History of Alaska By oriannez 1732 Ivan Fedorov discovered Alaska 1867 The United States buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million (about $120 million today) 1891 First oil claims staked in the Cook Inlet area 1898 Gold is discovered on Nome beaches and the U.S. Geological Survey begins mapping Alaska 1903 Alaska's borders with Canada were definitively demarcated 1917 Mount McKinley National Park created 1918 Worldwide epidemic of Spanish flu nearly wipes out entire villages of Alaska Native residents Jan 3, 1959 Alaska becomes the 49th state of the USA (accession to the Union) 1964 The strongest earthquake recorded in North America occurred in Prince William Sound with a magnitude of 9.2 1973 The first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race begins 1992 Mount Spurr erupts and dumps ash on Southcentral Alaska 2004 Wildfires burned 6.7 million acres, setting a new record Nov 6, 2018 Mike Dunleavy becomes the governor of Alaska