(CBS/AP) The U.S. population officially hit 300 million at 7:46 a.m. Tuesday, when the Census Bureau's population clock rolled over to the big number.

But there weren't any wild celebrations, fireworks or any other government-sponsored hoopla to mark the milestone. Why bother? Many experts think the population actually hit 300 million months ago.

"I don't think anybody believes it will be the precise moment when the population hits 300 million," Howard Hogan, the Census Bureau's associate director for demographic programs, said in an interview before the milestone was reached. But, he added, "We're confident that we're somewhat close."

It's not easy estimating the exact number of people in a country the size of the United States. It gets even more complicated when you take into account illegal immigration, another reason for the federal government to let the milestone pass quietly.

"The United States is a big melting pot with people from all over the place, so it adds to the cultural diversity of where we are," a New Yorker told CBS News' Dustin Gervais.

Another said New York City didn't feel any more crowded as of 7:46 a.m.

"I've grown up here, I've lived here my whole life, so I'm kind of used to it," he said.

An Atlanta couple made a bid for history: Keisha and Kristopher Boyd had a girl delivered by Cesarean section right at 7:46 a.m., a hospital spokeswoman tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

When the U.S. population officially hit 200 million in 1967, President Johnson held a news conference at the Commerce Department to hail America's past and to talk about the challenges ahead. Life magazine dispatched a cadre of photographers to find a baby born at the exact moment, anointing a boy born in Atlanta as the 200 millionth American — Robert Woo.

"I think of it as being just a very random thing," Woo said recently.

The U.S. hit 100 million in 1915.

"In 1900 infant mortality, infectious disease, pandemics, and war were the big killers. People tended to die quickly at young ages," Winifred Rossi, deputy director of the Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology Program at the National Institute on Aging, told WebMD. "The big killers today are chronic diseases of aging like heart disease and cancer."

This year, there's a good chance the 300 millionth American has already come across the border from Mexico.

"It's a couple of weeks before an election when illegal immigration is a high-profile issue and they don't want to make a big deal out of it," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said the Bush administration isn't playing down the milestone, though he said he had no plans for Tuesday. Census Bureau employees planned to mark the moment Tuesday afternoon with cake and punch.

©MMVI CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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