Alaska was officially made the 49th US State on this day back in 1959, so we thought we’d bring you five facts that you may not know about the place known to many as ‘The Final Frontier’.
1. It’s not big… it’s massive
Alaska is more than twice the size of Texas, the next the largest US state and it’s over 20 times larger than Ireland. Alaska is also larger than nearly half of the other US states combined, yet it is home to only 710,230 people. In comparison, Ireland – which is 20 times smaller, remember – has a population of 4,487,000 people.
What Alaska looks like in comparison to the rest of the USA
2. It came with a hefty price tag
Alaska wasn’t always owned by the USA. Before the 1860’s Alaska was actually Russian territory, but fearing a war with Britain the Russians decided to sell the freezing barren wilderness to the USA for the princely sum of $7.2 million dollars (roughly, $140,500,000 at today’s rates). In fairness, it turned out to be a bargain seeing as the US would eventually find loads of oil and gold in the region. It remained a ‘territory’ of the United States until it was officially made a State in 1959.
3. Alaska: home of the ‘Hammer Museum’
There are museums for everything weird and wonderful (take the sex museum in Amsterdam for example), but none seem quite as weird as the Hammer Museum in Haines, Alaska. The Hammer Museum provides a view of the past through the use of man’s first tool. Apparently, you will find over 1500 hammers on display, ranging from ancient times to the present. Sounds… riveting. I’ll get my coat.
4. You won’t get a wink of sleep
When the sun rises in Barrow, Alaska – one of the most northern cities in the state – on May 10th, it doesn’t set again until August 2nd. That means there’s 84 days of continuous sunlight to enjoy and when the sun sets in Barrow around November 18th, there are 67 days of pure darkness. They only have ‘normal’ days from January 24th to May 10th.
5. It’s the home of the biggest Bald Eagles
The largest eagles are found in Alaska, where large females may weigh up to 7.5 kg and have a wingspan of 2.44 m (8.0 ft. in old money). The world’s greatest concentration of American bald eagles is found near Haines, Alaska, so if you were ever going to see one it’s going to be here.
