Today in History: Alaska Joins the United States

On this day (October Eighteen) in 1867, the United States took possession of Alaska after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million. At the time, the purchase was pejoratively described as Seward’s Folly—condemning Secretary of State William Seward for wasting taxpayer money on the frozen wasteland. In retrospect, it not only got Russia out of North America and opened vast natural beauty and mineral resources to the country, but provided the nation with the 49th state. Happy Alaska day!