UNITED STATES 3 January 2009 Alaska celebrates 50th anniversary of statehood in the Palin spotlight

The nomination in August of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican vice-presidential candidate in the United States election was well timed. Organizers of events celebrating Alaska's 50th anniversary of statehood can now count on a media crush at the main event, a gala in Anchorage to which international and national dignitaries have been invited -- and a full quota of security headaches because of Palin's celebrity.

The early statewide events included a re-enactment of the hanging of the 49th star on the American flag. A US postage stamp and a new coin will also mark the 50th.

Palin's nomination focused the nation's attention on Alaska, a vast state of only 668,000 people. The United States purchased the territory from Russia, which discovered it in the 18th Century, in 1867. In 1912 Congress established the Territory of Alaska, with an elected territorial legislature. It became the 49th state in 1959.

An oil boom and ever-higher oil prices in recent years have keep a state described as the biggest, wildest and coldest in the Union flush with money. It is sitting on a US $5 billion budget surplus in 2008. The state is distributing US $1,200-per-resident oil-bounty bonus checks, and there should be plenty over for the anniversary celebrations. 

RELATED READING:

Alaska Statehood Commission
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/ASCC/

Alaska history (Encyclopedia Britannica)
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/12252/Alaska#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Alaska%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia