JANUARY: On January 3, 1959, by an act of Congress and the signature of President Eisenhower, the Territory of Alaska became the State of Alaska.
... And on January 10, 1882, the town of Juneau was named after Joe Juneau, a prospector from Quebec. The town had previously been known as Harrisburg in honor of the town's co-founder. It's said that Joe bribed the voters and that's how his name ended up receiving 65% of the 72 votes cast. Some might even say it's fitting that Juneau later became the state capitol.

FEBRUARY: February 2, 1925: The dog team of Gunner Kaassen arrived in Nome with diphtheria serum, completing the heroic run that has since been honored annually by the running of the Iditarod Race along part of the same route.
... And on February 11, 1942: President Roosevelt gives final approval to begin construction of the Alaska-Canada Military Highway which has since come to be called simply The Alcan.
... And on February 14, 1779, Captain James Cook, while returning from an expedition to Alaska and mapping most of the west coast of North America, was killed in Hawaii.
... And on February 26, 1917: Denali National Park (then called Mount McKinley National Park) was established. Oddly, the original boundaries of the park did not include most of the mountain but this was later rectified.

MARCH: March 30, 1867: US Secretary of State William Seward purchased Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000. This is the equivalent of $101,000,000 in 2008 dollars. Seward was ridiculed for wasting money on a big ice cube, but when gold was discovered 30 years later, everyone quickly changed their minds.

APRIL: April 23, 1868: The Alaska Times, the first newspaper known to be printed in Alaska, begins a two and a half year run in Sitka before moving to Seattle, changing its name several times, and eventually merging with another paper in 1878. (Two years earlier another newspaper, the Esguimaux, came out of Libbysville on the Seward Peninsula but they produced just a few hand-written copies that were bound with bent pins.)

MAY: On May 2, 1927, the Alaska Legislature adopted 13-year-old Benny Benson, Jr's design of 8 gold stars on a blue background as the flag of Alaska. After winning the contest to design the flag he used his prize money to enroll in trade school and eventually became an airplane mechanic. A memorial to Benny can be found just outside the town of Seward.

JUNE: On June 3, 1942, the Japanese began an attack on Alaska. A largely ineffective bombing campaign on Unalaska was followed by landing an invasion force on the lightly populated islands of Kiska and Attu. Because of the remoteness and extreme weather, it took over a year before the islands were in Allied hands again. Nearly 4000 US troops were killed retaking Attu. Oddly, 313 Americans were killed retaking Kiska even though the Japanese had secretly abandoned it a week earlier.

JULY: July 15, 1741 is an amazing date we should all know by heart. That's when the Dutch and Russian explorers Vitus Bering and Aleksei Chirikov were the first Europeans to spot Alaska. Some say they "discovered" Alaska but of course the Native Americans had already been living here for thousands of years. But this was still a momentous day and geography bears tribute to Vitus through the Bering Sea, Bering Straight, Bering Glacier, Bering Island, and the Bering Land Bridge. Chirikov isn't so well remembered.

AUGUST: August 1, 1977: With oil prices so high and oil being such an important part of the Alaskan economy, this is a good time to commemorate the anniversary of the first tankerful of oil shipping out from North America's largest oil field in Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope along the Arctic Ocean.

SEPTEMBER: On September 10, 1899, one of the largest earthquakes on record hit the Yakutat Bay area of southeastern Alaska. It measured 8.6 on the Richter scale. Because hardly anyone lived in the area, damage and injuries were minimal, but prospectors later reported massive changes in the landscape of Disenchantment Bay.

OCTOBER: On October 18, 1867, with the words, "General Rousseau, by authority from his Majesty the Emperor of Russia, I transfer to the United States the Territory of Alaska," Captain Pestchouroff officially completed the purchase of the 656,424 square miles of Alaska. We still celebrate this event as "Alaska Day."

NOVEMBER: On November 22, 1942 the Alcan Highway was officially opened. The 1500-mile roadway connected Dawson Creek BC (home of the Klondike Gold Rush) with Fairbanks and brought a new sense of security to the people of Alaska during World War II.
... And November 21, 1979 over 4000 pounds of postal mail was lost when a mail truck was washed overboard from a cargo ship.

DECEMBER: On December 16, 1929, construction began on the Alaska Territory Capitol building. Before that the first capitol of Russian America was in Kodiak starting in 1792. It was moved to Sitka in 1808 then finally moved again to its current location in Juneau in 1900. The building was authorized by Congress in 1911 but it was delayed another 17 years by World War I and other difficulties.
... And on December 18, 1971 the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act returned 44 million acres of Alaskan land and paid $963 million to native-owned corporations to conclude many long-standing legal claims and open the way for oil extraction in Alaska.
... And on December 19, 1741, explorer Vitus Bering died of scurvy. Bering, originally Dutch but working for Russia, was one of the two Europeans to first spot Alaska. It was on the voyage back from their discovery that he fell ill and died with a large portion of his crew
... And on December 20, 1980, the Alaska National Interest Lands Act more than doubled the size of the National Wilderness Preservation System by adding 55 million acres of protected lands.
... And Alaska Prohibition goes into effect years before the rest of the U.S. All saloons close at midnight on New Year's Eve, 1917.
... And on December 14, 1989, the 9000 foot peak of Mount Redoubt erupted about 100 miles from Anchorage. A 747 suffered a frightening experience when it flew through the ash cloud and stalled all four of its engines. It landed safely though the incident caused $80,000,000 damage to the airplane.

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