U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for July 23

WASHINGTON, July 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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FRIDAY, JULY 23: LEARNING HOW TO SWIM

Profile America -- Friday, July 23rd.  All over the country, wherever there's water -- at pools, lakes, rivers and at the seashore -- people are swimming and learning to swim.   Even young infants take swimming lessons, in classes called "water babies."  The first swimming school in the U.S. opened on this date in 1827. It was on the Charles River in Boston, and students were suspended in a harness from a long pole.  Among those first students were future President John Quincy Adams and naturalist and painter James Audubon.  Today, more than 52 million people enjoy swimming on a regular basis -- making it one of our favorite sporting activities, topped only by exercise walking and exercising with equipment.  You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2010, p. 384

440 International Calendar of Events, Those Were the Day

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, t. 1212

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