when did ak and hi become states
Alaska and Hawaii - 50 Years of Statehood. In 1959 Alaska and Hawaii became the last two states to join the USA. They are the only ones not connected to the other 48 states. Although they are very different they were both important in the 2008 presidential elections.
Alaska admitted into Union. On January 3, 1959, President Eisenhower signs a special proclamation admitting the territory of Alaska into the Union as the 49th and largest state. The European discovery of Alaska came in 1741, when a Russian expedition led by Danish navigator Vitus Bering sighted the Alaskan mainland.