 Pipeline began.
1971, The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act awarded the 85,000 indigenous Artic peoples of Alsaka US$ 1 billion compensation and 44 million acres of land; however this was in return for the extinction of all other indigenous land claims. This cleared the way for the construction of the Trans-Alsaka oil pipeline.
1/1968, Large oil and gas reserves were found under the North Slope area of Alaska.
3/1/1959. Alaska became the 49th State of the USA. It is the USA’s largest state.
1942, The Alaska Highway was constructed, from Fort St John (British Columbia) to Fairbanks (Alsaka); the road was intended to assist in the defence of Alaska in the event of a Japanese attack.
26/2/1917, US Congress created the McKinley National Park, covering 2,500 square miles. It is now much larger, and known as Denali.
1915, The city of Anchorage, Alaska, was founded as a railway town.
1/6/1910, The first white settlements on the banks of Alaska's Iditarod River were made when a steamer brought gold prospectors to within 13 km of a gold strike. By August, there were two towns, each with 2,000 people: Iditarod and Flat.
8/5/1906, The US allowed Alaska to elect a delegate to Congress; they arrived in December.
17/5/1884, The US passed the Organic Act, making the new territory of Alaska subject to the laws of Oregon.
18/10/1867, Sovereignty of Aaska was formally transferred from Russia to the USA at a ceremony at Sitka.
30/3/1867. The USA purchased Alaska from Russia. Senate voted for the purchase by a single vote. The price was US$7.2 million, less than 2 cents per acre for Alaska’s 375 million acres. Some derided the purchase of this vast wasteland, calling it ‘Icebergia’ or ‘Polaria’. However William Seward, Secretary for the Interior, said that Alaska had great riches in the form of furs, minerals, and fisheries.
15/7/1741, The first Europeans landed on the coast of Alaska. A Russian expedition led by Vitus Bering began exploration there.
Appendix 5 – California
8/11/2018, Severe wildfires began in California, their unusual intensity blamed on global warming. They continued for two weeks until rainfall helped extinguish them, by which time the town of Paradise had been destroyed. An estimated 82 people were known to have died but a further 699 remained missing.
7/10/2003, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger won the election with 48% of the vote to become Governor (‘Governator’) of California, beating the incumbent Democrat, Gray Davis.
17/4/1993, Two Los Angeles policemen were convicted of beating up Rodney King.
12/9/1992. A Los Angeles traffic warden ticketed a Cadillac without noticing that the driver inside was dead. He had been shot in the back of the head 13 hours earlier.
30/4/1992. In April and May, Los Angeles saw the worst rioting in the US for more than 25 years. The racial unrest began after 4 policemen were acquitted of assaulting a Black motorist, Rodney King, despite TV footage showing him being kicked and beaten. The trial had been held in a white area of town and the jury did not include a single Black person. In the riots, over 50 were killed, 4,000 injured, and four days of looting and arson saw 12,000 arrests and over US$ 1 billion of damage. 10,000 troops and National guardsmen had to be drafted in to restore order. There were also smaller riots in other US cities such as Atlanta and Las Vegas.
17/1/1989. A gunman shot five children dead and injured 39 others at a Californian school playground.
6/6/1978, Californians approved Proposition 13 – a proposal to cut property taxes by 60%.
22/9/1975. The US President, Gerald Ford, survived a second assassination attempt in 17 days, when a woman, Sara Jane Moore, fired at him as he left a hotel in San Francisco. On 5/9/1975 Lynette Fromme had attempted an assassination but had been thwarted by a Secret Service agent. On 15/1/1976 Ms Moore was sentenced to life imprisonment.
5/9/1975, Lynette Fromme, a Charles Manson (cult leader and killer) follower, made an assassination attempt on US President Ford, in Sacramento.
27/10/1972, The Golden Gate National Recreation Ar