Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state when it joined the Union in 1959.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Hawaii Admission Act on March 18, 1959, and Hawaii entered the Union on August 21 of that year. Its admission followed Alaska’s statehood earlier in 1959, making the two territories the final additions to the United States during the period before the America250 anniversary.
Hawaii is an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean. It had been a U.S. territory since 1898, after the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 and subsequent annexation. Statehood required a referendum in which Hawaii voters approved admission by a large margin.
Hawaii is often confused with Alaska in questions about the 49th and 50th states. Alaska was admitted first, on January 3, 1959; Hawaii followed later that year. Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, became the state capital.