January 3, 1959 President Eisenhower signed the official declaration making Alaska the 49th state. With a little elementary math it's easy to figure out that means this year Alaska celebrated it's 50th anniversary. And what better way to celebrate 50 years than an extravagant display of fireworks. Becky and I have the good fortune of having a friend that works for the Geophysical Institute. That may not seem like much on the surface, but that friend has keys, and those keys were able to get us on top of the tallest building on the UAF campus which was right beside the firework launch location. Ahhh... what a good friend and what a great firework display.
Side note, other historical notables celebrating 50 years this year include: Castro becomes leader of Cuba as the Cuban Revolution unfolds, the Dalai Lama was run out of Tibet by the Chinese invasion, the USSR launches Luna 1 becoming the first craft to leave Earth's orbit, and Barbie makes her first debut.