WASHINGTON, June 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)
SUNDAY, JUNE 12: ROLLER COASTERS
Profile America -- Sunday, June 12th. With summer almost here, children will be urging their parents to take them to the nearest amusement park. The highlight of these parks are ever more thrilling, roller coasters, which trace their roots back to 15th century ice slides in Russia. In the U.S., the first modern roller coaster opened this week in 1884 at Coney Island, New York. It was built by Lamarcus Thompson, and was called "the gravity pleasure switchback railway." The ride lasted a minute and cost a nickel and took riders at up to 6 miles an hour. Now, there are 634 theme and amusement parks across the nation, and they sell more than $11 billion worth of tickets annually. 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, 3621
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, t. 1230, 1227
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
