WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23: TRANSISTOR'S 60TH
Profile America -- Sunday, December 23rd. One of the most important inventions of modern times was announced 60 years ago today -- when three Bell Laboratory scientists unveiled with what would become the junction transistor, the foundation of the information age. The three shared the Nobel Prize in physics in 1956. The transistor replaced bulky, fragile vacuum tubes, which generated a lot of heat as they amplified a signal. The first application which caught the public's attention was the transistor radio. Now, transistors are found in every electronic device that we all take for granted. Today, there are nearly 76,000 stores selling electronic devices in the U.S., worth $84 billion annually. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Web at http://www.census.gov/.
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 Internet at http://www.census.gov/ (look under the "Newsroom" button). For further information, contact Rick Reed at +1-301-763-2812, fax at +1-301-457-3670, or e-mail at rreed(At)census.gov.
U.S. Census Bureau
