Monocacy National Battlefield (Maryland)

… was first designated Monocacy National Military Park on this date in 1934. It was redesignated a national battlefield in 1976.

Known as the “Battle That Saved Washington”, the battle of Monocacy on July 9, 1864 between 18,000 Confederate forces under General Jubal Early, and 5,800 Union forces under General Lew Wallace, marked the last campaign of the Confederacy to carry the war into the north. One of the objectives of this campaign was to capture Washington, D.C.

Although this battle was a military victory for the Confederates, it was also a defeat. Time spent for battle cost the Confederates a day’s delay in marching on the federal capital. General Lew Wallace’s defense along the Monocacy bought critical time to allow Washington to be reinforced. Early’s raid would be thwarted and the war would be taken to the south for the rest of the war.

Monocacy National Battlefield

Let’s all move to Elk Grove

Elk Grove, Calif., had the nation’s fastest growth rate among large cities (100,000 or more population) between July 1, 2004, and July 1, 2005, according to new U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Located south of Sacramento, Elk Grove is a relatively new city, having incorporated less than six years ago. Elk Grove’s population increased 12 percent during the period, to 112,338. It was joined on the list of the 10 fastest-growing cities by three others in California: Moreno Valley (ranking sixth), Rancho Cucamonga (seventh) and Irvine (10th). These three cities are each located in southern California.

Florida had three cities among the fastest growing: Port St. Lucie (third), Cape Coral (fifth) and Miramar (eighth). Two cities in Arizona were in the top 10 — Gilbert (fourth) and Chandler (eighth) — and, relatively nearby, North Las Vegas, Nev., was second.

Phoenix had the largest population increase of any city between 2004 and 2005. San Antonio; Fort Worth, Texas; North Las Vegas, Nev.; and Gilbert, Ariz., rounded out the list of the five biggest numerical gainers.

New York City continued to be the nation’s most populous city, with 8.1 million residents in 2005. This was more than twice the population of Los Angeles, which ranked second at 3.8 million. The estimates show that among the 10 largest cities, one change has occurred in the rankings: San Antonio has replaced San Diego as the nation’s seventh most populous city.

US Census Press Release

Population estimates

U.S. Census Bureau today announced its 2005 population estimates for U.S. cities and towns.

According to the estimates there are just six cities in New Mexico with more than 40,000 people:

1. Albuquerque…494,236
2. Las Cruces……..82,671
3. Santa Fe………..70,631
4. Rio Rancho…….66,599
5. Roswell………….45,199
6. Farmington……43,161

Albuquerque was the 15th fastest growing city in the U.S. 2004-2005 (ranked by actual count), adding 10,392 residents (2.1%).

Kentucky state government blocking sites critical of Kentucky state government

According to reports at BluegrassReport.org, which has been critical of the administration of Governor Ernie Fletcher, the Kentucky Commonwealth Office of Technology has blocked access on Kentucky state computers. As other sites have reported on this during the day, they too have been blocked.

Talk about putting your head in the sand and making your ass a target.

He must have been early

Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross, the wife and husband on the TV sitcom Family Ties, are both 59 today. Alex, their son on the show, was played by Michael J. Fox, who was 45 on June 9th.

Jane Russell is 85 today. She was 36D when she made The Outlaw for Howard Hughes. He discovered her at his dentist, where she was a receptionist.

Juliette Lewis is 33 today. She was 18 when she played the daughter in Cape Fear, and received a best supporting actress Oscar nomination.

It doesn’t matter

… but existentialist philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre was born on this date in 1905.

Laugh Liberally

Dan Neil’s look at A Prairie Home Companion includes this:

Because the movie is set behind the scenes of the show, I thought it might be useful to go backstage during the June 2 taping at the Hollywood Bowl to see the real thing. From the wings I could see the audience settling into their high-priced box seats and, sure enough, they were a bunch of cheese-eating hybrid drivers, all right. Beards and Birkenstocks, trim waists and natural fibers. Every one of them looked like they belonged on the Whole Foods board of directors.

Perspective

News report: “Mark Cuban, outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks, was fined $250,000 by the league Tuesday for ’several acts of misconduct’ following his team’s Game 5 loss in the NBA Finals on Sunday in Miami.”

Mark Cuban is worth an estimated $2 billion. That’s “B” for billion. $250,000 to Mark Cuban has about the same relative value as $125 would have for someone worth only $1 million, or 12 dollars and fifty cents would to someone worth $100,000.

Science homework

This evening, just as the sun sets, take note of its direction in relation to neighborhood landmarks — trees, other houses, water towers, what have you. Write it down, make a diagram, or take a photo.

We’ll come back to this in September and December.

(Alternative assignment: Same, only at sunrise.)

Solstice

In the northern hemisphere, summer begins at 6:26 AM MDT (12:26 UTC).

It’s the longest day of the year for locations north of the equator. The further north, the more daylight. That means 14 hours and 31 minutes of daylight in Albuquerque, 14 hours and 59 minutes in Denver, Colorado, 15 hours and 43 minutes in Billings, Montana, and 21 hours 48 minutes in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The United States Naval Observatory can tell you the duration of daylight today in your location (U.S. only).

Sunrise Solstice at Stonehenge (2005)