3 Ways Societies Counted Populations Before the U.S. Census

When the U.S. Census releases its latest national, state and county population estimates on Thursday, it will continue a tradition of population-counting that can be traced back to ancient times.

If one starts with the Bible, the practice can be traced back to the Book of Numbers, which gets that name from its tally of people, and to Mary and Joseph reporting to Bethlehem to be counted.