American of holidays — Independence Day, celebrating the day in 1776 when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Ours was the first successful colonial independence movement against a European power. Recognition of our nationhood came with the Peace Treaty of 1783. From sea to shining sea, there will be parades, concerts, barbecues, and, of course, fireworks. Among the famous celebrations is the Boston Pops fireworks spectacular, featuring Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” now in its 41st year. Shortly after the U.S. gained independence, the median age of the population was around 16. Now, the median age is the highest in history — nearly 37.5 years. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>
Saturday, July 5th. The month of July has put its stamp on U.S. Postal Service history. At the beginning of the month in 1847, the first Post Office issued stamps went on sale. A five-cent stamp pictured Benjamin Franklin, while one costing 10 cents honored George Washington. Before then, there were no uniform stamps — a haphazard system of private postal services around the country had issued their own. And in 1963, the Postal Service introduced the five-digit zone improvement plan — or ZIP Code — to help speed mail service. That year, Americans sent nearly 68 billion pieces of mail. Lately, the Postal Service handles 160 billion pieces of mail annually, while nearly a half-million Americans work in over 10,000 non-Post Office courier and express delivery establishments. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.
Sunday, July 6th. The Constitution of the United States, ratified in 1788, somewhat famously made this nation the first in the world to conduct a census of population on a regular basis — every 10 years, on years ending in zero, in fact. Divisibility by tens had still more and earlier attraction for the Continental Congress, as on this date in 1785, for the first time in history, a nation adopted a decimal coinage system, founded on the dollar we know today. At the time, money systems around the world were a chaos of fractions and units. Today, following America’s lead, only two of the 190-plus countries in our world do not have decimal-based currency. The median income in America’s .115 billion households is $.053 million per year. Profile America is in its 17th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.