On this day in history, January 3, 2005
1959 - President Dwight Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Alaska to the Union as the 49th state. Alaska is a land of superlatives. It is, first and foremost, the biggest state in the Union. At 570,000 square miles (365 million acres) it has the equivalent of one-fifth of the landmass of the... Sign in to see full entry.