U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for April 17

News provided by

Apr 17, 2015, 12:01 ET

WASHINGTON, April 17, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

THE COURSE OF CUBAN EVENTS

Profile America — Friday, April 17th. This date in 1961 saw the launch of the ill-fated invasion of Cuba by some 1,400 U.S. trained exiles. The attempt to overthrow the Fidel Castro dictatorship was crushed at the Bay of Pigs. A reverse amphibious operation began this month in 1980, when what's known as the Mariel boatlift began. Castro had announced that any citizens wishing to leave the island could do so. Voluntary exiles embarked in the port town of Mariel, just west of Havana. Some 125,000 Cubans crossed the Florida straits in about 5,000 small boats, mostly coming ashore in Key West. The boatlift lasted until late September, when Castro closed the port to any more emigrants. Of the 54 million Hispanics in the U.S., more than 2 million — over 3½ percent — are of Cuban heritage. Profile America is completing its 18^th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:
Bay of Pigs: http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/The-Bay-of-Pigs.aspx
Kane's Famous First Facts, 5881
History of Mariel boatlift: http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/USCG_Mariel_History_1980.asp
Hispanic and Cuban populations: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_13_1YR_DP05&prodType=table

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110428/DC91889LOGO

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau