On what date did Alaska become the 49th state of the United States?

Alaska became the 49th state of the United States on January 3, 1959.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act on July 7, 1958, but statehood officially took effect several months later. William A. Egan became Alaska’s first governor, and the new state joined the Union after decades of territorial political campaigns.

Alaska had been purchased from the Russian Empire in 1867 for $7.2 million. It became an organized territory in 1912, and the statehood movement gained momentum after World War II. Congress approved statehood in 1958 before the formal proclamation in January 1959.

Alaska was the first of two states admitted in 1959. Hawaii became the 50th state on August 21 of that year. Alaska remains the largest U.S. state by area and is separated from the contiguous United States by Canada.