An invention was demonstrated on this date in 1879 that lit the way for a dramatic change in the rhythm of Americans’ daily lives. At his Menlo Park, New Jersey laboratory, Thomas Edison set up the first incandescent light bulb, which burned for almost 14 hours. Within a few years, some cities had installed electric street lights. The number of homes across the U.S. with electricity grew steadily, but even in 1940, more than one-in-five houses was without power. The last farms were electrified in the 1950s. Today, American homes on average have an increasing number of electrical devices and use 11,500 kilowatt hours of electricity each year. The average bill for this power is over $1,300 annually. Commercial electrical consumption and cost is almost seven times greater. Profile America is in its 17th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sunday, October 20th. Americans today would certainly protest if the government suppressed recreational pastimes as a statement of national purpose. But as tensions between Great Britain and the American colonies mounted ahead of the revolution, that’s exactly what the Continental Congress attempted on this date in 1774. In addition to imposing an economic boycott, the congress issued an order to the colonies seeking to “discourage all horse racing and all kinds of gaming, cock fighting, exhibitions of shows, plays and other expensive diversions and entertainments.” Today, we spend a lot on entertainment. Over 6.5 million people go to horse races each year, nearly 73 million attend live music concerts, and we buy about $53 billion of lottery tickets annually. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.
Saturday, October 19th. Throughout the decades since the oil embargo of 1973, increasing research and development has gone into renewable sources of energy. One of the results is seen atop windswept hills across America — large electricity generating windmills. While the concept sounds very modern, the first practical wind turbine generator goes back 72 years. It was on this date in 1941 that Palmer Putnam of Vermont demonstrated his device. His wind turbine had blades 66 feet in length, and over nearly 700 hours of operation, produced almost 300,000 kilowatt hours. Reflecting the increasing cost of fossil fuel for electrical generation, the average residential bill has risen from $879 a year in 2000 to $1,335. Profile America is in its 17th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.