1. In 2002, the state of Alaska and the federal government signed an agreement to create the Tongass Futures Roundtable, a forum for stakeholders to discuss sustainable management of the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States.

2. In 1964, a massive earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2 struck Alaska, causing widespread damage and triggering a tsunami that killed more than 100 people along the coast of the Pacific Northwest.

3. In 1925, a team of sled dogs led by Balto completed a 674-mile trek from Nenana to Nome, Alaska, to deliver a serum to treat a diphtheria outbreak. The effort, known as the Great Race of Mercy, is commemorated by the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

4. In 1915, Alaska's first territorial legislature met in Juneau for its inaugural session, marking a major milestone in the territory's transition from a remote outpost to a full-fledged political entity.

5. In 1867, the United States formally took possession of Alaska from Russia, completing a controversial $7.2 million purchase that doubled the country's size and sparked a wave of settlement and resource exploitation in the far north.