Thanks to the U.S. Census Bureau

Now couldn’t be a better time to recount history … take 1940 for example…

1940 was the beginning of recovery from the Great Depression, war, and jobs were a hot topic. Sound familiar?

So when the U.S. Census Bureau released archives from 1940 this past Monday, online traffic bloomed to a soaring 22.5 million hits.

The American census, a tradition dating back to the late 18th century is globally recognized for its comprehensive record-keeping.

The rule is on “Census Day” every year the books are opened on the census of exactly 72 years ago.

Was 1940 that big of a deal or are Americans just Internet information crazed?

It’s amazing how we have 3.8 million pages of census data at our digital fingertips, while many methods for collecting census data are pretty old school.

Will 1940 have the answers for 2012? Surely 22.5 million people might find something.