One Day in America

Each day nearly 11,000 people are born.

And that's just the beginning.

by Linda Perlstein

Printed January 1, 1997 in The Washington Post, Page A17

Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States 1996

Note: Numbers are from 1994, the latest year for which comprehensive figures are available. Daily figures are extrapolations based on annual totals.

The Bottom Line
10,901 Births
6,263 Deaths
6,471 Marriages
3,263 Divorces and Annulments

At Your leisure - Each day Americans Spent:
$146.8 Million on Movies
$ 78.1 Million on Lottery Tickets
$ 18.4 Million in Computer Software
$ 16.2 Million at Amusement Parks
$ 25.6 Million on Professional Sports and Racing
$ 8.9 Million at Public Golf Courses
$ 8.3 Million at Bowling Alleys
$ 21.5 Million in Athletic Shoes
$ 41.0 Million in Athletic equipment

... and bought:

5.8 Million books for $65.2 Million
     2.2 Million Hardcover
     3.6 Million Softcover
104,000 Fishing Licenses
87,000 Hunting Licenses

... and charged $2 Billion to Credit Cards

In Sickness and In Health
$2.6 Billion in Health Expenditures
     ($1.1 Billion spent by the Government)

1.87 Million Doctor's Office Visits
     256,000 Emergency Room Visits

14 Workers Killed on the Job
9,589 Workers Disabled on the Job

212 AIDS Cases Reported
838 AIDS Deaths
2,011 Heart Disease Deaths
1,471 Cancer Deaths
247 Accident Deaths
89 Suicides
61 Murders

Transplants:
      2 Lungs
      6 Hearts
     10 Livers
     29 Kidneys

Moving Right Along
20,577 Aircraft Departures

33,699 Motor Vehicles Made
     18,082 Cars
     15,342 Trucks and Buses

112 Killed and 8,767 Injured in 17,808 Motor Vehicle Accidents

Crime Watch
5,107 Violent Crimes
33,227 Property Crimes
1,699 Robberies (including 184 Houses and 25 Banks)
175 Pockets Picked
164 Purses Snatched
1,359 Bikes Stolen
3,332 Cars Stolen
32,548 People Arrested
8,042 Children Reported Abused

Getting Down to Business
311 Patents Issued
2,316 Bankruptcies Filed
1,453 Copyrights Registered
9 Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions
11 New Food Products Introduced
10 Million Overseas Calls Made
22.8 Million Automated Teller Transactions
$ 2.3 Billion in Goods and Services Exported
$ 2.6 Billion in Goods and Services Imported
160,000 Trout Sold
1.8 Billion Cigarettes Produced
556,000 Barrels of Beer Brewed
$ 411 Million Spent on Advertising
$ 463 Million Spent on Research and Development

Et Cetera
488 Million Pieces of Mail through the Postal Service

573,000 Tons of Solid Waste Generated
135,000 Tons of Material Recovered (78,630 Tons Paper)

1,344 New Immigrants Arrived
2,926 Aliens Expelled

$ 2.1 Billion Spent by State Governments
$ 4.2 Billion Spent by Federal Government
     ($771.5 Million of that on National Defense)