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

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19: TIN CANS

Profile America -- Saturday, January 19th. Being able to store food and distribute it before it spoiled became a lot easier in the young United States on this date in 1825. That's when Ezra Daggett and Thomas Kensett were granted a patent for the tin can. Heating and sealing food in glass jars had started a few years before in France, and the British Royal Navy was being supplied with canned food by 1820. Even though today frozen foods, plastic containers and concentrates are widely available, canned foods are still popular, including soups and canned tomato sauce. In fact, it takes more than 20,000 people to make all the tin cans we use each year, worth nearly $11.5 billion. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Web at 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@ensus.gov.

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau