WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9: EAST COAST BLACKOUT

Profile America — Friday, November 9th.  Forty-seven years ago today, an eerie darkness spread over much of the northeastern United States from Canada, beginning at 5:16 p.m.  A massive electrical blackout caused by human error eventually enveloped 80,000 square miles, putting the health and safety of 30 million people at risk for up to 12 long hours.  Even though the blackout of August 2003 affected more people, the 1965 outage is still the best remembered major blackout, as it was the first to make people aware of their total dependence on electric-powered technology.  Each year, more than 4 trillion kilowatts of electricity are generated by U.S. power companies.  This results in revenues of $121 billion a year.  You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Sources:  Chase's Calendar of Events 2012, p. 542 
2007 Economic Census, NAICS 22111

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 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