ALASKA-It was on this day on January 3rd, 1959, that Alaska officially became the 49th state in the Union. Then sitting President Eisenhower signed the state into being in a ceremony on July 7th of 1958 that unveiled the new 49-star American flag.

Alaska became an American territory in 1867, when William Seward negotiated the 586,412 square mile purchase of Russian America from Tsar Alexander II for the sum of $7.2 million, or 2 cents per acre.

It was acclaimed by many as “Seward’s Folly.” That designation would change and fade away with the discovery of gold in the state in 1896.

Alaska first attempted inclusion into the Union in 1916, but the move had little support. It would be initiated again in 1946, and after many years of lobbying, we would make it in the Union in 1959.

The 49-star flag would only be in existence for a short while, eight months later Hawaii was admitted.