U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for October 30: Internet Birthday

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Oct 30, 2015, 12:01 ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

INTERNET BIRTHDAY

Profile America — Friday, October 30th. A technological breakthrough that has led to remarkable changes in American and global society occurred 46 years ago today … or yesterday, depending on your point of reference. While Americans in the Eastern and Central time zones entered October 30, 1969, it was around 10:30 p.m. Pacific time on October 29 that the first connection was made on what would become the Internet. The first two computers linked were at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute — part of a Defense Department program called ARPANET. Within a year, 10 sites were connected, and in 1972, the now universal "@" symbol was selected to facilitate email. Today, almost 84 percent of U.S. households have computers, and about 74 percent have Internet access at home. Profile America is in its 19th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:
First computer connection: http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_arpanet.htm
Current computer ownership and internet access: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_13_1YR_B28003&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).

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau