WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4: LIGHTING UP THE CITY

Profile America -- Saturday, September 4th.  As darkness fell on this date in 1882, people in lower Manhattan stood in awe -- when four streets, including Wall Street, started to glow with the light from 400 bulbs.  This first public showing of electric lights was staged by Thomas Edison.  Just three years before, he had demonstrated the first incandescent light bulb at his New Jersey laboratory.  Even by 1940, more than a fifth of U.S. homes still were not electrified.  Today, just about every house in the country has electric service, and with our increasing love of gadgets, annual home usage of electricity has increased 17 percent since 1990.  In that period, our power bills have gone up 69 percent.  Profile America is in its 14th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:  Chase's Calendar of Events 2010, p. 446

U.S. Census Bureau, Current Housing Reports, H121/94-1, p. 37

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, t. 917

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 for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).  

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

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