Friday / Weekend Open Line


Friday, October 30th. A technological breakthrough that has led to remarkable changes in American and global society occurred 46 years ago today … or yesterday, depending on your point of reference. While Americans in the Eastern and Central time zones entered October 30, 1969, it was around 10:30 p.m. Pacific time on October 29 that the first connection was made on what would become the Internet. The first two computers linked were at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute — part of a Defense Department program called ARPANET. Within a year, 10 sites were connected, and in 1972, the now universal “@” symbol was selected to facilitate email. Today, almost 84 percent of U.S. households have computers, and about 74 percent have Internet access at home. Profile America is in its19th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Saturday, October 31st. There’s an excellent chance that today is an occasion deeply revered by young children and the nation’s candy makers. According to ancient Celtic tradition, Halloween — the evening before All Saints Day — is a time of haunting by ghosts. Halloween has come a long way from pagan practices to “trick or treat!” Today’s prank and costume-filled observance goes back about a century in the U.S., and giving the disguised young visitors to the doorstep some candies has been a major part of the ritual. This is an important boost to the nation’s more than 1,800 chocolate and nonchocolate confectionary manufacturers, along with some 3,170 candy and nut stores. Chocolate sales alone amount to over $13 billion annually. You can find current data on the country’s economy by downloading the ‘America’s Economy’ mobile application at <www.census.gov/mobile>.

Sunday, November 1st. On this date in 1848, the first medical school for women opened in Boston. At the time, it had a faculty of two and 12 students. By 1873, the school had graduated almost 100 doctors. That year, the Boston Female Medical School merged with the Boston University School of Medicine to form the world’s first coed medical learning facility. Today in the U.S., some 56 percent of all college students are female, and women earn around 58 percent of the doctorates in health professions awarded each year. Of the nearly 905,000 active physicians in the U.S., 587,000 of those identified are men, and 286,000 women. Female doctors make up the great majority in the specialties of obstetrics, gynecology and pediatric medicine. Profile America is in its19th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.