WASHINGTON, March 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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TUESDAY, MARCH 19: FIRST U.S. BANK ROBBERY

Profile America — Tuesday, March 19th^.  Banks had operated in America for about a half century before someone tried to make an unauthorized withdrawal.  On this date in 1831, Edward Smith committed the first bank robbery in the U.S. — hitting the City Bank on New York's Wall Street.  He entered the bank after it closed, using a duplicate set of keys, and got away with $245,000 — a huge sum at the time.  But he was caught, convicted and spent five years in New York's Sing-Sing Prison.  Now, across the nation, there are over 91,000 commercial banking establishments.  As one 20th century bank robber supposedly noted, that's where the money is — bank deposits total around $5 trillion.  You can find more facts about America's people, places and economy from the American Community Survey at www.census.gov.

Sources:  2007 Economic Census, NAICS 522110

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