Which state became the 50th state of the United States?

Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Hawaii Admission Act in March 1959, and Hawaii entered the Union on August 21, 1959. Its admission followed Alaska’s statehood earlier that year, making Alaska the 49th state.

Hawaii is an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean. Its history includes Native Hawaiian political traditions, the Kingdom of Hawaii, the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893, annexation by the United States in 1898, and territorial status before statehood.

The state’s admission completed the current 50-state arrangement of the United States. A common mix-up is to name Alaska as the 50th state because it was the last state admitted in geographic sequence before Hawaii; in fact, Alaska joined first, on January 3, 1959.