Census

Return to home

---

---

2100BC    Chinese Emperor Yu arranged the first Chinese headcount about this time.
    (Econ, 4/18/20, p.66)

1790        Mar 1, President Washington signed a measure authorizing the first US Census. The Connecticut Compromise was a proposal for two houses in the legislature-one based on equal representation for each state, the other for population-based representation-that resolved the dispute between large and small states at the Constitutional Convention. Connecticut delegate Roger Sherman's proposal led to the first nationwide census in 1790. The population was determined to be 3,929,625, which included 697,624 slaves and 59,557 free blacks. The most populous state was Virginia, with 747,610 people and the most populous city was Philadelphia with 42,444 inhabitants. The average cost of this year’s census was 1.13 cents per person.
    (HNQ, 7/13/01)(AP, 3/1/08)(http://www.genealogybranches.com/censuscosts.html)

1790        Aug 2, The enumeration for the first US census began. It showed that 3,929,326 people were living in the US of which 697,681 were slaves, and that the largest cities were New York City with 33,000 inhabitants; Philadelphia, with 28,000; Boston, with 18,000; Charleston, South Carolina, with 16,000; and Baltimore, with 13,000. Census records for Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, and Virginia were lost sometime between 1790 and 1830.
    (AP, 8/2/06)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1790_United_States_Census)

1840        The 6th US Census was the first to include statistics on agriculture.
    (www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/Historical_Publications/index.asp)
1840        The US census categorized the population as "Free White persons, free Colored persons, and slaves."
    (SFC,12/26/97, p.A21)

1850        The US census showed a black population of 3,639,000 people of whom 90% were born in America. The mulatto count was 406,000.
    (SFC, 5/3/96, p.A-25)

1867-1872    A census was held in India under the direction of the British. These years were spent in taking a census by the actual counting of heads in as much of the country as was practicable. This series, commonly known as the Census of 1872, was not a synchronous project, nor did it cover all territory possessed or controlled by the British.
    (Econ, 2/26/11, p.48)(http://tinyurl.com/5wdrbws)

1872        A census, begun in 1867, was completed in India under the direction of the British.
    (Econ, 2/26/11, p.48)(http://tinyurl.com/5wdrbws)

1881        The first complete census of India’s population was conducted on a uniform basis providing the most complete and continuous demographic record for any comparable population.
    (http://tinyurl.com/5wdrbws)

1970        The US census categorized the population as "White, Negro or Black, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, American Indian, Hawaiian, Korean and other.
    (SFC,12/26/97, p.A21)

1971        Conrad (1906-1999) and Irene Taeuber (1906-1974) wrote "People of the United States in the 20th Century." Mr. Taeuber had directed the federal census in 1960 and 1970. Their scholarly work helped found the science of demography and made them authorities on population movements in the United States.
    (http://tinyurl.com/58fg3v)(SFC, 9/25/99, p.A21)

1977        The US Federal Office of Management and Budget revised the race groups for the national census.
    (SFC,12/26/97, p.A1)

1990        Dec 26, The US government reported that its 1990 census had counted a total 249 million, 632,692 people. The US census for this year categorized the population as "White, Negro or Black, American Indian (tribe can be listed), Eskimo, Aleut, Asian or Pacific Islander, and other. Specific Asian nationalities could be checked off." The census counted over 1.6 million Chinese Americans with 40% of them in California.
    (SFC,12/26/97, p.A21)(SFEC, 2/6/00, Rp.10)(AP, 12/26/00)

1991        Apr 18, The US Census Bureau estimated its 1990 census had failed to count up to 6.3 million people.
    (AP, 4/18/01)

1998        Aug 24, A US federal court rejected the Census Bureau's plans to use statistical sampling for the 2000 census, a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court.
    (AP, 8/24/99)

1999        Jan 25, The US Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that the 2000 census could not use statistical sampling to enhance its accuracy.
    (AP, 1/25/00)

2000        Jan 20, Census 2000 officially got under way as Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt knocked on the door of a small wood-frame house in Unalakleet, Alaska, to begin the nationwide head count.
    (SFC, 1/21/00, p.A1)(AP, 1/20/01)

