WASHINGTON, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
LIGHTING UP THE NIGHT
Profile America — Wednesday, March 23rd. The first town in America to have its streets illuminated by electric lights wasn't one of the familiar, Eastern metropolises that loom in our history. That distinction instead went to the north-central Indiana town of Wabash, late this month in 1880. Wabash had a population of just 3,800 Hoosiers in 1880, so it took only four 3,000-candlepower arc lamps on the county courthouse to light the streets. By newspaper accounts, witnesses were awestruck by the modern wonder. Now, the 10,400 residents of Wabash are as blasé as the rest of us. Arc lights have long been eclipsed by our more familiar energy-efficient products. From incandescent to halogen to light-emitting diodes, some 2 billion light bulbs are sold annually in the U.S. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.
Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 2216
Wabash 1880 population: Report on the Population of the United States at the Eleventh Census: 1890 part 1/page 127
Wabash illumination: Report on the Population of the United States at the Eleventh Census: 1890 part 1/page 127
http://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/view/11762/17231
Wabash current population: http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045214/1879370,00
Light bulbs purchased: http://www.statisticbrain.com/light-bulb-statistics/
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).
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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau
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