Sunday, January 3, 2010

Happy Birthday, Alaska!

It's Alaska's birthday today. 51 years ago, on January 3rd, 1959, President Eisenhower signed papers officially making it a state.

And you can see Russia from there.

Well, not from Anchorage. Or Wasilla. Or especially not from the state capitol in Juneau. But as you can see from this map (if you expand it by clicking on it) on a clear day you can probably see Russia from the island of Little Diomede. A little bit of it anyway.

Happy birthday, Alaska. Keep your eyes on the skies.

9 comments:

  1. Don't you mean 51 years ago?

    Either way. Damn, we're even older than Alaska.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gawd, Mike, I'm getting old. I can't even count anymore. Correction has been made. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yup, you can see Russia from there. I don't think we'll ever forget that! ;^)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've always argued that the true natives of North America walked across an ice bridge from Russia/Siberia.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Teeth tell the story: "Shovel shaped incisors display enhanced marginal ridges and present with a distinctive shovel-shaped appearance on the lingual aspect. They appear frequently in many persons of Asian origin, including many Native American Indians. They are especially prominent in Eskimo/Inuit who are descendants of Siberians about 4,000 years ago."

    ReplyDelete
  6. Perhaps to celebrate they can send Sarah Palin on a special in-depth solo study of polar bears in the wild...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ah well, the dotter is winging her way back into an ice storm in Anchorage as I write this, Cat -- the great holiday is over! I'm back at work.

    ReplyDelete