2000        Dec 28, US 2000 census results set the population at 281,421,906, a gain of 13.2% since 1990. In 2003 the Bureau said it over-counted by some 1.3 million.
    (SFC, 12/29/00, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/13/03, p.A1)

2001        Mar 6, Calling it the "most accurate census in history," the Bush administration refused to adjust the 2000 head count.
    (AP, 3/5/02)

2001        Mar 7, United States census 2000 results showed that the Hispanic population at 35.3 million, just above the 34.7 million African Americans.
    (SFC, 3/8/01, p.A1)

2002        Apr 1, The US National Archives opened the 1930 census records.
    (SFC, 4/1/02, p.A3)

2002        Sep 24, The US Census Bureau reported a rise in the poverty rate to 11.7%, with 32.9 million people classified as poor. It was the 1st rise in 8 years.
    (WSJ, 9/25/02, p.A1)

2011        Feb 9, In India millions of census workers fanned out across the country as they began a mammoth effort to document every person in the world's second most populous country over the next three weeks.
    (AP, 2/9/11)

2011        Jul 14, Bangladesh and India launched a census of "enclaves" -- areas where one country's territory is surrounded by the other -- in an effort to end complex border disputes.
    (AFP, 7/14/11)

2011        Jul 16, Bangladesh reported a its population is up nearly 10% in a decade to 142.3 million, following its latest census.
    (AFP, 7/16/11)

2011        Jul 28, Dozens of ethnic black Mauritanians rallied to denounce a census they feel aims at depriving them of their citizenship in a country riven by ethnic and racial strife.
    (AFP, 7/28/11)

2011        Sep 27, The US Census Bureau released figures indicating that same-sex households had increased by 80% over the past decade.
    (SFC, 9/28/11, p.A1)

2011        Sep 30, A Mauritanian official said that police have arrested 56 people following violent clashes over a population census.
    (AP, 9/30/11)

2011        Oct 10, South Africa launched its census count, with officials pleading for residents in the crime-plagued nation to open their often formidably barricaded doors to teams of yellow-shirted enumerators.
    (AFP, 10/10/11)

2011        Nov 7, The Census Bureau, using a more sophisticated method to measure poverty rates, reported that it has found a record 49.1 million, or 16% of all Americans, living in poverty. In September the government reported that a record 46.6 million Americans were living in poverty.
    (Reuters, 11/7/11)

2012        Aug 15, Zimbabwe's Pres. Mugabe launched the national census, saying he hoped the once-a-decade count would measure the extent to which AIDS was affecting the population.
    (AFP, 8/15/12)

2016        Sep 24, Iran's state TV said the country has started its first web-based national general census.
    (AP, 9/24/16)

2017        Mar 2, Pakistan said it will conduct its first census in 19 years. The 70-day data-gathering campaign will start March 15.
    (Reuters, 3/2/17)

2018        Mar 27, It was reported that the 2020 US Census will include a question about citizenship status, a move that brought swift condemnation from Democrats, who said it would intimidate immigrants and discourage them from participating.
    (AP, 3/27/18)

2019        Nov 7, The US Census Bureau said it plans to raise wages for census workers in some areas and make it easier for applicants to get fingerprinted for background checks.
    (AP, 11/7/19)

2020        Jan, US Census Bureau computer servers were exploited during a cybersecurity attack, but it didn't involve the 2020 census, and hackers' attempts to keep access to the system were unsuccessful. This was only made public in 2021.
    (AP, 8/18/21)

2020        Mar 9, The US Census Bureau made a soft launch of the 2020 census website, making its form available online.
    (AP, 3/10/20)

2020        Jul 29, US Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham testified that he wasn’t informed ahead of time about President Donald Trump's order seeking to exclude people in the US illegally from the process of redrawing congressional districts.
    (AP, 7/29/20)

2020        Aug 3, The US Census Bureau said that the door-knocking and ability for households to respond either online, by phone or by mail to the questionnaire will stop at the end of September instead of the end of October so that it can meet an end-of-the-year deadline to turn in numbers used for redrawing congressional districts.
    (AP, 8/4/20)

