WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24: FIRST U.S. SKYJACKING

Profile America -- Tuesday, November 24th. The major story on this date 38 years ago was the brazen hijacking of an airliner on the West Coast by a man calling himself "D.B. Cooper." After collecting $200,000 in ransom, the man parachuted from the airliner over a wilderness area south of Seattle. He was never seen again, but some of the ransom money turned up years later along the Columbia River near Vancouver, Washington. Cooper's exploit led to the term "skyjacking," and airport security is on a scale unimagined in 1971. Each year, more than 6.5 million items are confiscated from airline passengers going through security checks. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at http://www.census.gov.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 565

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 517

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look under the "Newsroom" button).

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

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