Published: July 22, 2011

U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for July 23

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WASHINGTON, July 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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SATURDAY, JULY 23: BACKING ACROSS AMERICA

Profile America -- Saturday, July 23rd. Americans love to set records of all kinds, some of them distinctly off the wall. A good case in point is Charles Creighton and James Hargis of Maplewood, New Jersey. On this day in 1930, they got in their 1929 Ford Model A roadster and started off on a run across America -- backing up all the way. They arrived in Los Angeles on August 13, 3,340 miles later, without ever having turned off the engine of their car. Presumably, both drivers had sore necks from looking over their shoulders for so many miles of driving in reverse. In 1930, there were just over 3 million miles of roads in the U.S. Now, that number is 4 million. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 5475

Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, p. 710

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2011, t. 1088

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