The City of Phoenix just celebrated the demi-sesqui-centennial of its incorporation in 1881 (the town was founded by Col. Jack Swilling in 1867). The Republic has a timetable of key events in today's paper. I thought I'd highlight two, for the wow factor:

• 1950: Phoenix covered an area of 17.1 square miles, had a population of 106,000 residents and was the 99th-largest American city.

• 2006: Phoenix spans across more than 514 square miles, has a population of more than 1.4 million residents and is the sixth-largest city in the country.

In a word: Wow...