WASHINGTON, July 31, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

FIRST PATENT

Profile America — Friday, July 31st. The first patent in the young United States was issued on this date in 1790 to Samuel Hopkins of Vermont for a new method of making potash — useful in producing soap, fertilizer, and glass. The Constitution recognized, for the first time in history, the intrinsic right of an inventor to profit from his invention. Hopkins' application was initially reviewed by Thomas Jefferson and approved by President Washington. By 1802, the U.S. Patent Office was established to process applications. More than 326,000 patents were granted last year, out of some 615,000 submissions. Potash still has uses, as in Samuel Hopkins' day. Mining it, along with soda and borate minerals, is a nearly $3 billion a year business in the U.S. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts (Fifth Ed.) 4648
First patent:  http://inventors.about.com/od/historypatentlaw/a/history.htm 
Jefferson and Washington: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/uspatent.htm 
Patents and applications: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/us_stat.htm 
Mining/NAICS 212391: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ECN_2012_US_00A1&prodType=table

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 the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

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To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-census-bureau-daily-feature-for-july-31-300112247.html

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau