U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for November 29

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29: FIRST AUTO RACE

Profile America — Monday, November 29th.  Newspaper headlines in Chicago on this date in 1895 told of the nation's first automobile race the day before, among vehicles that still looked like horse-drawn buggies.  Six of what were then called "motocycles" left Jackson Park in the morning for a 54-mile run to Evanston, Illinois and back through the snow.  Inventor Frank Duryea won the race at an average speed of 7½ miles an hour.  By 1911, the first Indianapolis 500 was held.  That year increasing interest led to sales of 211,000 cars, trucks and buses, but horses still outnumbered cars by a margin of 33 to 1.  Now, there are almost 248 million registered motor vehicles in the U.S.  Profile America is in its 14th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:  Kane's Famous First Facts, 7260

               http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/nov28.html

               Historical Statistics, pp. 519, 716

               Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, t.1060

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