On Dec. 8, 1999, the National Cancer Institute published the Atlas of Cancer Mortality, 1950-94, showing the geographic patterns of cancer death rates in over 3,000 counties across the country over more than four decades.

This atlas updated the first atlas, published in 1975. The 254 color-coded maps in the atlas made it easy for researchers and state health departments to identify places where high or low rates occur. For the first time, maps were presented for both white and black populations. An interactive version of the data was made available on the Internet for the first time.