U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for July 5

WASHINGTON, July 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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MONDAY, JULY 5: ZIP CODES

Profile America -- Monday, July 5th.  This is a key week in postal history.  The first stamps issued by the U.S. Post Office went on sale in 1847.  A five cent stamp pictured Benjamin Franklin, while one costing 10 cents honored George Washington.  Before then, there were no uniform stamps -- a haphazard system of private postal services around the country had issued their own.  And in 1963, the postal service introduced the five digit zip code to help speed mail to the proper destination.  That year, Americans sent nearly 68 billion pieces of mail.  Today, the postal service handles nearly 208 billion pieces of mail annually -- which works out to about two items for each person in the country every day.  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. 351

Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, p. 804

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, t. 351

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