U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for April 22

To: NATIONAL EDITORS

Contact: Rick Reed of the U.S. Census Bureau, +1-301-763-2812

WASHINGTON, April 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is thedaily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

TUESDAY, APRIL 22: FIRST LICENSE PLATES

Profile America -- Tuesday, April 22nd. Automobile license platestoday herald the scenic wonders of the various states and oftencontain words giving a glimpse of the driver's personality. New Yorkwas the first state to require license plates on motor vehicles thisweek in 1901. At the time, there were just under 15,000 automobilesin the entire country. Those early vehicles resembled horse-drawncarriages and traveled over muddy roads without a license for eitherthe driver or the automobile. Many critics expected that they wereonly a rich man's fad. Now, there are more than 241 million cars,trucks and buses zipping along the nation's sophisticated highwaysystem, and more than 200 million Americans have driver's licenses.You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. CensusBureau on the Web at http://www.census.gov.

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office ofthe U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available asproduced segments ready to air on a monthly CD or on the Internet athttp://www.census.gov(look under the "Newsroom" button). For furtherinformation, contact Rick Reed at +1-301-763-2812, fax at +1-301-457-3670, or e-mail at rreed(At)census.gov.

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau