Statehood - Alaska Timeline Project By namenonsa Mar 27, 1946 Good Friday earthquake Jan 3, 1959 Statehood proclaimed Sep 30, 1959 Sitka pulp mill opens Dec 6, 1960 ANWR created Oct 18, 1966 AFN organized Apr 1, 1967 Alaska Standard Time is established Aug 12, 1967 Fairbanks flood Mar 18, 1968 Oil discovered in Prudhoe Bay Sep 26, 1971 President Nixon meets Emperor Hirohito in Anchorage Dec 18, 1971 passage of ANCSA Mar 23, 1973 Richard Wilmarth wins first Iditarod race Mar 27, 1975 trans-Alaskan pipeline construction begins Jun 20, 1977 trans-Alaskan pipeline delivers first barrel of oil to Valdez Dec 2, 1980 ANILCA passed Jun 14, 1982 PFD established Mar 24, 1989 Exxon Valdez spills 11 million gallons into Prince William Sound Feb 6, 1994 Tommy Moe wins gold in the Olympics Apr 1, 1999 BP buys ARCO Jan 5, 2005 Katie John case decided Mar 6, 2006 I was Born Dec 4, 2006 Sarah Palin becomes first female governor of Alaska Oct 23, 2009 HSGQE established by State legislature Dec 30, 2010 Lisa Murkowski wins write-in vote to U.S. Senate Mar 12, 2020 Alaska is locked down due to CoronaVirus