On October 18, 1867, the U.S. formally took possession of Alaska after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or less that two cents an acre. The Alaska purchase comprised 586,412 square miles, about twice the size of Texas, and was championed by William Henry Seward, the enthusiastic expansionist secretary of state under President Andrew Johnson.
Alaska became the 49th state on January 2, 1959.
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