2020        Sep 5, A federal judge said the US Census Bureau for now must stop following a plan that would have it winding down operations in order to finish the 2020 census at the end of September. The order stops the Census Bureau from winding down operations until a court hearing is held on Sept. 17.
    (AP, 9/6/20)

2020        Sep 24, A US federal judge stopped the 2020 census from finishing at month's end and suspended a year-end deadline for delivering the numbers needed to decide how many seats each state gets in Congress.
    (AP, 9/25/20)

2020        Sep 28, US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said the 2020 census will end Oct. 5, despite a federal judge's ruling last week allowing the head count of every US resident to continue through the end of October.
    (AP, 9/28/20)

2020        Oct 1, A US federal judge ordered the Census Bureau to text every 2020 census worker by the next day, letting them know the head count of every US resident is continuing through the end of the month and not ending next week, as the agency previously had announced in violation of her court order.
    (AP, 10/2/20)

2020        Oct 13, The US Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to halt the 2020 census count ahead of schedule, effectively shutting down what has been the most contentious and litigated census in memory and setting the stage for a bitter fight over how to use its numbers for the apportionment of the next Congress.
    (NY Times, 10/14/20)

2020        Oct 22, A second federal court blocked the Trump administration's attempt to change census numbers used to divvy up congressional seats by excluding undocumented immigrants.
    (The Week, 10/23/20)

2020        Oct 27, A revised lawsuit was filed by the National Urban League; the city of San Jose, California; and others claimed that census takers were pressured to falsify data as the statistical agency cut corners and slashed standards.
    (AP, 10/28/20)

2020        Nov 1, China began its ten-yearly census. It was expected to conclude on Dec. 10.
    (Econ., 10/31/20, p.39)

2020        Nov 9, The US Census Bureau denied any attempts to systemically falsify information during the 2020 head count used to determine the allocation of congressional seats and federal spending.
    (AP, 11/10/20)

2020        Nov 19, The director of the Census Bureau said that irregularities have been found during the numbers-crunching phase of the 2020 census, a development that jeopardizes the statistical agency’s ability to meet a year-end deadline for handing in numbers used for divvying up congressional seats.
    (AP, 11/19/20)

2020        Dec 3, The US Census Bureau said the data irregularities that are putting in jeopardy a year-end deadline for turning in numbers used for divvying up congressional seats affect only a tiny percentage of the records and are being resolved as quickly as possible.
    (AP, 12/3/20)   

2020        British economist Andrew Whitby authored "The Sum of the People: How the Census Has Shaped Nations, from the Ancient World to the Modern Age".
    (Econ, 4/18/20, p.66)

2021        Jan 13, It was reported that US Census Bureau statisticians are under significant pressure from Trump political appointees to figure out who in the US is in the country illegally, and they're worried that any such report they produce in the waning days of the Trump administration will be inaccurate.
    (AP, 1/13/20)

2021        Jan 18, Steven Dillingham resigned as director of the Census Bureau, bringing an early end to a tumultuous tenure that culminated this month in charges that he had allowed politics to override policy at the nation’s premier statistical agency.
    (NY Times, 1/18/21)

2021        Jan 22, The US Census Bureau said that it would discontinue efforts to create citizenship tabulations at the city-block level using 2020 census data combined with administrative records.
    (AP, 1/23/21)

2021        Apr 26, The US Census Bureau will released the data that determines whether states gain or lose congressional seats and Electoral College votes, setting the stage for a pitched battle over redistricting that could reshape political power in Washington for a decade.
    (AP, 4/26/21)

2021        Jun 9, The US Census Bureau announced guidelines for how a controversial statistical method will be applied to the numbers used for drawing congressional and legislative districts. The method is meant to protect the privacy of people who participated in the 2020 census, though critics have claimed it favors confidentiality at the expense of accurate numbers.
    (AP, 6/9/21)

2021        Aug 12, The US Census Bureau released data that will set off a fight over congressional redistricting.
    (NY Times, 8/12/21)

Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Census
End of file