WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 21:  SHEDDING LIGHT

Profile America — Monday, October 21st.

An invention was demonstrated on this date in 1879 that lit the way for a dramatic change in the rhythm of Americans' daily lives. At his Menlo Park, New Jersey laboratory, Thomas Edison set up the first incandescent light bulb, which burned for almost 14 hours. Within a few years, some cities had installed electric street lights. The number of homes across the U.S. with electricity grew steadily, but even in 1940, more than one-in-five houses was without power. The last farms were electrified in the 1950s. Today, American homes on average have an increasing number of electrical devices and use 11,500 kilowatt hours of electricity each year. The average bill for this power is over $1,300 annually. Commercial electrical consumption and cost is almost seven times greater. Profile America is in its 17th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:http://www.menloparkmuseum.org/thomas-edison-and-menlo-parkhttp://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/12statab/energy.pdf   T. 952http://www.census.gov/prod/2/catalog/96/cat96x7.pdf

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). 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

RELATED LINKShttp://www.census.gov