WASHINGTON, March 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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SUNDAY, MARCH 10: FIRST PHONE CALL

Profile America — Sunday, March 10th.  For many Americans, trying to envision life without our various telephones would be like trying to live without indoor plumbing.  The telephone is 137 years old today.  That's when Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Over a wire to his assistant in the next room, Bell said, "Mister Watson, come here; I want to see you."  Only when Bell improved his invention to carry a voice for several miles did the public discover a need for them.  Now, the public has an insatiable appetite for phones and uses them in ways Bell could not have foreseen. Over 97 percent of America's nearly 115 million occupied households have phone service.   You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Sources:  U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, General Housing Data, 2011 American Housing Survey

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