Alaska becomes the 49th U.S. state
On this day · 3 January 1959
After 92 years as a U.S. territory, Alaska joined the Union and instantly became the largest state by a wide margin.
On January 3, 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the proclamation that admitted Alaska as the 49th state, ending more than nine decades of territorial status since the United States bought the land from Russia in 1867.
Congress had cleared the path the previous summer, passing the statehood act in 1958. The formal proclamation Eisenhower issued in January made it official, and he unveiled a new 49-star flag to match. Statehood for Hawaii would follow later that same year, giving the country the 50-star flag still in use today.
What Alaska lacked in population it more than made up for in sheer scale. At roughly 663,000 square miles, it dwarfs Texas, the runner-up, by more than two to one and remains by far the largest U.S. state.
By far, the largest.
For a place once dismissed as a frozen folly, it was a striking promotion.
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