WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30:  INTERNET BIRTHDAY

Profile America — Wednesday, October 30th. A technological breakthrough that has led to remarkable changes in American and global society occurred 44 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 the University of California, Los Angeles 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, over three quarters of U.S. households have computers, and about 72 percent have Internet access at home. Profile America is in its 17th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_arpanet.htmhttp://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p20-569.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